core sector communique

National Water Mission under National Action Plan on Climate Change

The Union Cabinet today approved the Comprehensive Mission Document of the National Water Mission.

The National Water Mission is one of the 8 National Missions which form the core of the National Action Plan for Climate Change. The Mission Document for National Water Mission was drafted by the Ministry of Water Resources through consultative process with full involvement of State Governments, concerned Central Ministries, Non-Governmental Organizations, academicians and other stakeholders.

The objective of National Water Mission is "conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management". Five goals identified in the National Water Mission are Comprehensive water data base in public domain and assessment of the impact of climate change on water resources; promotion of citizen and state actions for water conservation, augmentation and preservation; focused attention to vulnerable areas including over-exploited areas; increasing water use efficiency by 20%; and promotion of basin level integrated water resources management.

A two-tier setup has been proposed, one at Central level and the other at State level for framing the policies arid guidelines for implementation of the National Water Mission. At the Central level, an apex Board under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Water Resources and at the State level, a Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of the Principal Secretary / Secretary will be constituted.

A very compact Mission Secretariat under a Mission Director to be supported by Adviser (Technical) and Adviser (Coordination and Monitoring) is envisaged under the National Water Mission. The technical support to the Secretariat will be provided by Central Water Commission, Central Ground Water Board, Brahmaputra Board and National Institute of Hydrology.

The prioritized strategies of the Mission will be taken up through the continuing schemes of Ministry of Water Resources by suitably modifying scope and outlay of the respective schemes. The overall additional requirements for such activities have been duly taken into consideration while working out the revised outlays of the various schemes of the Ministry of Water Resources.