The Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on November 9 released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report for the entire country for the year 2022.
Key points
- The assessment was carried out jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and States/UTs, which can be used for taking suitable interventions by various stake-holders.
- As per the 2022 assessment report, the total annual ground water recharge for the entire country is 437.60 billion cubic meters (BCM) and annual ground water extraction for the entire country is 239.16 BCM.
- Further, out of the total 7089 assessment units in the country, 1006 units have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’.
- A assessment indicates increase in ground water recharge which may mainly be attributed to increase in recharge from canal seepage, return flow of irrigation water and recharges from water bodies/tanks & water conservation structures.
- Further, analysis indicates improvement in ground water conditions in 909 assessment units in the country when compared with 2017 assessment data.
- In addition, overall decrease in number of over-exploited units and decrease in stage of groundwater extraction level have also been observed.
- The overall contribution of rainfall (both monsoon & non-monsoon) recharge to country’s total annual ground water recharge is 61 % and the share of recharge from ‘Other sources’ viz. canal seepage, return flow from irrigation, recharge from tanks, ponds and water conservation structures taken together is 39 %.
- The contribution in Annual Ground Water Recharge from rainfall during monsoon season is more than 70% in the states/UT of Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Daman & Diu
- Contribution of ground water is nearly 62% in irrigation, 85% in rural water supply and 50% in urban water supply.
- Assessment of water resources of the country dates back to 1901 when the First Irrigation Commission assessed the Surface Water Resources as 144 million hectare meters.
