The Ministry of Water Resources is a very important Ministry of the Government of India. It was previously known as the Ministry of Irrigation & Power. Not a modern name ? However the present name is comprehensive indeed. The Ministry deals with everything concerned with water. The Ministry of Water Resources has a net wide open to deal with the following subjects - Development of Water, Water Statistics, Cooperation and Water in India.
Development of Water
Under Development of Water, the Ministry deals with Water Resources Development, Irrigation Sector, and its problems, if any, and Inter Basin Transfer.
Cooperation
Under Cooperation the areas of concern are: International Cooperation, Cooperation in harnessing Water Resources and Investment in Water Resource Development.
Water Statistics
This is an area which has the necessary facts and figures on National Water Resources, Ground Water and Surface Water.
Water in India
Water Resources in India, Water in Indian Constitution and Water is Life are the subjects and themes suitably dealt with in this area.
There were major Irrigation Projects before independence, and large projects after independence. India’s National Water Policy 2002 guides the entire spectrum of Water Resources. India has elaborate River Basin Maps.
The word ’Resources’ has within it the word ’sources’. Water everywhere is a source and resources are necessary to develop this source in many ways according to necessities.
This is an ancient activity. Ponds, rivers, rivulets and canals are the sources of water which is used for different purposes. Agriculture is the mainstay. There are areas where rain water is stored to be used later. Man has very skillfully designed innovative equipment for irrigating the farm land. When rivers are to be dried up, holes are made to collect ground water and use it. During the Moghul period, water had been utilised very intelligently for different purposes.
So, this is all about Water Resources. Poet Rabindranath Tagore, in his Varsha Mangal, has many songs with melodious tunes on Rain. Water is everything. Water is life.