DROP IN GROUND WATER RESOURCES

About 15% of the blocks/ talukas/ mandals in the country are over-exploited where withdrawal of ground water in excess of natural recharge has been responsible for depletion in ground water levels in various parts of the country including Northern States, as per the assessment of ground water resources carried out by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) jointly with States in 2004.

The CGWB has made a comparative study of depth to water level of pre-Monsoon (April/ May) 2009 with the mean water level of last seven years (Pre-Monsoon 2002 – Pre-Monsoon 2008) for north Indian States/ UTs namely Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, NCT Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh. The study has revealed that decline in ground water levels has been reported from majority of wells ranging from 0 –2 m and 2 – 4 m..

In order to address the issue of over-exploitation and to promote sustainable use of ground water, several measures such as rainwater harvesting and recharge to ground water have been taken by concerned State Governments. Government of India has taken following augmentation and regulatory measures for sustainable use of ground water:-

Augmentation measures: Launching of schemes for “Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies”, “ Artificial Recharge of Ground Water through Dugwells for over-exploited, critical and semi-critical areas of hard rock region covering seven States” and “Demonstrative Projects for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water and Rain Water Harvesting”, Farmers Participatory Action Research Programme (FPARP), constitution of Advisory Council on Artificial Recharge of Ground Water, institution of Bhoomijal Samvardhan Puraskars & National Water Award to encourage adoption of innovative practices of ground water augmentation and laverageing upon MNREGA for artificial recharge of ground water.

Regulatory measures: Circulation of a draft Model Bill to all the States/Union Territories to facilitate regulation and control the development and management of ground water, issuing of directions by Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) to States having ‘overexploited’ areas for taking necessary measures to adopt/ promote artificial recharge to ground water/ rain water harvesting, conservation of ground water and to also include provision for making construction of roof top rain water harvesting structures mandatory under the building bye-laws.

This information was given by the the Minister of State for Water Resources, Shri Vincent H. Pala in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.