IN Maharashtra Water Sector Improvement Project

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The Maharashtra Water Sector Improvement Project seeks to strengthen the State's capacity for multi-sectoral planning, development, and sustainable management of the water resources, and to improve irrigation service delivery, and productivity of irrigated agriculture. The project components provide support for institutional reforms, and capacity building in water resources management as well as irrigation service delivery, and complementary investments in improving and modernizing physical assets as described hereby. The first component - Water Sector Institutional Restructuring and Capacity Building - will support the establishment and operations of the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA); restructure the existing Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC) into the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Water Resources Corporation (MKVWRC), as a river basin agency, and build it's capacity; restructure and strengthen the capacity of the Water Resources Department (WRD), and likewise, of the Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI). The component will finance the establishment of an integrated computerized information system (ICIS). The second component - improving Irrigation Service Delivery and Management - will support the participatory rehabilitation, and modernization of selected irrigation schemes within the Culturable Command Area (CCA). The component will further enhance the safety of selected dams, and will also focus on the formation and capacity building of Water User's Associations (WUAS) among selected irrigation schemes. Improved water management practices will be implemented, with the inclusion of various instruments in six selected irrigation schemes. Agriculture support services will be strengthened, in liaison with the implementation of the social and environmental management plan. Innovative Pilots will be supported through the third component, to prod the user-centered, aquifer level groundwater management, and other pilots for innovative irrigated agriculture. Finally, the fourth component will support the Project Preparation and Management Unit (PPMIJ) at the state level, and, support monitoring and evaluation, as well as an information, education, and communication campaign to create awareness on project initiatives.