HIMALAYAN SPRINGS

About:

• Profile of Himalayan Springs: There are 5 million springs across India, of which nearly 3 million are in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) alone. Over 50 million people in the 12 states of the region depend on springs.
  
  
• Reason for Drying up of springs: But these springs continue to dry up due to inadequate attention, increasing demand for water, ecological degradation of the mountain areas and unsustainable land use.
  
  
• Impact of drying of up of Springs:
  • Himalayas Springs are a major source of fresh water for India’s perennial rivers such as the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. Drying up of springs will affect the flow of these rivers.
    
    
  • Several villages are facing acute shortage of water for drinking and other domestic purposes.
    
    
  • The drying springs will further add to the work burden of women since they are forced to manually carry water from springs below their village during the lean season.
    
    
  • It also affects water security for Wildlife inside forests and national parks.
    
    
  
  
  
• Recommendation: NITI Aayog report has proposed the launch of National Spring Water Management Programme under which it recommends –
  • Systematic mapping of springs across the IHR states,
    
    
  • Mainstreaming of spring-shed management,
    
    
  • Mainstreaming and convergence of spring-shed management with other developmental programmes such as MGNREGA,
    
    
  • launching of a spring revival programme in one vulnerable block in each of the mountain states and
    
    
  • establishment of a national registry for springs in the form of a Spring Health Card to periodically evaluate the health of the springs.