Newsletter No. 62; IRBMS water quantity and quality. National Water Policy is formulated by the Ministry of Water Resources of the Government of India in September, 1987 and then it was reviewed and updated in 2002 and later in 2012. This is a sad State of affairs; there are no signs of government and civil society waking up to the situations.
In the meanwhile more and more Groundwater extraction is growing, and has become unsustainable. Consequently, in many parts of the country, groundwater levels are declining steadily. In some parts, the levels are declining by more than 1m. per year. A lack of proper waste water treatment from domestic, industrial, and mining sources has meant that groundwater is being progressively contaminated by known and unknown pollutants, increasing the potential health and risks to humans and ecosystems. During the last three decades, with increase in farm production there has been an explosive growth of private tubewells in farms, because of a lack of reliable surface irrigation. The problem is compounded by Indian law which extends exclusive rights to landowners over groundwater. These factors alongwith free electricity for pumping – have contributed to an increase in groundwater use from 58 % in 2004 to 62 % in 2011.
The present data is not available with us but the best estimate is that at present India uses 230-250 Cu. km of groundwater each year. This accounts for about one quarter of the global groundwater use. More than 60 % of irrigated agriculture and 85 % of domestic water use now depends on groundwater. India now uses more groundwater than China and the United States combined.
There is no single water database for the country, despite having four separate central bodies regulating groundwater. In 2016, the Standing Committee on water resources of the Indian Parliament recommended having a national ground water database to be updated every two years. But no one knows when this will happen. This is because groundwater irrigation gives the farmers more flexibility as to when to irrigate and the amount of water they can use because they have total control as to when to pump and for how long.
Editor- Sujit Choudhury, Published by Girija Sankar Chattopadhay, IRBMS, assisted by Nilshikha Das and Mintu Nath(© Integrated River Basin Management Society)
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Integrated River Basin Management Society