'MJSA helping Rajasthan shrug off its drought-affected image'

The Rajasthan government's ambitious 'Mukhya Mantri Jal Swavlamban' campaign is gradually making the desert state self-reliant in water, thus helping in shrugging off its drought-affected image.
The results of the campaign kicked-off in 2011 can now be seen on the ground, Sriram Vedire, Chairperson, Rajasthan River Basin and Water Resources Planning Authority, said here yesterday.
Mukhya Mantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (MJSA) aims at making every village self-reliant in water and increasing productivity of the land. More than 3,000 villages will be covered under the campaign in four years in different phases.
Vedire said depleting water table was a concern across the country and initiatingthe campaign has contributed immensely in ground water recharging.

"In the first phase of the campaign, one lakh water harvesting structures were constructed in 3,529 villages and 28 lakh saplings were planted in the state. It benefited41 lakh people and 45 lakh livestock," he said.
The Vasundhara Raje-led government has now selected 4,200 villages in phase-2 of the campaign by geo-tagging, drone cameras and way-point scientific technique.

"Rajasthan is the only state to use advance technology for water conservation work in the country. A total of Rs 1,843 crores will be spent on nearly 1.38 lakh work for water conservation. Out of the total 1.38 lakh works, 8,726 works have been completed," Vedire said.

Minister of state for rural development, Dhan Singh Rawat said the campaign has helped the villagers, who had till now migrated to other locations for work.
"Villagers who remained dependent on rain are now able to utilise the conserved water for irrigation," he said.