New Delhi: Uma Bharti, likely to get the water resources and Ganga cleaning portfolio, will have her hands full, given that India’s water quality has deteriorated rapidly in the last two decades and is ranked today amongst the most polluted in the world. Not only has the UN recently ranked India’s water quality as 120th among 122 nations, it has also warned that 70 per cent of the water supply in our rivers is polluted by sewage. Ms Bharti will have to work with the Central Water Commission (CWC), which monitors the water quality of all our rivers.
Across 371 key locations, and which has also confirmed that the Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti and Chambal currently enjoy the dubious distinction of being the most polluted rivers in the country.
Ms Bharti has in the last few months been working actively to save the Ganga by ensuring its unparalleled flow. Making it sewage-free will be her biggest challenge. Regulating sand mining and taking a call on whether to allow the construction of over 650 dams on the Ganga, which has been castigated by CAG, will also have to be taken.
Controlling the unabated and unregulated use of groundwater will also be a major challenge for Ms Bharti. Another source of concern for Ms Bharti is that despite the ministry, having received an allocation of Rs 3.31 lakh crore for irrigation in the 12th Five-Year Plan, the ministry has not been able to add a single hectare of irrigated land in the last two decades.
