28 July : National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), released last year, envisages institutionalization of eight national missions. National Water Mission is one of the eight identified national missions. Ministry of Water Resources has prepared the draft comprehensive Mission Document for National Water Mission through consultative process. The objective of National Water Mission is “conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources management”.
Five goals identified for the National Water Mission are: (i) Comprehensive water data base in public domain and reliable assessment of the impact of climate change on water resources, (ii) Promotion of citizen and State action for water conservation, augmentation and preservation, (iii) Focused attention for over-exploited areas, (iv) Increasing water use efficiency by 20 %; and (v) Promotion of basin level integrated water resources management.
Consultative process was adopted for preparation of the comprehensive mission document in view of the large number of stakeholders and numerous cross cutting issues involving many Ministries. A Steering Committee was constituted with Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources as Chairman and the representatives of the concerned Ministries, professional organizations academic institutions/experts and non-governmental organizations.
The sub-committees on (i) policy and institutional framework, (b) surface water management, (c) ground water management, (d) domestic and industrial water management, (e) efficient use of water for various purposes, and (f) basin level planning and management, examined the various related issues. The Sub-committees consisted of the representatives of States, experts, and academic institutions and non-governmental organizations.
A national workshop was held on the Draft Mission Document for ‘National Water Mission’ in March 2009. Based on the suggestions received from various states and other stakeholders and the views that emerged during the deliberation at the workshop, the Draft Mission Document has been revised.
NAPCC has laid down the principles and has identified the approach to be adopted to meet the challenges of impact of climate change through eight National Missions namely, (a) National Solar Mission; (b) National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency; (c) National Mission on Sustainable Habitat; (d) National Water Mission; (e) National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system; (f) National Mission for a Green India; (g) National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture; and (h) National Mission of Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.