The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is recurrently keeping an eye on the ground water levels across the nation, through a network of monitoring wells, said the Ministry of Jal Shakti in a release.
The water level data collected by Central Ground Water Board in November 2021 when compared with the mean value of the past decade (2011-2020) water levels indicated that around 30 percent of the monitoring wells have recorded a decline in the ground water levels, whereas, around 70 percent of the monitoring wells have recorded a rise in water level.
The release further said that as the water resource is a State subject, working towards water management, including prevention of depletion of groundwater reserves is fundamentally the responsibility of the states. However, required measures have been taken up by the Central Government for conservation, management of ground water, along with the effective implementation of rainwater harvesting in the country.
In 2019, the central government launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 256 districts in the country which aimed to enhance water availability including ground water situations in the country. Later on, the campaign “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) was launched by the Prime Minister on the 22nd of March 2021.
Additionally, a number of States have undertaken remarkable endeavor in the field of water conservation and harvesting such as ‘Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan’ in Rajasthan, ‘Jalyukt Shibar’ in Maharashtra, ‘Sujalam Sufalam Abhiyan’ in Gujarat, ‘Mission Kakatiya’ in Telangana, ‘Neeru Chettu’ in Andhra Pradesh, ‘Jal Jeevan Hariyali’ in Bihar, ‘Jal Hi Jeevan’ in Haryana, and ‘Kudimaramath Scheme’ in Tamil Nadu.
The release clarified that no study has been taken up for the formulation of Urban Drought Policy. However, the National Water Policy incorporates provisions and guidelines on drought management. Guidelines were issued on the 24th of September 2020 for the regulation and control of ground water withdrawal in the country.
Since water is a subject of the state, the guidelines advocate the states for a participatory perspective for sustainable ground water management in agriculture sector, which involves working with regard to crop rotation, diversification and other similar initiatives so as to reduce the over-dependence on groundwater.
Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) is being carried out in some of the water stressed areas of the nation. The activities under Atal Bhujal Yojana includes preparation of water security plan at the Gram Panchayat level by involving communities to use available groundwater and surface water in an efficient manner.
Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is acting on Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) which has been operational from 2015-16. The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana’s Per Drop More Crop focuses primarily on the efficiency of water used at the farm level through micro irrigation (drip and sprinkler irrigation system) to support in the reduction of groundwater extraction.
Central Government Initiatives On Groundwater Management
Government of India launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, with a time-bound mission mode approach with the intent to improve water availability, including ground water situations in the water stressed blocks of 256 districts in India.
Ministry of Jal Shakti took up the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR), in 2021, with the theme “Catch the Rain – Where it Falls When it Falls” to cover all the blocks of all districts (rural as well as urban areas) throughout the country during 22nd March 2021 to 30th November 2021 period.
Department of Water Resources, RD & GR (DoWR, RD & GR) has undertaken the 6,000 crore rupees Central Sector Scheme, Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), for the sustainable management of ground water resources with the active participation of the community. Atal Jal is being implemented in 80 water stressed districts and 8,565 Gram Panchayats of seven States, namely, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), in consultation with the States and Union Territories, has prepared ‘Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water – 2020’. The Master Plan is a macro level plan indicating various setups for the varied terrain conditions of the nation. The Master Plan – 2020 proposes the construction of around 1.42 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures so as to harness approximately 185 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) of rain water.
National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM) is being implemented by the Central Ground Water Board as part of Ground Water Management and Regulation (GWM & R) Scheme, a Central Sector scheme.
National Aquifer Mapping and Management program envisages mapping of aquifers (water bearing formations), their characterization and development of Aquifer Management Plans to facilitate sustainable management of groundwater resources in the country. NAQUIM outputs are shared with States/UTs for suitable interventions.
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