World Bank provides $400 million loan for Namami Gange Programme

$400 million loan agreement has been signed between Government of India and World Bank on 7th July, 2020 for rejuvenating River Ganga.

Loan will fund second National Ganga River Basin project which is part of Namami Gange programme. 

Topics Covered:

• Who is providing loan for Namami Gange Programme?
• Loan details
• Loan repayment details
• Purpose of Loan

What is RAINWATER HARVESTING? Catch the water where it falls

Rainwater harvesting is the technique to capture the rainwater where it falls on the earth surface before it drains away as surface run-off. The rainwater harvesting system helps to replenish groundwater aquifers, prevent soil erosion by storm water, reduce reliance on dams and canals, control floods in neighborhood and use rainwater for irrigation and domestic purposes. The Indian government aims to provide clean drinking water to every household by 2024 but with increasing water scarcity around the globe, how we can achieve this goal? India is a rain-fed country where the main source of freshwater is the rainfall during the Monsoon season. Most of the rainwater is not utilized judiciously and is allowed to drain away as surface run-offs causing floods in Monsoon and water scarcity in other seasons. So the need of the hour is to capture this surface run-off water and put it to use and one way of doing this is RAINWATER HARVESTING.

Rainwater Harvesting in Urban areas

"The ideal solution of depleting ground water resources in India is water harvesting system." How it can be made effective in urban areas? [UPSC MAINS 2018]

The urban areas are not only the largest users of freshwater resources but are also the biggest contributor towards freshwater crisis. The increasing population in urban areas has put tremendous pressure on the freshwater resources. Today the demand to supply freshwater for domestic use far exceeds the capacity of nature to replenish the groundwater aquifers, thus resulting in the scarcity of water in the urban areas.  The taps and wells are running dry and people waiting for hours in long lines for the water tankers to arrive have become a common sight in many metropolitan cities.