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Centre to launch water harvesting scheme soon

By Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI SEPT. 9. The Rural Development Ministry will soon launch a new Rs. 1,000-crore scheme for water harvesting.

The Pradhan Mantri Jal Samvardhan Yojana will cover the entire country and primarily target the drought-prone areas, the Rural Development Minister, Kashiram Rana, told The Hindu here today.

Mr. Rana said there were already schemes aimed at helping groundwater recharging, but the new scheme would help in conserving water that can later be used during drought conditions. ``While the project will be totally funded by the Rural Development Ministry, we are working out the mode of implementation of the scheme.'' The Ministry favoured that either it be implemented by State Governments or local panchayats for the best results.

The Ministry was holding consultations with the Planning Commission, the Finance Minister and the Water Resources Ministry on the issue. Ruling out the possibility of shortage of funds, Mr. Rana said the Ministry had earmarked enough funds for the scheme.

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