Steps Taken for Sustainable Management of Water Resources
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the Country including cities on a regional scale, through a network of monitoring wells. In order to assess the decline in water level on a long-term basis, the water level data of urban areas collected by CGWB during November 2022 has been compared with the decadal average (2012-2021). Analysis of water level data with respect to cities (with population greater than 10.00 Lakh) indicates that about 59.8% of the wells monitored have registered rise in ground water levels.
However, as per available information, the ground water levels in some parts of the country including certain cities are declining because of continuous withdrawal necessitated by increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization & urbanization etc.
Water being the State subject, construction of large reservoirs for storage of water to meet the water requirement falls under the purview of the States, however, a number of steps have been taken by the Central Government for sustainable management of water in the country. The details in this regard can be accessed through web-link: https://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps%20taken%20by%20the%20Central%20Govt%20for%20water_depletion_july2022.pdf Some of them are listed as below.
i. The Ministry has finalized the National Water Policy 2012, whose provisions can be appropriately utilized while framing the water legislations by the States/UTs. The water policy advocates conservation, promotion and protection of water and highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through rain water harvesting, direct use of rainfall, water demand management, increasing water use efficiency, water pricing including incentivisation of recycle & reuse of water etc.
ii. Government of India is implementing Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in the country. First JSA was launched in 2019 in water stressed blocks of 256 districts which continued during the years 2021, 2022 (across entire country both rural and urban areas) with the primary aim to effectively harvest the monsoon rainfall through creation of artificial recharge structures, watershed management, recharge and reuse structures, intensive afforestation and awareness generation etc. JSA for the year 2023 have been launched by Hon'ble President of India on 04 Mar 2023 with the theme “Source Sustainability for Drinking Water”.
iii. Hon’ble Prime Minister has launched Amrit Sarovar Mission on 24th April 2022. The Mission is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
iv. Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has been constituted under Section 3(3) of the "Environment (Protection) Act, 1986" for the purpose of regulation and control of ground water by industries, mining projects, infrastructure projects etc in the country. The latest guideline in this regard with pan-India applicability was notified by the Ministry on 24 September 2020. CGWA and States issue No Objection Certificate (NOC) for extraction of groundwater to various industries/project proponents as per their jurisdiction and as per the extant guidelines.
v. The Central Government is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana with an outlay of Rs. 6,000 crore, in collaboration with States, in certain water stressed areas of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The primary aim of the scheme is demand side management through scientific means involving the local communities at village levels leading to sustainable groundwater management in the targeted areas.
vi. CGWB is implementing National Aquifer Mapping Program (NAQUIM) in the country and an area of 25.15 lakh sq km has been covered under the NAQUIM studies. The NAQUIM study report along-with management plans are shared with States/UTs for suitable interventions.
vii. Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 has been prepared by the CGWB with States/UTs providing a broad outline of the project and expected investments. The Master Plan envisages construction of about 1.42 crore Rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the Country to harness 185 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) of water.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
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