Bihar’s harGharGangajal scheme for Rajgir and Gaya regions

Subject: Government Schemes

Context :

Har GharGangajal scheme-

It is part of the Bihar government’s Jal, Jeevan, Hariyali scheme.
The project has been described as a “lift-store-tame-treat-supply” system.
Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) has been working on the project since 2019, employing about 2,200 people and high-end technology.
In the Rs 4,000-crore first phase of the project — which has been completed and will be launched by the Chief Minister — giant pumps will lift Ganga water from Hathidah near Mokama and supply it to about 7.5 lakh homes in the state’s main tourism destinations of Rajgir, Bodhgaya, and Gaya.
The water will be stored in reservoirs in Rajgirand Gaya before being channelled to three treatment-and-purification plants, from where it will be supplied to the public.
According to estimates made by the government, the scheme will provide every individual beneficiary with 135 litres of Ganga water every day for drinking and domestic use.
The scheme is currently limited to the urban areas of Rajgir, Gaya, and Bodhgaya.
During the second phase of the project, which is expected to be launched sometime next year, Ganga water will be taken to Nawada.
The water would be lifted only during the four months of the monsoon when the Ganga has excess water.
So, that the diversion will not lead to depletion of the river, disturbance in its natural flow, or potential changes in its course.

The need for the scheme-

The area around Rajgir (in Nalanda district) is rocky and water-deficient.
Over the years, unplanned and indiscriminate use of groundwater has depleted subterranean reservoirs, lowered the water table, and affected the quality of the water in Gaya andRajgir.
The bulk of the urban water supply continues to be through tube wells.
A study by the Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) showed the average groundwater level in Gaya district had plunged from 30.30 feet in July 2021 to 41.50 feet in July 2022.
Data from the Central Ground Water Board’s Year Book for Bihar show the water table in Gaya and Rajgir fell by between 2 and 4 metres between 2014-15 and 2020-21.
Handpumps have become dry in many regions and water tankers supply the water during summer, which is a short-term and temporary solution and needed to be addressed.

Projected twin benefits-

It will also help alleviate distress from the annual flooding of the Ganga.
Heavy silting in the Ganga riverbed, the release of water from dams upstream in Nepal have affected the Mokama, Hathidah, Barh, and Lakhisarai regions even when monsoon rainfall is not heavy in these regions.
The government plans to build 13 more reservoirs in Gaya and Rajgir to store diverted floodwaters in the coming years.