Vision: State Drafting ‘vision 2050’ To Meet Future Water Needs | Jaipur News
“The water resources department is preparing the plan with the estimates provided by us. The report would focus on the possible sources of water that could cater to the projected population of the state at that time,” said Satish Jain, additional chief engineer (support activities), during a conference titled ‘Convergent Planning and Implementation for Source Sustainability in Rajasthan’, held on Wednesday.
As per the report submitted by the public health and engineering department (PHED), there is about 9,21,000 billion cubic metres of water available in a year in Rajasthan. At 6,000 million litres per day (MLD) consumption, Rajasthan needs 21,90,000 million litres of drinking water per year, as of now.
“At present, rainwater helps to cater to only 2.5% of the requirement. In 2050, the requirement would increase by 40%. Different agencies of the government, like PHED, WRD and watershed department, have to find sustainable sources to meet the demand by then,” said Jain.
WRD officials stated that an important element of Vision 2050 is utilization of all water bodies in the state. Of the total 13,416 water bodies, 3,523 are not in use for various reasons. The reasons include the water bodies having dried up, or encroached upon, or being filled with silt, or the water having turned saline. “We have to try and find out ways to rejuvenate these water bodies,” another official said.
The watershed department is also working on two important projects—Rajiv Gandhi Jal Sanchay Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojona. The aim of these two projects is to ensure water conservation and water harvesting activities in rural areas from available financial resources through effective convergence.
