Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) periodically assess the groundwater resources of the country in collaboration with States/UTs in which the assessment units are taken in terms of Block/Mandal/Taluk/Watershed/Firka etc. As per the 2022 assessment, out of the total 7,089 assessment units in the country, 1,006 assessment units (14%) in 15 States/UTs have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’ where the Annual Ground Water Extraction is more than annual available Ground Water Resource. As per the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment 2022 (latest), 04 States/UTs viz. Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu have Stage of Ground Water Extraction greater than 100 %. In addition, as per 2022 assessment, 102 districts falling in 11 States/UTs have number of over-exploited assessment units more than 50 % of total assessment units in the district.

 

Groundwater in the country is being used for various purposes i.e. irrigation, domestic including drinking water, infrastructure projects and industrial uses etc. Groundwater levels in certain parts of the country are declining due to continuous withdrawal due to urbanisation, industrialization, population growth and vagaries of rainfall etc. Water being State subject, reducing the dependence on groundwater and efforts for sustainable ground water management fall under States’ mandate, however, important steps in this direction can be seen at http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps%20taken%20by%20the%20Central%20Govt%20for%20water_depletion_july2022.pdf. Some of them are listed as under.

1. 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 also (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^th 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. 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 based on water budgeting of the area involving the local communities at village levels leading to sustainable groundwater management in the targeted areas.
4. 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.
5. CGWB is implementing National Aquifer Mapping Program (NAQUIM) in the country and an area of 25.15 lakh sq km (the available mappable area) has been covered under the NAQUIM studies. The NAQUIM study report along-with management plans are shared with States/UTs for suitable interventions.
6. Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has formulated Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016 for the States/UTs, wherein adequate focus has been given on requirement of rainwater harvesting and water conservation measures. As per MBBL, all buildings having a plot size of 100 Sq.m. or, more shall mandatorily include the complete proposal of rainwater harvesting. 35 States/ UTs have adopted the features of the Model Bye Laws.
7. This Department is promoting conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater and to reduce 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.

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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AS

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