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Government of India
Ministry of Jal Shakti
24 MAR 2022 5:23PM by PIB Delhi
Decline in Water Table

No such information on groundwater level is available. However, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is periodically monitoring ground water levels throughout the country on a regional scale, through a network of monitoring wells. The water level data collected by CGWB during November 2021 when compared with the decadal mean of November (2011-2020) indicates that about 30% of the wells monitored have registered decline in ground water level and about 70 % wells have registered rise in water level. Detail are given at Annexure-I.

Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including preventing the depletion of groundwater reserves is primarily States’ responsibility. However, important measures taken by the Central Government for conservation, management of ground water and effective implementation of rain water harvesting in the country are available at the following URL:http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_ Feb2021.pdf. Some of the important initiatives in this regard are also given at Annexure-II.

Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019 in 256 water stressed districts in the country which continued during 2021 also to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the country. Further, the campaign “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22 March 2021.

In addition, a number of States have done notable work in the field of water conservation/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.

No studies have been undertaken for formulating Urban Drought Policy. However, the National Water Policy incorporates provisions/guidelines on drought management.

Guidelines have been issued on 24.09.2020 for regulation and control of ground water extraction in the country. Water being a State subject, the guidelines advocate for a participatory approach for sustainable ground water management in agriculture sector including working towards crop rotation, diversification & other initiatives to reduce over-dependence on groundwater.

Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) is being implemented in certain water stressed areas of the country, which includes activities like preparation of water security plan at Gram Panchayat level in participatory mode by involving communities to use available groundwater and surface water in an efficient manner.
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) which is operational from 2015-16. The PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop mainly focuses on water use efficiency at farm level through micro irrigation (drip and sprinkler irrigation system) to reduce the extraction of groundwater.

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

Annexure-I

State-wise Decadal Water Level Fluctuation with Mean [November (2011 to 2020] and November 2021

