Challenges galore for Jal Shakti, the newest ministry set up by Modi govt

From 70% of the country's water said to be contaminated, to a looming water crisis in 21 cities, there is a long list of issues that the Jal Shakti ministry will have to address

Keeping its promise made in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has set up Jal Shakti, a new ministry for water resources and related issues, and given its charge to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. In the recently concluded general elections, Shekhawat had defeated the Congress party’s Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in Jodhpur.

The ministry has been created by reorganising the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, which Nitin Gadkari headed in the previous term of the government. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is also part