What are the benefits of implementing the ‘Integrated Watershed Development Programme’?
- Prevention of soil runoff
- Linking the country’s perennial rivers with seasonal rivers
- Rainwater harvesting and recharge of groundwater table
- Regeneration of natural vegetation
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- 1 and 2 only
- 2, 3 and 4 only
- 1, 3 and 4 only
- 1, 2, 3 and 4
Explanation
Option (c) is correct
- The Integrated Watershed Management Program (IWMP), introduced as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 2009, was later subsumed under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY) in 2015.
- Implementation: Managed by the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development.
- Objective:
- Conservation of degraded natural resources like water, soil, and vegetation within watersheds.
- Prevention of soil erosion, rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and adoption of modern agricultural practices.
- Promoting sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
- Recognized as the world’s second-largest watershed development program after China’s, according to a World Bank report (2014).
- Funding: Cost-sharing between the Central and State Governments in a 90:10 ratio.
- Integration into PMKSY: PMKSY 2.0 (2021 Onwards): A key innovation under PMKSY 2.0 is the introduction of Springshed Development, aimed at addressing water scarcity in Himalayan states during dry seasons.
- Linking perennial and seasonal rivers is not a focus of the IWDP. Such interlinking is undertaken under the National River Linking Project, which is a separate initiative.
