Within the country, the Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are being periodically assessed jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments. As per the 2023 assessment, the Stage of Ground Water Extraction (SOE), which is a measure of Annual Ground Water Extraction for all uses (irrigation, industrial and domestic uses) over Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource, is 59% for the country as a whole.

As per the latest (6^th) Minor Irrigation (MI) Census, the total number of ground water schemes/structures in India is 2,19,32,799 (Dugwell – 82,78,425; Shallow Tubewell –55,85,839; Medium Tubewell–43,18,275 & Deep Tubewell - 37,50,260). The State wise details are given in Annexure.

Water being a State subject, the aspects related to water resources including irrigation activities are studied, planned, funded and executed by the State Governments. Identification of challenges or issues for underground water resource recovery or withdrawal through borewells is primarily the responsibility of the State Government. The Central Government provides technical support and financial assistance through its various centrally sponsored schemes. The Government of India has taken several initiatives to reduce the dependency on ground water, to increase the availability of ground water through both natural and artificial means and conserve and rejuvenate water bodies across the country.

As per ‘The United Nations World Water Development Report 2022 – GROUNDWATER Making the invisible visible’ India is among top ten countries with the highest shares in global groundwater withdrawal in 2017. The report can be seen at https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380721/PDF/380721eng.pdf.multi

 

Some of the important measures taken by the Central Government for rejuvenating ground water in the country can be seen at

https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3a70dc40477bc2adceef4d2c90f47eb82/uploads/2023/02/2023021742.pdf

Some of them are listed below: -

1. Government of India is implementing Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in the country in which special emphasis is being given for rainwater harvesting / groundwater recharge. First JSA was launched in 2019 in water stressed blocks of 256 districts which continued during the years 2021 and 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 March 2023 with the theme “Source Sustainability for Drinking Water”.
2. Hon’ble Prime Minister has launched Amrit Sarovar Mission on 24^th 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.
3. Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) which is operational from 2015-16 in the Country. The PMKSY-PDMC mainly focuses on water use efficiency at farm level through precision/micro irrigation. Besides promoting precision irrigation (Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation System) & better on-farm water management practices (to optimize the use of available water resources), this component also supports micro level water storage or, water conservation/management activities to supplement Micro Irrigation.
4. Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) has launched Atal Bhujal Yojana, a community led scheme for participatory ground water management focussing on demand side management of ground water. The scheme has been launched in some of the water stressed Gram Panchayats of 7 states, viz. Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Under this scheme, inter alia, states are incentivized for adopting water efficient agricultural practices like switching over to drips/sprinklers, crop diversification to less water incentive crops, mulching etc.
5. MoJS has also issued advisories to States/UTs to review their free/subsidized electricity policy to farmers, bring suitable water pricing policy and may work further towards crop rotation/diversification/other initiatives to reduce over-dependence on groundwater.
6. MoJS is promoting conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater and to reduce over-dependence on groundwater, surface water based Major and Medium irrigation projects have been taken up in the country under PMKSY-AIBP scheme in collaboration with States/UTs.
7. The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has been constituted under MoJS under section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for the purpose of regulation and control of ground water development and management in the country. Abstraction cum use of Groundwater in the country is regulated by CGWA by way of issuing NOCs as per the provisions of its Guidelines dated 24.09.2020 which have pan India applicability.
8. Bureau of Water Use Efficiency (BWUE) has been set up under MoJS to plan and execute nation-wide program for promotion of efficient use of water in irrigation, domestic water supply, municipal and/or industrial uses in the country.
9. Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 has been prepared by CGWB in consultation with the States/ UTs which is a macro level plan indicating various structures for the different terrain conditions of the country including estimated cost. Master Plan for Artificial Recharge has been prepared and shared with all the states/UTs for suitable interventions.

As per the information available, out of 19.24 Crore rural households in the country, approximately 13.76 Crore (71.51%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes as on 07.12.2023. The remaining 5.48 Crore rural households are planned to be covered within the Mission period.

Following ‘no one is left out’ principle, as on 07.12.2023, more than 2 lakh villages have become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ i.e. villages with 100% households with tap water supply and out of these, as on 07.12.2023, 90,272 villages have been Har Ghar Jal certified by the respective Gram Sabhas.

 

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

ANNEXURE

State Wise Total number of Schemes/structures – Ground Water (as per 6^th MI Census)

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AS

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