{"id":590,"date":"2023-05-12T22:23:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T13:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niveditakhandekar.com\/?p=590"},"modified":"2024-07-31T22:16:58","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T13:16:58","slug":"jal-shakti-ministrys-groundwater-assessment-goes-digital-report-to-be-out-every-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niveditakhandekar.com\/?p=590","title":{"rendered":"Jal Shakti Ministry\u2019s groundwater assessment goes digital, report to be out every year\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mission Amrit Sarovar will record groundwater levels across 6.5 lakh villages. The pre- and post-monsoon data will help conservation efforts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2022, showed that the total annual ground water recharge was assessed as 437.60 bcm (Photo credit: Wikemedia commons)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Bringing in a paradigm change in groundwater monitoring, the Ministry of Jal Shakti is looking at digitalising its equipment. Starting 2023, it will bring out the groundwater assessment report every year. Another reason for cheer? India now boasts 50,000 new or revived water bodies under the Mission Amrit Sarovar. Also, an app named \u2018Jaldoot\u2019 will record groundwater levels across 6.5 villages twice a year.

These are significant developments because India is the largest user of groundwater in the world. According to a World Bank report, India consumes an estimated 230 cubic km of groundwater every year. This is more than one fourth of the global consumption and more than the United States and China put together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That\u2019s not all. According to the World Bank report, more than 60% of India\u2019s irrigated agriculture and 85% of drinking water supplies are dependent on groundwater. Also, almost two-thirds \u2013 63 per cent \u2013 of India\u2019s districts are threatened by falling groundwater levels. With climate change leading to erratic rainfall, groundwater would be the only reliable source for domestic, agrarian, as well as industrial needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital water level recorder (DWLR)<\/strong>\u00a0

The groundwater assessment report would now be released on an annual basis. Earlier, the Ministry brought out several of its assessment reports with irregular gaps. For instance, the \u2018National Compilation of Dynamic Groundwater Resources in India\u2019 released in 2022, and the previous edition in 2017.

\u201cStarting this year, we are going to bring out the Assessment Report every year. We are also increasing the number of monitoring wells for better data gathering,\u201d Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, told News9 Plus.

Currently, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has piezometer and open wells at nearly 26,000 locations for monitoring both quantity and quality of groundwater. Till now, the process was manual, with readings taken four times a year for level monitoring and once a year for quality.

\u201cWith our 26,000-plus monitoring wells, clubbed with those from different state governments, we were getting data from 67,000 locations for our assessment reports. We plan to expand our own network to 40,000 locations. So are several states, too. We are expecting this total number to increase to about one lakh,\u201d said Subodh Yadav, Joint Secretary in the Jal Shakti Ministry.

Under the National Hydrology Project, all new additions are that of DWLR \u2013 the digital water level recorder \u2013 which not only records water level but also the water quality. Each such geo-tagged DWLR is linked to the telemetry system that enables real-time remote data collection and will also boost data collection from four times a year to four times a day. This will reportedly enable a better assessment and can be used for research and other scientific purposes.

Acknowledging the fact that the earlier cycle was erratic, Yadav said, \u201cNow, we would be following the June to May cycle. So, by September this year, we shall be bringing out the assessment for June 2022 to May 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaldoot app\u2019s pre- and post-monsoon assessment\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, another dataset is likely to be available from the end of 2023.

\u201cThe Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, have jointly developed the Jaldoot app for measuring the water level in a Gram Panchayat through two-three selected open wells,\u201d said an official from the Ministry of Rural Development.

The Ministry of Rural Development has been running the Mission Amrit Sarovar since April 2022. As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country.

At a recent workshop about rainwater harvesting organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Amit Kataria, Mission Director, Amrit Sarovar, had said, \u201cThe Jaldoot app is recording pre-monsoon and post-monsoon readings from 6.5 lakh villages across India. We have already obtained data for post-monsoon in 2022. This year, we would be obtaining data for both pre-monsoon and post-monsoon.\u201d

This massive data set will prove immensely useful for conservation initiatives. \u201cThis huge database will help a lot for assessing the impact of water conservation efforts and help us identify the specific locations where more efforts are needed,\u201d he added.

He also said that the Mission would be happy to share this database with other line departments for helping in policy decisions.

As on May 12, the number of water bodies for which the work was completed was 50,794, out of 105,734 water identified across the country.

The Mission aims at a water body with a minimum pondage area of 1 acre (0.4 hectare), minimum water holding capacity of 10,000 cubic metre, and most importantly, a site for flag hoisting every August 15 and January 26.

\u201cWe have also emphasised on people\u2019s participation at all stages of development, right through planning to completion,\u201d Kataria said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Precarious groundwater situation\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

More than 75% of India\u2019s annual rainfall is received between June to September, which means a large temporal variation. Also, even when the average annual rainfall is about 120 cm, it ranges from 40 cm in western Rajasthan to 250 cm in Meghalaya, leading to large-scale spatial variation.

The Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2022, showed that the total annual ground water recharge was assessed as 437.60 bcm (billion cubic metre). Keeping an allocation for natural discharge, the annual extractable ground water resource worked out as 398.08 bcm.

Out of the total 7,089 assessment units (Blocks\/ Districts\/ Mandals\/ Talukas\/ Firkas) in the country, 14% were \u2018Over Exploited\u2019; 4% were \u2018Critical\u2019; 12% were \u2018Semi-Critical\u2019 and 67% were \u2018Safe\u2019, depending on the percentage of groundwater extracted compared to groundwater recharged. Over and above this, 2% were categorised as \u2018Saline\u2019.

The latest government scheme, the Atal Bhujal Yojana, was launched in 2019 to arrest the precipitous decline. The World Bank joined in 2020 to support government of India in over 9,000 water-scarce gram panchayats in seven states \u2013 Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka \u2013 that account for about 25% of the area where groundwater is under stress.

(This story first appeared on news9live.com on May 12, 2023 and can be read here.<\/a>)
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