The government is committed to ensure sustainable management and development of water and groundwater resources of the country by promoting judicious use and robust conservation efforts. However, it may be appreciated that ‘Water’ being a State subject, sustainable development and management of water and groundwater resources is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments. The Central Government, on its part, facilitates the efforts of the State Governments by way of technical and financial assistance through its various schemes and projects. The major steps taken in this direction with a focus on Over-exploited, Critical and Semi-critical (OCS) areas of the country, including the achievements thereof, are provided below:

1. Efforts of the Central Government for augmenting the water/groundwater resources of the country, are mainly channeled through the flagship campaign of Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA). JSA is a time bound and mission mode programme being conducted annually since 2019 by the M/o Jal Shakti, covering both rural and urban areas, wherein all the efforts and funds under various schemes and projects are converged to deliver water harvesting and artificial recharge works on the ground.

Currently, JSA 2025 is underway in the country with special focus on over-exploited and critical districts. As per the available information, under JSA, completion of around 1.21 Crore water conservation and artificial recharge works has been coordinated through convergence in the country in the last 4 years, which has played a key role in enhancing the sustainability of ground water resources.

2. To further strengthen the momentum of Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari: A Community-Driven Path to Water Sustainability in India has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister with a vision to make rain water harvesting a mass movement in the country. By promoting community ownership and responsibility, the initiative seeks to develop cost-effective, local solutions tailored to specific water challenges across different regions.
3. M/o Jal Shakti has successfully demonstrated the efficacy of community led participatory ground water management through Atal Bhujal Yojana, which was implemented in 80 water stressed districts in 7 States. Construction of various rain water harvesting and recharge structures like check dams, ponds, shafts etc. as well as promotion of micro irrigation was taken up through convergence and by use of incentive funds under the scheme. As a result, around 83,000 structures were constructed and more than 9 lakh hectares of land was brought under efficient irrigation practices in the scheme implementation area.
4. With an objective to ensure sustainability of water resources in urban areas, M/o Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), GoI, has been implementing AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0 Schemes, which are major initiatives to improve the quality of life in cities, enabling them to become 'self-reliant' and 'water secure'. Rejuvenation of urban water bodies is an important thrust area under the scheme.
5. Under Shallow Aquifer Management (SAM) of MoHUA, priority cities have been selected for addressing groundwater depletion and water logging, by taking up pilot recharge structures across various cities of the country.
6. Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched by the Government of India which aimed at developing and rejuvenating at least 75 water bodies in each district of the country. As an outcome nearly 69,000 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed/rejuvenated in the country leading to enhanced water storage and ground water recharge.
7. Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (DA & FW) is implementing Per Drop More Crop Scheme since 2015-16, which focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation leading to conservation of ground water.
8. After the successful completion of NAQUIM 1.0, which mapped country's aquifers and provided a macro-level understanding of our nation's groundwater resources, the Central Ground Water Board has now embarked upon NAQUIM 2.0, focusing on water stressed and quality affected pockets. Under NAQUIM 2.0 state-of-the-art technologies are harnessed, for generating highly detailed, scientific data which serve as an important tool for making informed decisions for sustainable groundwater management.
9. CGWB has also prepared the Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020, for the entire country providing a broad outline for construction of around 1.42 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country to harness 185 BCM (Billion cubic meter). The Masterplan has been shared with State/UT administrations for taking up suitable field interventions.

As a result of such consistent and cumulative efforts, the data indicates that the overall ground water situation in the country is showing steady improvement. As per the dynamic ground water resource assessment data of CGWB, total annual ground water recharge in the country has increased from 432 BCM (Billion Cubic Meters) to 448.52 BCM between 2017 to 2025. Similarly, the percentage of safe assessment units has increased from 62.6% to 73.14% and that of over-exploited units has declined from 17.2% to 10.8% during the same period.

Regarding the ground water quality aspect, CGWB generates ground water quality data on a regional scale throughout the country as part of its ground water quality monitoring program and various scientific studies as per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

During 2024, Groundwater quality hotspot monitoring was undertaken by the CGWB to assess contaminant distribution and spatial spread in areas where concentrations of key water quality parameters exceeded the permissible limits prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS: 10500:2012). The objective of this exercise was to delineate localized contamination zones and understand the extent of contaminant migration within the surrounding areas.

The hotspot monitoring focused on parameters of major concern at the national level like Arsenic, Fluoride, Nitrate, etc. and sampling analysis was undertaken in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Delhi. Detailed reports of hotspot monitoring are provided in The Annual Ground Water Quality Report – 2025 released by the CGWB, which can be viewed at:

https://cgwb.gov.in/cgwbpnm/public/uploads/documents/1762854375262680475file.pdf#page=98

The 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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ND

(Rajya Sabha USQ 881)

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