The Cabinet has given its approval to implementation of the National Hydrology Project (NHP). It will be a central scheme with an outlay of over Rs 3,679 crore. The project is expected to boost India's prestige in the field of scientific endeavour. It will help in gathering Hydro-meteorological data which will be stored and analysed on a real time basis and can be seamlessly accessed by any user at the State/District/village level. The project envisages to cover the entire country as the earlier hydrology projects covered only 13 States.
The project includes Rs.3, 640 crore for National Hydrology Project and Rs. 39.7674 crore for National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) to be taken up in two stages. It also provides for establishment of NWIC as an independent organization under the control of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Fifty per cent of the total project amount, that is Rs 1,839.8 crore, would be loaned from World Bank while the remaining amount would be central assistance from budgetary support.
The project will help in the development of real-time flood forecasting and reservoir operations in a manner that does not result in sudden opening of gates leading to the inundation of the areas. Further, NHP will facilitate integrated water resource management by adopting river basin approach through collation and management of hydro- meteorological data. It will also help in water resource assessment and prioritize its allocations and use for irrigation. Besides, the project is expected to assist in promoting 'efficient and equitable' use of water, especially groundwater, at the village-level and provide information on quality of water.