ગુજરાતી
English
Ahmedabad, February 4, 2026
The Gujarat state government has given a grant of Rs. 50 lakh to each MLA for water harvesting projects. The central government has given Rs. 553 crore to the Gujarat state under the Water Conservation Public Participation Scheme. It has been instructed to immediately undertake large-scale water harvesting work so that it can be fully utilized before March 26. The government claims that Gujarat’s work in the water harvesting sector is a model for the country, but no details have been provided. The central government provides 90 percent of the funds for recharging old borewells. A list of NGOs to be involved has been requested. 40 percent of the funds received under the Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) scheme will be used for water harvesting projects. It has been stated that water structures should be built using scientific methods. The target is to build more than one crore water storage structures across the country by May 31, 2026. This work should be completed before the next monsoon.
Under the Water Conservation Public Participation 1 campaign, a total of 1,33,522 water storage works have been completed in Gujarat.
Groundwater recharge is to be done through rainwater harvesting, recharge tube wells, deepening of ponds, farm ponds, and filter wells.
In 2024, it was claimed that the water storage capacity increased by 11.53 lakh cubic feet under the Suflam Jal Abhiyan.
It was claimed that the water storage capacity increased by 2831 lakh cubic feet in North Gujarat, 4946 lakh cubic feet in Central Gujarat, 1046 lakh cubic feet in South Gujarat, and 2700 lakh cubic feet in Saurashtra-Kutch.
The Gujarat government claimed that in the last 7 years, the water storage capacity in Gujarat has increased by 1191.44 crore cubic feet. Sixth Phase
In the sixth phase, 23,725 works were completed. These works provided 14.39 lakh man-days of employment in 104 days.
In the previous five phases, 74,509 works were completed in the state, resulting in an increase of 86,196 lakh cubic feet in water storage capacity.
27,799 lakes were deepened.
In 6 years, the water storage capacity increased by 107,000 lakh cubic feet. 98,000 works generated 1.92 crore man-days of employment.
In 2024, 9,374 works were undertaken under SSJA, of which 4,000 were completed with public participation.
Under MGNREGA, 3,300 works were completed, providing 7.23 lakh man-days of employment. The water storage capacity was increased by 11,523 lakh cubic feet. In the top 5 districts,
Dahod had the highest number of works with 1,254,
Gir Somnath had 848 works,
Anand had 679 works,
Mahisagar had 648 works,
Aravalli had 617 works.
815 km of canals of small rivers, lakes, check dams, and reservoirs, and 1755 km of other canals were cleaned.
In 2020, it received the Scotch Award in the Platinum category and in 2021 in the Golden category.
If corruption occurs, these individuals will be held responsible:
Union Minister of Jal Shakti, C. R. Patil
Minister of State for Water Supply, Ishwar Singh Patel,
Chief Secretary M. K. Das,
Principal Secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi,
Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Vikrant Pandey,
Secretary Ajay Kumar,
Water Resources Secretary P. C. Vyas,
33 District Collectors.
