Nagaland gets maximum JSA: CTR funds among NE states

DIMAPUR — Nagaland has received a total of INR 11 lakh under the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA: CTR) for GIS mapping of water bodies and the preparation of district water conservation plans for the fiscal year 2023–24, as well as INR 5 lakh each for fiscal years 2021–22 and 2022–23.

Bishweswar Tudu, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, informed the Lok Sabha of this in a written reply on December 21.

The minister stated that Jal Shakti Abhiyan was conducted in 2019 in 1,592 blocks out of 2,836 blocks in 256 water-stressed districts of the country and was expanded as JSA: CTR in 2021 on the theme ‘Catch the rain—where it falls when it falls’ to cover all blocks of all districts (rural and urban areas) across the country.

Since 2021, the JSA: CTR campaign has been an annual feature, consisting of five focused interventions, which include rainwater harvesting and water conservation; enumerating, geo-tagging, and making inventory of all water bodies, preparation of scientific plans for water conservation; setting up Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts; intensive afforestation; and awareness generation.

He also mentioned that the National Water Mission (NWM), Ministry of Jal Shakti, has collaborated with the Department of Youth Affairs to raise awareness about the JSA: CTR campaign in 31,150 villages across 623 districts through the vast network of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and its youth clubs.

The minister also informed that funds spent under the JSA: CTR Campaigns are an inter-sectoral convergence of various development programmes and schemes of the central and state governments. However, financial assistance of INR 2 lakh is released to each district for GIS mapping of water bodies and the preparation of scientific water conservation plans.

According to the Northeast state-wise funds released under JSA: CTR for GIS mapping of water bodies and preparation of district water conservation plans for the fiscal year 2023-2024, Nagaland tops the list with INR 11 lakh.

It is followed by Tripura with INR 8 lakh. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya each received INR 1 lakh, while Manipur, Mizoram, and Sikkim did not receive any funds.