The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is promoting sustainable management of water (including groundwater) in the country that includes use of all the modern techniques, supply side & demand side interventions for effective use of water, conjunctive use of both surface and groundwater, participatory water management by engaging the ultimate users the citizens/stake-holders (that include awareness generation about efficient water use techniques including controlling the misuse/wastage of water), groundwater management by knowing the aquifers’ (water bearing formations) characteristics, improvement of agriculture practices through incorporation of micro-irrigation techniques like drip & sprinkler irrigation, crop rotation/diversification, efficient water pricing etc.

Further, the 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 guideline in this regard with pan-India applicability was notified by the Ministry on 24 September 2020 with subsequent amendment on 29 March 2023. 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. The guideline also includes important provisions for management in agriculture sector.

Some of the important provisions of the guidelines which take care the sustainable management of groundwater including controlling the misuse/wastage of water are given as under.

1. Water management plan shall be prepared at assessment unit (Blocks/Taluks/Mandals/ Firkas etc) levels incorporating the water availability, utilisation, deficit etc.
2. Water audit shall be carried out on biennial basis by industries drawing groundwater beyond 100 cubic/day and the industries shall reduce groundwater use by at least 20% over the next three years. The water audit shall involve calculating water balance, water use and identifying ways to save water. The detailed water audit shall comprise of water system analysis, quantification of inefficiencies and leaks, reduction of water use in process application by modernisation of industries, water saving opportunities etc.
3. Water abstraction/restoration charges has been incorporated in the guideline and is levied based on total quantum of water use that include wastage/misuse of water. The water charges are telescopic in nature which encourages project proponents to reduce use of groundwater, minimise wastage/misuse to pay less to Government.
4. Environment compensation have been incorporated to restrict illegal extraction and to bring the project proponents within the regulation framework and to reduce reckless use of groundwater.
5. In the agriculture sector use of modern practices like participatory groundwater management, practice of crop rotation/diversification, review of free/subsidised electricity policy to farmers etc have been incorporated to reduce wastage/misuse/excessive use of water.

There is no specific Penalty levied against misuse/wastage of water. However, Penalties are levied for non-installation/faulty Digital water Flow meter with telemetry system, non-disclosure/ construction of additional groundwater abstraction structures, non-installation of Piezometers, non-construction and non-maintenance of water conservation structures/inadequate capacity of recharge, non-submission of water level/water quality data, non-maintenance of log book of daily withdrawal/non submission of groundwater abstraction data etc.

Further, Rs 51.99 Crore penalty have been realized by CGWA since 24.09.2020 till 31.07.2023 from project proponents working in 19 States/UTs regulated by CGWA. Details in this regard are given at Annexure.

In addition, as mentioned in part (a) above, Government is concentrating on sustainable management of water resources by engaging the communities/stake-holders and also levying water abstraction/restoration charges that includes inherent charges against misuse/wastage of water.

The strategy being adopted by the Government as mentioned in part (a) appears to be giving encouraging results as per available information. This can be seen on comparing latest groundwater resource estimation report (conducted jointly by Central Ground Water Board and States) - 2022 with the estimation report of 2017.

The average ‘Stage of Ground Water Extraction (i. e. gross groundwater extraction for all uses on an average to available groundwater resource)’ for the country as a whole works out to 60.08% in 2022 estimation as compared with 2017 estimation (63.33%), indicating overall improvement in the ground water regime.

Further, the above comparison reveals that the over-exploited (‘stage of groundwater extraction’ is more than 100 %) assessment units (blocks/mandals/firkas /district/valley etc) in 2017 were 1,186 (17.23%) out of 6,881 assessment units whereas in 2022, there were 1,006 (14.19%) over exploited units out of 7,089 assessment units indicating an improved trend in groundwater scenario.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 

ANNEXURE

 

Penalty Realized by CGWA since 24.09.2020 till 31.07.2023 from States/ UTs regulated by CGWA

 

 

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