World Bank okays Rs 6,000 crore central scheme for ground water management

NEW DELHI: The World Bank has approved India’s Rs 6,000 crore central scheme which aims to improve ground water management in priority areas in the country through community participation over a period of five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23, said the Union water resources ministry on Wednesday.
The ministry will soon seek Cabinet approval for the scheme - called Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY). The priority areas identified under the scheme fall in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
These states represent about 25% of the total number of over-exploited, critical and semi-critical blocks in terms of ground water availability in India.
According to the last assessment of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), total 1,034 out of 6,584 assessed blocks in the country are over-exploited (usually referred as ‘dark zones’) - it means annual ground water consumption (withdrawal) in those blocks is more than the annual ground water recharge. Besides, 934 blocks fall in different stages of criticality (critical and semi-critical) due to depletion without recharge.
The ministry said that the scheme, which has already been recommended by the expenditure finance committee of the government, will be implemented with the assistance of the World Bank.
“Implementation of the scheme is expected to benefit nearly 8,350 gram panchayats in 78 districts in these states. Funds under the scheme will be made available to the participating states as grants,” it said.
Funds will be used for strengthening the institutions responsible for ground water governance, as well as for encouraging community involvement for improving ground water management. It will be utilised to foster behavioural changes that promote conservation and adoption of efficient water use practices to reduce ground water use for irrigation.
The government has allocated Rs 450 crore for this in the budget for 2018-19. Taking forward the ongoing projects, the scheme will also focus on infrastructure development including building recharge structure\facilities for utilising rain water, creating rain water harvesting structures for conserving surplus run-off and recharging ground water in aquifers.
The scheme envisages active participation of the communities in various activities such as formation of Water User Associations, monitoring and disseminating ground water data, water budgeting, preparation and implementation of ‘Gram-Panchayat’ wise water security plans and activities related to sustainable ground water management.
“The scheme will also facilitate convergence of ongoing government schemes in the states by incentivising their focussed implementation in identified priority areas,” said the ministry.