‘Water’ is a state subject and the responsibility of proper management of ground water resources lies primarily with the concerned state governments. The Central government complements the efforts of the states by providing technical and financial assistance through its various schemes and projects. In this direction, the important steps taken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) and other central ministries for sustainable management of ground water resources in the country, through active community participation are provided below:

• MoJS is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme, emphasising on community led participatory management of ground water resources. This is a first of its kind scheme to focus both on demand and supply side interventions for conservation of groundwater and entails capacity building at the grassroots level for decentralized and more efficient water governance.

• The Government is implementing Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in the country since 2019 which is a mission mode and time bound programme for harvesting the rainfall and taking up water conservation and ground water recharge activities, through active community involvement. More than 700 Jal Shakti Kendras (JSKs) have been set up under Abhiyan in various districts of the country for interacting with local community and dissemination of water related knowledge.

• To further strengthen the momentum of Jal Shakti Abhiyan, the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari has been launched, which emphasizes the importance of Jan Bhagidari or peoples’ participation in water conservation with the aim to have a special focus on the construction of low cost and locally suited artificial recharge structures/borewell recharge shafts, which will increase storage capacity & help to augment groundwater recharge.

• Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), key interventions like construction of farm ponds, check dams, percolation tanks, contour trenches, and rejuvenation of traditional water bodies are taken up with an objective to enhance water availability and aquifer recharge. Approximately 60% of the resources are spent on Natural Resource Management (NRM) of which these water conservation and recharge activities are a major component.

• Moreover, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under this Ministry, organizes various Public Interaction Programs (PIP) and Mass Awareness Programs (MAP), on local ground water issues, educating the public about importance of ground water recharge and promoting sustainable practices for ground water management.

Atal Bhujal Yojana is being implemented in 8,203 priority Gram Panchayats(GPs) across 7 States, viz. Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, on pilot basis. The States/GPs were selected based on a number of criteria including degree of groundwater exploitation and degradation, established legal and regulatory mechanisms, institutional readiness, experience in implementing initiatives related to groundwater management and willingness to participate.Final selection of GPs has been made by respective state governments only, considering administrative feasibility and maximization of scheme effectiveness.

Atal Bhujal Yojana is being implemented at Gram Panchayat level, and therefore, all villages falling within a Gram Panchayat are covered under the scheme. The water stressed Gram Panchayats covered under Atal Bhujal Yojana in the seven participating states, including Karnataka, can be seen at the following link: https://ataljal.mowr.gov.in/WriteReadData/GeneralNotices/6ebd9724-a9b2-4bb1-a8d5-4843116c4e37_adbbde_Master_List_ABY_26072024.pdf

Further, major activities/works undertaken under the Scheme are mentioned below:

• Measurement and public disclosure of groundwater data is being made on regular basis across all 8,203 Atal Jal Gram Panchayats (GPs) of all 7 states through physical as well as electronic means.

• Community-led Water Budgets (WBs) and Water Security Plans (WSPs) have been prepared by all GPs of all 7 states and updated annually.

• More than 1.25 lakh GP-level trainings have been conducted, alongside Block, District and State-level capacity-building trainings.

• Piezometers along with Digital Water Level Recorders (DWLRs) and Rain Gauges have been installed in almost all GPs under the Yojana.

• Around 81,700 supply-side structures like check dams, ponds, recharge shafts/pits etc. have been constructed/renovated for water conservation and groundwater recharge across 7 states.

• Around 9 lakh hectares have been brought under efficient water-use practices (drip/sprinkler irrigation, mulching, crop diversification, etc.) across 7 states.

The details of total amount of funds released and utilised, state-wise, as on 31.03.2025 under Atal Bhujal Yojana are as under:

(amount in Rs. Crores)

 

This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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MAM/SMP/NM

(Rajya Sabha US Q2485)

(Release ID: 2155030)