Groundwater

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.

The report presents the dynamic groundwater resources of India based on Groundwater Estimation Committee (GEC 97) report with base year as 2004. It identifies the areas where groundwater development is at low key and the areas where groundwater development is alarmingly high. The estimation for the individual state was jointly done by the groundwater wing of the State Government and the concerned Regional Office of the Central Groundwater Board.

The act aims to manage, control and regulate indiscriminate extraction of groundwater in West Bengal and to provide against its widespread contamination with arsenic, fluoride,  chloride, iron, other heavy metals or metalloids, organic and inorganic pesticides, fungicides, and rodenticides. It provides for the setting up of a State Level Authority which shall be under the administrative control of the Water Investigation and Development Department, Government of West Bengal and shall be the apex body of all the District Level Authorities and the Corporation Level Authority.

Some of the changes proposed are as follows –

• In section 4 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for clauses (a) and (b), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:-
• the number of wells that were in existence in the scheduled area immediately before the date of commencement of this Act;
• the use of groundwater in the scheduled area for agricultural purposes immediately before the date of commencement of this Act;
• the number of wells from which water is extracted for domestic purposes;
• the number of wells from which water is extracted for industries, automobile service centres, multipurpose halls and other commercial centres;
• the number of water sources both public and private;
  • In sub-section (2), for item (vii), the following items shall be substituted namely:-
  • the details of the methods  adopted for groundwater conservation and rain water harvesting;
  • the quality of water with scientific evidence;
  • such other matter as may be prescribed.