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New Delhi: Focusing on community participation and decentralized water management under the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), district collectors and experts have stressed the need for dedicated expenditure on water-related works under MNREGA for recharge, water harvesting and source conservation, an official said on Tuesday.
The “District Collectors’ Drinking Water Dialogue” initiative, a recent national dialogue, generated ideas to empower district leadership to strengthen local governance, ensure source sustainability and enhance accountability in rural water service delivery under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the official said in a statement.
Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), Kamal Kishore Son highlighted that sustainable service delivery depends on data-backed decision making, local ownership and preventive governance, adding that “District Collector is the key functionary and his role under JJM is very important.”
Several successful experiments and scalable models of local ownership and community participation are being studied for expansion to other parts of the country.
One of the successful models being studied by water conservationists is Rajgarh taluka of Maharashtra, where Village Development Committees (VDCs) and Gram Panchayats have been successful in ensuring water security by harnessing and storing rainwater.
Nearly 19.7 million liters of locally managed water storage now ensures year-round availability, thanks to farm ponds, solar water ATMs and a percolation tank built by rural communities and individuals following training from the Raintree Foundation.
Additionally, with the support of Leena Dandekar, founder of the Foundation, SHGs and Mahila Gram Sabhas now also shape local resilience plans. In line with the Jal Shakti Ministry’s endeavor to “harness where rainwater falls”, the Rajgarh approach is now being extended to the Shastri River Basin in Ratnagiri, spanning 400 villages and 2 lakh hectares, and advancing all 17 UN SDGs.
In rural India, where many water programs struggle with maintenance, villagers in Rajgarh have used stored rainwater to revitalize a 6.5-acre community plantation with native species and reduce forest fires by 30 percent.
Despite abundant rainfall, the Rajgarh region suffers from chronic water scarcity, minimal industrial presence and significant migration pressure.
Jal Shakti Ministry’s “District Collectors’ Drinking Water Dialogue” series is part of the department’s ongoing effort to strengthen local governance and decentralized water management under JJM.
The first edition, held on October 14, focused on empowering districts and panchayats through digital tools, accountability mechanisms and peer learning.
–IANS