Bihar Har Ghar Gangajal Project | Har Ghar Gangajal Yojana | Benefits
The Har Ghar Gangajal project, which will be launched by the Bihar government, would provide water from the Ganga River to the state’s parched districts that are not located along the river’s path.
Har Ghar Gangajal Scheme
The Rajgir, Gaya, and Bodhgaya regions, which have traditionally relied on tankers from neighbouring districts for a source of drinking water during the dry season, will receive the excess water from the Ganga River that is collected during the monsoon season in order to be cleaned, stored, and piped to these areas.
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| HAR GHAR GANGAJAL YOJANA |
How will the Har Ghar Gangajal scheme be implemented?
- The project will be launched as a component of the state government’s Jal, Jeevan, Hariyali plan, and its initial phase would cost an estimated Rs. 4,000 crores to complete.
- Large pumps would be used in this phase to lift Ganga water from Hathidah, near Mokama, to provide water to around 7.5 lakh houses in Rajgir, Bodhgaya, and Gaya.
- Prior to being directed to three treatment and purification facilities, the collected water would first be kept in reservoirs in Rajgir and Gaya.
- The project will make use of existing, newly constructed, and restored water connections to reach every beneficiary family.
- The treated water will be distributed to the general public via pipes from Hathidah.
- The project’s second phase, which is anticipated to begin in 2023, would supply Ganga water to Nawada. Each individual recipient of this programme will receive 135 litres (two huge buckets) of Ganga water each day for drinking and household usage.
Why is there a need for this scheme?
Rajgir is an area that lacks water and is stony. Unplanned and careless groundwater usage has reduced underground reservoirs, depressed the water table, and impacted Gaya and Rajgir’s water quality.
Tube wells continue to provide a significant component of the urban water supply. Water tables have decreased by 2 to 4 metres as a result between 2014–15 and 2020–21. In order to provide drinking water in the town areas throughout the summer, district administrations in these regions have set up water tankers. This is a temporary and unstable solution to the water shortage in these arid areas. This problem is what the Har Ghar Gangajal initiative intends to solve.
Benefits of the Har Ghar Gangajal Yojana
Even though the monsoon rainfall in Bihar is not very strong, the riverbed has been heavily silted, particularly in Mokama, Hathidah, Barh, and Lakhisarai, and the discharge of water from dams upstream in Nepal has caused floods. The Har Ghar Gangajal programme would assist ease the suffering brought on by the yearly flooding of the Ganga River banks while also providing water supplies for dry areas. Only during the four months of the monsoon season, when the Ganga River has extra water, will the plan be put into action. By doing this, it is made sure that the river won’t run dry, that its natural flow won’t be disturbed, and that its path won’t potentially alter. To hold the future diverted floodwaters, the state government is now proposing to construct 13 new reservoirs in Gaya and Rajgir.