Groundwater

These documents deal with proceedings of the discussion initiated by Gomukh Trust, Pune with support from Arghyam, Bangalore on “Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act” to examine it in the context of Integrated River Basin  Management and community participation.  The objectives of the conference were –

The national seminar on “Changing geohydrological scenario in the hard rock terrain in India”, was jointly organised by the Geological Society of India, Department of Mines and Geology, Central Ground Water Board, Karnataka Jal Biradari and Karnataka Institute of Cooperative Management.

The Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources organized a “National Congress on Groundwater” in 2007 to address various issues related to better governance of groundwater as well as facilitate the sharing of information and coordination with various agencies and stakeholders engaged in the programme of groundwater development and management.

Planning commsision releases september 2007 report of the expert group on "Ground Water Management and Ownership". The report looks primarily at the problem of rural depletion of groundwater and looked into the feasibility and necessity of changing groundwater law.

Rural Development Engineering Department, Government of Karnataka, carried out an analysis of water sources for its quality in rural villages (during 2000-2001).

Forwarded to the Portal by: Nitya Jacob, UN

Dr Kurien Baby, District Collector of Trissur, Kerala, and Solution Exchange Water Community are organizing a regional meeting to discuss the effects of the Mazhapolima program. The dates are 16-17 June 2009, and it will be held in Trissur.

Background

Kerala has among the highest well densities in India, and 71% of the population depends on them for drinking water. The aggregate household investment in the state on wells is pegged at Rs 1800 crore and they have a combined yield potential of 6.6 million cu m per day. That works out to a water availability of 197 litres of water per capita per day (lpcd), well above the government's prescribed norm of 140 lpcd. These wells are threatened. Despite an annual rainfall of 3,000 mm, 70% go dry in summer. The surface runoff is heavy, and therefore groundwater levels in several blocks have fallen sharply, and coupled with saline intrusion at an accelerated pace, have led to water quality problems.

The table below provides a categorization of blocks, mandals, taluks and watersheds as overexploited and dark on an all India basis with respect to status of groundwater use and availability.

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Realising the necessity and urgency to provide sustainability to ground water resources in the critical areas of the country, Central Ground Water Board prepared a "Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water" in 2002, for different States and Union Territories of the country.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) presents a table of groundwater contamination in different states, as well as a table of areas with particularly high chemical contamination due to industrial activity.

Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in the Ganga-Padma-Meghna-Brahmaputra Plain of India and Bangladesh.This report from the Jadhavpur University highlights the intensity and magnitude of the arsenic contamination in the Ganga-Meghna-Bramhaputra plain which includes states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam covering an area of 569,749 sq km.