Maharashtra set to relaunch flagship Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan to aid 25k drought-prone villages

A highly placed source in the government said, “JSA, which had made good progress, was stopped during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. We have decided to implement it across 25,000 villages.”

The nature of the project and its implementation will be determined based on a detailed status report which is being drawn up. In villages where projects completed under the JSA between 2014 and 2019 were maintained well and helped in achieving the twin objective of tackling water scarcity and increasing groundwater levels, they will be skipped, the source said.

“When we relook at JSA, it has to be seen in totality. So we are taking it up across all drought-prone villages that were shortlisted,” the source added.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had launched the ambitious JSA in 2014 – while he was leading the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government – with a stated objective to make Maharashtra drought-free. Under the flagship scheme that was undertaken in phases, 25,000 villages were selected and various water conservation projects such as building canals, bunds and ponds, and deepening and widening of existing water structures were launched.

Until 2019, the JSA had support from across the political spectrum with leaders of different parties competing for conservation works in their constituencies. The project was also a part of the Sena-BJP’s 2019 poll campaign, which highlighted how 6.41 lakh works were completed across 22,586 villages between 2014 and 2019 at a cost of Rs 9,633.75 crore. Initially, the project received an overwhelming response across parties. It, however, ran into a roadblock after the Sena broke off with the BJP and came to power as part of the MVA.

After taking the oath as Deputy Chief Minister recently, Fadnavis directed the water conservation department to revive the JSA in his very first meeting. While stating that corrective measures are welcome along with modified parameters to make the JSA flawless, Fadnavis, the source said, believes that Maharashtra “cannot compromise on drought schemes”.

However, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had drawn attention to irregularities in some works under the JSA. “Even after spending Rs 9,633.75 crore, the project has had little impact in achieving water neutrality and increasing groundwater level,” the CAG had noted in September 2020, while raising objections to the “lack of transparency” and “lack of monitoring” which, it said, defeated the project’s stated purpose of creating adequate water storage in villages. The CAG report findings were based on surveys in 83 of the total 120 shortlisted villages.