Country's first Amrit Sarovar inaugurated in UP
- Category
Polity & Governance
- Published
23rd May, 2022
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Context
The country's first "Amrit Sarovar" has been inaugurated at Patwai in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.
About
About India’s first 'Amrit Sarovar':
- Amrit Sarovarin Rampur is basically one of 789 ponds which the Uttar Pradesh government will develop.
- Cost: Nearly INR 60 lakh were spent in the creation of this water body.
- Amrit Sarovars have the potential to play an important role in increasing the availability of water, both on surface and under-ground.
Water crisis
- In rural India, 80 to 90% of drinking water needs are fulfilled by groundwater resources.
- The groundwater levels declined by over 60% between 2007 and 2017, and of the extracted water, almost 90% is used in agriculture.
- According to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board, cities are home to 36% of India’s population but account for 70% of water pollution.
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Mission Amrit Sarovar
- The Government launched the Mission Amrit Sarovar in April 2022 to conserve water for the future.
- Objective: Objective of Mission Amrit Sarovar is “construction/development of at least 75 Amrit Sarovar (ponds) in every district of the country”.
- Each Amrit Sarovar will have pondage area of minimum of 1 acre (0.4 hectare) with water holding capacity of about 10,000 cubic meter.
- Participating agencies: Following Ministries and Organizations have agreed to participate:
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- Ministry of Rural Development (Dept. of Rural Development/ Dept. of Land Resources)
- Ministry of Jal Shakti (Dept. of Water Resources/ Dept. of Drinking Water & Sanitation)
- Ministry of Culture
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj
- Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change
- Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N)
- The Mission Amrit Sarovar is to be completed by 15th August 2023.