- Jalyukta Shivar is the flagship programme of the Maharashtra government.It was launched in December 2014.It aims to make 5,000 villages free of water scarcity.
- The scheme targets drought-prone areas by improving water conservation measures in order to make them more water sustainable.
- The scheme envisaged to arrest maximum run-off water especially during the monsoon months in village areas known to receive less rainfall annually.
- Under the scheme,decentralised water bodies were installed at various locations within villages to enhance groundwater recharge.Besides,it has also proposed to strengthen and rejuvenate water storage capacity and percolation of tanks and other sources of storage.
- The scheme also provides for dedicated committees to assist in the construction of watersheds like farm ponds,cement nullah bunds alongside rejuvenating the existing water bodies in the villages.
- The scheme has helped in making 11,000 villages drought-free.The water storage capacity has been improved to 1.6 lakh Trillion Cubic Metre(TMC).
- Further,the overall agriculture productivity has also jumped up 30 to 50% from areas where the intervention measures reached.Importantly,the water tanker dependency in these areas has also dropped.