S. No.

Name of State

No. of wells Analysed

Rise

Fall

Rise

Fall

Wells showing no change

0-2 m

2-4 m

>4 m

0-2 m

2-4 m

>4 m

No

%

No

%

No

%

No

%

No

%

No

%

No

%

No

%

No

%

1

Andhra Pradesh

706

419

59.3

87

12.3

50

7.1

124

17.6

14

2.0

11

1.6

556

79

149

21

1

0

2

Arunachal Pradesh

10

2

20.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

8

80.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

2

20

8

80

0

0

3

Assam

167

71

42.5

3

1.8

1

0.6

83

49.7

6

3.6

3

1.8

75

45

92

55

0

0

4

Bihar

593

395

66.6

78

13.2

11

1.9

102

17.2

7

1.2

0

0.0

484

82

109

18

0

0

5

Chandigarh

12

4

33.3

2

16.7

1

8.3

3

25.0

1

8.3

1

8.3

7

58

5

42

0

0

6

Chhattisgarh

687

290

42.2

66

9.6

30

4.4

230

33.5

45

6.6

26

3.8

386

56

301

44

0

0

7

Dadra & Nagar Haveli

17

15

88.2

0

0.0

0

0.0

2

11.8

0

0.0

0

0.0

15

88

2

12

0

0

8

Daman & Diu

5

2

40.0

1

20.0

1

20.0

1

20.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

4

80

1

20

0

0

9

Delhi

86

29

33.7

21

24.4

15

17.4

12

14.0

3

3.5

6

7.0

65

76

21

24

0

0

10

Goa

68

9

13.2

0

0.0

1

1.5

52

76.5

5

7.4

1

1.5

10

15

58

85

0

0

11

Gujarat

746

278

37.3

122

16.4

112

15.0

140

18.8

50

6.7

44

5.9

512

69

234

31

0

0

12

Haryana

183

66

36.1

6

3.3

8

4.4

65

35.5

19

10.4

19

10.4

80

44

103

56

0

0

13

Himachal Pradesh

86

40

46.5

5

5.8

2

2.3

36

41.9

1

1.2

1

1.2

47

55

38

44

1

1

14

Jammu & Kashmir

213

100

46.9

4

1.9

3

1.4

99

46.5

4

1.9

3

1.4

107

50

106

50

0

0

15

Jharkhand

198

132

66.7

17

8.6

1

0.5

45

22.7

3

1.5

0

0.0

150

76

48

24

0

0

16

Karnataka

1290

709

55.0

265

20.5

123

9.5

159

12.3

20

1.6

14

1.1

1097

85

193

15

0

0

17

Kerala

1304

868

66.6

145

11.1

39

3.0

227

17.4

17

1.3

8

0.6

1052

81

252

19

0

0

18

Madhya Pradesh

1297

590

45.5

164

12.6

97

7.5

345

26.6

70

5.4

31

2.4

851

66

446

34

0

0

19

Maharashtra

1727

856

49.6

321

18.6

161

9.3

317

18.4

47

2.7

24

1.4

1338

77

388

22

1

0

20

Meghalaya

24

10

41.7

1

4.2

0

0.0

13

54.2

0

0.0

0

0.0

11

46

13

54

0

0

21

Nagaland

2

1

50.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

1

50.0

0

0.0

1

50

1

50

0

0

22

Odhisha

1245

650

52.2

32

2.6

2

0.2

517

41.5

35

2.8

8

0.6

684

55

560

45

1

0

23

Pondicherry

6

3

50.0

1

16.7

0

0.0

2

33.3

0

0.0

0

0.0

4

67

2

33

0

0

24

Punjab

176

46

26.1

7

4.0

1

0.6

74

42.0

38

21.6

10

5.7

54

31

122

69

0

0

25

Rajasthan

918

248

27.0

80

8.7

44

4.8

290

31.6

114

12.4

141

15.4

372

41

545

59

1

0

26

Tamil Nadu

538

201

37.4

146

27.1

113

21.0

54

10.0

13

2.4

11

2.0

460

86

78

14

0

0

27

Telangana

537

203

37.8

114

21.2

133

24.8

73

13.6

5

0.9

9

1.7

450

84

87

16

0

0

28

Tripura

22

8

36.4

0

0.0

0

0.0

11

50.0

3

13.6

0

0.0

8

36

14

64

0

0

29

Uttar Pradesh

646

358

55.4

102

15.8

21

3.3

118

18.3

32

5.0

15

2.3

481

74

165

26

0

0

30

Uttarakhand

45

23

51.1

3

6.7

2

4.4

9

20.0

4

8.9

4

8.9

28

62

17

38

0

0

31

West Bengal

721

417

57.8

87

12.1

34

4.7

117

16.2

34

4.7

31

4.3

538

75

182

25

1

0

Total

14275

70433

49.3

1880

13.2

1006

7.0

3328

23.3

591

4.1

421

2.9

9929

70

4340

30

6

0

 

Annexure-II

 “DECLINE IN WATER TABLE”.

Important initiatives on management of groundwater resources

Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the water stressed blocks of 256 districts in India.

In 2021, Ministry of Jal Shakti took up the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) 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) across the country during 22nd March 2021 to 30th November 2021. The campaign was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22 March 2021.

Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR (DoWR, RD & GR) is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), a Rs.6,000 crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation. Atal Jal is being implemented in 80 water stressed districts and 8,565 Gram Panchayats of seven States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), in consultation with States/UTs, has prepared ‘Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater - 2020’. The Master Plan – 2020 is a macro level plan indicating various structures for the different terrain conditions of the country. The Master Plan - 2020 envisages construction of about 1.42 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country to harness 185 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM).

National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM) is being implemented by CGWB as part of Ground Water Management and Regulation (GWM & R) Scheme, a Central Sector scheme. NAQUIM 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.

Government of India generally supports artificial groundwater recharge/water harvesting works in the country through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana - Watershed Development component (PMKSY-WDC), ‘Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) and Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies schemes’, a component of PMKSY.

 

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