What are the benefits of implementing the ‘Integrated Watershed Development Programme’? (1). Prevention of soil runoff (2). Linking the country’s perennial rivers with seasonal rivers (3). Rainwater harvesting and recharge of groundwater table (4). Regeneration of natural vegetation Select the correct answer using the code given below.

The correct answer is C (1, 3 and 4 only). Statement 2 is the odd one out, and that is the whole question.

The Integrated Watershed Development Programme was a land-based programme, run by the Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development. Its work was to treat degraded catchments in rainfed areas. Its benefits are:

• (1) Prevention of soil runoff: contour bunding, check dams, and vegetative barriers slow surface flow and hold topsoil in place. This is correct.
• (3) Rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge: farm ponds, percolation tanks and check dams store rainwater and recharge aquifers. This is correct.
• (4) Regeneration of natural vegetation: closure of degraded land and plantation on it restore cover. This is correct.
• (2) Linking perennial and seasonal rivers: this is the river-linking concept, a Ministry of Water Resources matter under the National Perspective Plan (1980). It has nothing to do with watershed treatment, so it is wrong here.

The core concept is watershed as the unit of planning, where the whole catchment is treated from ridge to valley. For Mains GS-III this links to water conservation, drought mitigation and the rainfed farming agenda.

Note that the programme has since been folded into the watershed component of PMKSY (from 2015-16), so the name in current texts may differ.

Trap: aspirants pick A or D because river linking sounds like a water-resource scheme. Ask first whether the statement belongs to watershed treatment, not to water resources in general.