India: Manipur’s Kanglapat listed as Water Heritage Site, know deets

New Delhi, India: In honour of the 75th anniversary of the independence of India, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has selected 75 Water Heritage Sites (WHS), including the Kangla Moat (Kanglapat) of Manipur. Among the 421 nominations received from states/UTs, federal agencies, non-governmental organisations, and the general public, the sites were chosen by a committee set up by the ministry. They include four water heritage structures from Assam and one each from Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram among the northeastern states. In this regard, on January 5, at the first All India State Ministers Conference on Water held in Bhopal, the “Jal-Itihas” sub-portal under the India-WRIS portal, highlighting the 75 WHS, was unveiled.

There isn’t currently a central fund designated or distributed for the upkeep of these sites. According to evidence on the portal, Kanglapat was excavated during the reign of King Khunjaoba (1652-1666). According to the provisions of “The Manipur Ancient and Historical Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1976,” the Manipur government designated it as a protected area. On the other hand, the ministry sought Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs 70,000 Crore for 2023–24, which is Rs 15,000 Crore more than the budgetary provision of Rs 55,000 Crore for 2022–23, to implement the Jal Jeevan Mission. According to the terms of its Operating Guidelines, the JJM allocates funding to states and UTs on a state-by-state basis.

The ministry gave Manipur Rs 512.05 crore for JJM projects in 2022–2023. At the same time, the ministry approved funding for Manipur under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (PMKSY-AIBP), totalling Rs 21.93 crore in 2018–19, Rs 30.50 crore in 2019–20, Rs 23.51 crore in 2020–21, Rs 11.75 crore in 2021–22, and Rs 24.87 crore in 2022–23.

With the help of the grant, the state government was able to develop the potential for irrigation on 2390 hectares in 2018–19, nothing in 2019–20, 3790 hectares in 2020–21, and 920 hectares in 2021–22. The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was introduced by the Central Government in 2015–16 with the following components: Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI)/Repair, Renovation & Improvement (RRI), Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM), and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP). Its goals are to increase physical access to water on farms, increase the cultivable area under assured irrigation, and improve on-farm water use.