The Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) released the ‘National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources Of India, 2023’ whose assessment was carried out jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and States/UTs for taking suitable interventions by various stake-holders.
- CGWB works under the aegis of Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, MoJS.
Highlights:
i.Total Annual Ground Water Recharge : 449.08 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM)
- It has increased 11.48 BCM from 437.6 BCM (2022).
- The major increase is noticed in the States of West Bengal (WB), Assam, Telangana, Chhatisgarh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Bihar.
ii.Annual Extractable Ground Water Resources : 407.21 BCM
- It shows an increase from 398.08 BCM in 2022.
- Out of 407.21 bcm of Total Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource, 45.12 bcm (11.08 %) are under ‘Over-Exploited’, 12.91 bcm (3.17 %) are under ‘Critical’, 47.37 bcm (11.63 %) are under ’Semi-Critical’, 301.8 bcm (74.11 %) are under ‘Safe’ category assessment units.
iii.Annual Ground Water Extraction : 241.34 bcm
- It has marginally increased from 239.16 bcm in 2022.
iv.Average stage of Ground Water Extraction : 59.26%
- The overall stage of groundwater extraction has marginally decreased from 60.08 % to 59.26 %
Over-Exploited Assessment Units:
Out of the total 6553 assessment units (Blocks/ Mandals/ Talukas) in the country, 736 units in various States/ UTs (11.23%) have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’ indicating ground water extraction exceeding the annually replenishable ground water recharge.
- These units are mostly concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh (UP), Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
- In some areas of the country, good continuous rainfall and management practices like ground water augmentation and conservation measures through government and private initiatives have resulted in improvement in ground water situation.
What does the Assessment Indicates?
i.Groundwater conditions in 226 assessment units in India have shown improvement compared to 2022 data.
ii.Out of a total of 6553 assessment units, 4793 units are categorized as ‘Safe.’
iii.More than 75% of annual rainfall occurs during the four rainy months from June to September 2023.
iv.The primary source of replenishable groundwater resources is rainfall recharge, contributing to nearly 60% of the total annual groundwater recharge.
v.India receives an average annual rainfall of about 119cm.
Note:
The areas on Western Ghats, Sub-Himalyan areas in North East and Meghalaya Hills receive heavy rainfall over 250 cm annually, whereas the areas of Northern parts of Kashmir and Western Rajasthan receive rainfall less than 40 cm.
About Assessment:
i.Groundwater Resource Assessment is conducted periodically by State Ground Water Departments and the Central Ground Water Board, guided by State Level Committees on Ground Water Assessment and overseen by the Central Level Expert Group (CLEG).
ii.Joint exercises occurred in 1980, 1995, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2020, and 2022, with annual assessments starting from 2022.
iii.The assessment follows the norms and guidelines of the Ground Water Estimation Committee (GEC) 2015 Methodology.
iv.The first systematic methodology to assess the ground water resources of India was held in 1979 by the GroundWater Overexploitation Committee..
Participants:
Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, MoJS, Ms. Debashree Mukherjee; Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, MoJS, Ms. Vini Mahajan; among others.
Recent Related News:
i.The Executive Committee (EC) of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) during its 51st meeting approved 7 projects worth around Rs. 285 crore. The meeting was held on 12th October 2023 under the chairmanship of G. Asok Kumar, Director General (DG) of NMCG.
ii.Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana-Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIBP) creates irrigation potential through major projects; 53 completed, adding 25.14 lakh hectare potential. The AIBP component is implemented by the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS).
About Central Ground Water Board (CGWB):
Chairman– Dr. Sunil Kumar Ambast
Headquarters– Faridabad, Haryana
Formed in – 1970
