Watershed development projects lagging behind badly

Watershed development projects lagging behind badly

News:

1. According to the parliamentary standing committee report, watershed development projects lagging behind badly.

Important facts:

2. The report highlighted the following points:

• Watershed development project is a vital component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana (PMKSY).
• According to parliamentary standing committee, only 10% of projects completed.
• Not a single one of the 8,214 projects sanctioned between 2009 and 2015 had been completed.
• As per the Department of Land Resources (DoLR), around 1,257 projects had not even completed the initial steps of preparing detailed project reports (DPRs).
• The committee termed the pace of the development of the scheme as “lethargic”.
• The committee also urged the DoLR to “go all out on a war footing scale for the expeditious completion of the remaining projects.”

3. Watershed development project:

• It is good option for rainfed areas for water conservation and recharge and to prevent soil degradation.
• Within the site of a watershed development project, a ridge is identified and structures such as check dams, percolation dams, ponds and channels are built from the ridge to the valley.
• About 78% of beneficiaries saw an increase in the water table, while 66% also reported benefiting from better availability of fodder.
• When the groundwater table increases as a result of watershed management projects, farmers in the area go for water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane and drain it again.

4. Reasons for slow pace of the PMKSY’s watershed management schemes:

• Long-term results are not immediately visible.
• The 2016 change in funding pattern from a 90:10 Centre-State ratio to 60:40 had contributed to a slowdown.
• Delays in coordination between different ministries.
• From 2015 onwards, this programme has been in convergence mode.
• Problem in implementation.
• The governance structures is  missing.

5. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana (PMKSY):

• It is a national mission to improve farm productivity and ensure better utilization of the resources in the country.
• Major objectives of PMKSY are to achieve :

1. Convergence of investment in irrigation at the field level.
2. Expand cultivable area under irrigation
3. Improve On-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water.
4. Enhance the adoption of precise in irrigation and other water saving technologies (more crops per drop).
5. Enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practice.

6. Solutions:

• The government can implement a project through its agencies or through an NGO
• Need to involve local Panchayati Raj leadership and watershed user associations.