Implementation of Ganga Jal Aapoorti Yojna of Bihar: A unique policy of providing water from abundance to scarce areas
- Bihar Journal of Public Administration
- 19(2), Jul-Dec, 2022: p.23-34
Water for human use is a scarce resource on the earth evident from the fact that about 71% of the earth’s surface is covered by water but only 3% is freshwater , out of which only 1.2% is fit for drinking. This is why judicious management of water becomes an urgent imperative for both the policy masters and academics. So far Bihar is concerned, it is a State having abundance of water but there are wide temporal & spatial variations over the entire geographical area of the state. Some parts of Bihar are flood-prone, whereas some parts are drought-prone. Many-atimes, we face challenges to provide drinking water to the residing population of drought-prone area. Here comes the issue of transporting water from abundance to scarce. In view of the situation, Bihar Government, committed to provide safe drinking water to its citizenry, has undertaken an ambitious & unique project named ‘Ganga Jal Aapoorti Yojana’ (GJAY) with an objective to transport the excess flood water of the River Ganga from Mokama to the areas of severe waterscarce like Gaya, Rajgir, Nawada and Bodh Gaya. The present paper examines the entire policy process of ‘Ganga Jal Aapoorti Yojana’ with the help of primary sources (author’s personal experience as part of the entire policy process) and secondary sources of data collection. The paper finds that the project has not only been beneficial to providing safe drinking water but also recharging the ground water table of the water-scarce areas. It further traces the challenges faced during the implementation of the project such as difficulties in source point identification, environmental protection, land acquisition and people’s cooperation. – Reproduced
GJAY, Lifting, Transporting, Treatment of water, Ganga, Environment, Bihar.