{"id":224068,"date":"2023-01-28T19:03:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T13:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=224068"},"modified":"2023-02-20T15:03:21","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T09:33:21","slug":"indias-groundwater-governance-is-in-better-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-groundwater-governance-is-in-better-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s groundwater governance is in better shape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/span><\/b>: The post is based on the article <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>India\u2019s groundwater governance is in better shape<\/span><\/b>\u201d <\/span><\/b>published in<\/span> The Hindu<\/span><\/b> on <\/span>28th January 2023<\/span><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/span><\/b>GS1- Economic geography. GS2- Government policies and interventions<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Relevance<\/span><\/b>: Regulation and management of groundwater resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

News<\/span><\/b>: The article explains the facts and statistics about groundwater in India. <\/span><\/p>\n

What are some facts and statistics about groundwater resources in India?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

India has nearly <\/span>18% of the world\u2019s population<\/span><\/b>. It occupies about<\/span> 2.4% of the total geographical area and consumes 4% of the total water resources<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A <\/span>World Bank report<\/span><\/b> says that India is the largest groundwater user. A rapidly growing economy and population are straining the country\u2019s groundwater resources.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

India has d<\/strong><\/span>istinct and varying hydro-geological settings<\/span><\/b>. Groundwater is the<\/span> backbone of India\u2019s agriculture and drinking water security<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>It meets nearly <\/span>80% of the country\u2019s drinking water and two-thirds of its irrigation needs<\/span><\/b>. Groundwater is pivotal to India\u2019s water security.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the steps taken by the government for protecting groundwater resources?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Jal Shakti Ministry<\/span><\/b> was created by merging the erstwhile Ministries of Water Resources with Drinking Water and Sanitation. This was to give impetus to the <\/span>management of water resources <\/span><\/b>with special focus on <\/span>demand and supply management<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The J<\/strong><\/span>al Shakti Abhiyan<\/span><\/b> was launched for <\/span>community participation<\/span><\/b> in the management of water resources through <\/span>asset creation<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>rainwater harvesting and extensive awareness campaigns<\/span><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY)<\/a><\/strong>: It looks to inculcate <\/span>behavioural change through incentivisation<\/span><\/b>. The goal is <\/span>\u201cparticipatory groundwater management<\/span><\/b>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

National Project on Aquifer Management (NAQUIM)<\/strong>: It envisages the <\/span>mapping of subsurface aquifers<\/span><\/b> to help gather authentic data and enable informed decision-making. Around 24 lakh square kms of the country has been mapped. <\/span>Region-wise aquifer management plans<\/span><\/b> are being prepared and shared with States.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Monitoring stations<\/strong>: There are around 65,025 monitoring stations in India. The numbers are set to go beyond 84,000.\u00a0 The focus will be on identified <\/span>high groundwater extracting industrial and urban clusters and groundwater stressed regions<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Samples from fixed locations are obtained to check for the <\/span>presence of heavy and trace metals<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dynamic groundwater assessments<\/span><\/b> will be done annually now and a <\/span>groundwater estimation committee<\/span><\/b> formed to revise the assessment methodology.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A software, \u2018<\/span>India-Groundwater Resource Estimation System (IN-GRES)\u2019<\/span><\/b>, has also been developed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the impacts of steps taken by the government for protecting groundwater resources?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

The <\/span>groundwater resource assessment report 2022<\/span><\/b> shows a brighter future for groundwater situations in the country as the initiatives taken by various governments have begun yielding results.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the latest assessment, there has been a 3% reduction in the number of <\/span>\u2018overexploited\u2019 groundwater units<\/span><\/b> and a 4% increase in the number of <\/span>\u2018safe\u2019 category units <\/span><\/b>as compared to 2017.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was an <\/span>improvement in groundwater conditions<\/span><\/b> in 909 units. The assessment also showed a reduction in annual extraction. <\/span>Overall extraction<\/span><\/b> saw a declining trend of about 3.25% since 2017.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Around 9.37 BCM of additional groundwater potential was created through <\/span>artificial water conservation structures<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The government\u2019s interventions for creating a positive impact on the overall groundwater scenario in India reflect the <\/span>spirit of cooperative federalism<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the way forward to ensure sustainable management of groundwater resources?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

India will need a<\/strong><\/span>dequate groundwater resources<\/span><\/b> to manage anthropogenic pressures.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to <\/span>ensure source sustainability<\/span><\/b> to provide safe drinking water to all rural households by 2024, under the Jal Jeevan Mission.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Communities will have to <\/span>manage their groundwater resources in a better way<\/span><\/b> with the help of various government agencies and non-governmental organisations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the context of <\/span>climate change<\/span><\/b>, more efforts must be made to find solutions that are essential for <\/span>sustainable development<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Steps must be taken to make India a <\/span>water surplus nation<\/span><\/b>,<\/span> thus fulfilling the objective of a key United Nations <\/span>Sustainable Development Goal, of water for all<\/span><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on the article \u201cIndia\u2019s groundwater governance is in better shape\u201d published in The Hindu on 28th January 2023.\u00a0 Syllabus: GS1- Economic geography. GS2- Government policies and interventions\u00a0 Relevance: Regulation and management of groundwater resources. News: The article explains the facts and statistics about groundwater in India. What are some facts… Continue reading India\u2019s groundwater governance is in better shape<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[263,10498],"class_list":["post-224068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-1","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}