A NITI Aayog expert group has suggested setting up of a “Mission on Spring Water Management in Himalayas” to revive spring water systems in the Himalayan States.
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.
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