The National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme was initiated and implemented by Central Ground Water Board under the scheme of Ground Water Management & Regulation during XII plan (2012-17). The Programme is proposed to be continued in 2017-20, during which a number of scientific activities for data generation, preparation of aquifer maps and management plans will be undertaken through in-house resources of CGWB. However, considering the limited manpower and infrastructure facilities available with CGWB, some activities pertaining to data generation, ground water monitoring and ground water modelling shall be completed through outsourcing as well as involvement of State Governments and Academic /Research Institutions. The State Governments will be associated with CGWB in various activities related to sharing of existing data and data generation wherever sufficient manpower with required technical capabilities is available. The Aquifer Maps and Management Plans will be shared with the State Agencies and stakeholders for implementation. Some of the activities will also be outsourced to achieve the targets by hiring of services of consultant/ agencies/ firms having capabilities to perform such works in ground water sector.
CGWB has identified an area of 25 lakh sqkm area for Aquifer Mapping and Management plan. Out of which 6.30 Lakh sqkm has been covered till March, 2017. Further it is envisaged to cover an additional 6.31 Lakh sqkm area during 2017-20. The annual target of Aquifer Mapping has been fixed as 2.3 lakh sqkm, 2.1 lakh sqkm and 2.2 Lakh sqkm to be covered in the year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively. During the year 2017-18, for an area of 2.36 Lakh sqkm, Aquifer Maps and management plans have been prepared against the target of 2.3 Lakh sqkm. Total area covered so far is 8.67 Lakh sqkm.
In addition to above, aquifer mapping and management plan preparation is also proposed to be taken up in the over-exploited and critical assessment units in the aspirational districts. In the identified 117 aspirational districts, 77 over-exploited and critical assessment units have been identified to be covered under aquifer mapping and management plan preparation by 2018-19.
INNOVATION AND NEW INITIATIVES
a). Micro level Aquifer Management Plans for 1000 Gram Panchayats/ Villages
It is envisaged to prepare Micro Level Aquifer Management Plans for representative Gram Panchayats in various hydrogeological typologies across the country. In the first phase, it is proposed to have detailed Aquifer Management Plans for 1000 such representative Panchayats. Selection of the Panchayats will be made on the basis of the stage of ground water development, ground water contamination profile, ground water development prospects including requests of the State Agencies to address any specific ground water related problems. It is also envisaged to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the various activities under different schemes like MGNREGA, Watershed Development, PMKSY etc in these Panchayats having direct/indirect impact on ground water resources with a view to suggest measures for improvement in its overall impact.
b). Mathematical Modeling for Aquifer Management Plan
Mathematical modeling is one of most used tools for assessment and prediction of ground water scenarios of an area. Under the NAQUIM program it is proposed to cover around six lakh km2 area spread over the country under mathematical modelling.CGWB has undertaken and completed ground water modeling in many of the aquifer mapping areas. e.g. Delhi, parts of Tamilnadu, parts of Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh. CGWB has initiated ground water modeling in Haryana, Punjab and Bundelkhand region in collaboration with IIT, Kanpur. CGWB has also initiated ground water modeling in parts of Karnataka in collaboration with IISc.
c). Initiatives in Over Exploited and Critical Blocks of Aspirational District
The Central Ground Water has taken up NAQUIM mapping & management plan studies in Aspirational Districts. Aquifer mapping and management plan preparation is also proposed to be taken up in the over-exploited and critical assessment units in the aspirational districts. In the identified 117 aspirational districts, 77 over-exploited and critical assessment units have been identified to be covered under aquifer mapping and management plan preparation.
These blocks / assessment units fall in 19 aspirational districts of 10 States (Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana) wherein apart from NAQUIM & regular monitoring, the following programs are also initiated during 2018-19 for implementation on war-footing to increase interaction with locals & their capacity building in water conservation: