UP, Haryana, Gujarat In Focus To Improve Groundwater Level In 7 States: Govt

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) To prevent deterioration of groundwater level, the government is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central scheme with a total outlay of Rs 6,000 crore, in identified water stressed areas of 8,203 Gram Panchayats (GPs) at 229 blocks in 80 districts of seven states, the Parliament was informed on Thursday.

The seven states are Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Minister of Jal Shakti C.R. Patil said in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

He said the Yojana, with an aim to arrest decline in ground water level through community led sustainable groundwater management, is being implemented from April 1, 2020 for a period of 5 years.

A total of Rs 3,346.91 crore has been disbursed to the states since the inception of the scheme, the Minister said.

The scheme focuses on demand side management of ground water by bringing change in community behavior, the Minister said.

Gram Panchayat wise Water Security Plans (WSPs) having details about water budget and proposed demand side interventions such as micro-irrigation, crop diversification, use of pipelines, and supply side interventions such as check dams, farm ponds, recharge shafts and other artificial recharge/water conservation structures are prepared and executed through convergence of ongoing schemes, he added.

The Minister said that Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, utilised Rs 202.58 crore in 2023-24 while implementing Ground Water Management and Regulation (GWMR) Scheme, under which activities related to exploration, monitoring, assessment and management of ground water resources including groundwater conservation/artificial recharge interventions are carried out across the country.

He said the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has taken several steps towards sustainable management and conservation of water in urban areas through issuance of various guidelines and implementation of National Missions like Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) & AMRUT 2.0.

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