The Centre’s initiative to shore up groundwater resources pan-India, deploying community-focused participatory management is pathbreaking. The idea is to arrest rapidly falling water tables, and to reverse rising dependence on groundwater with more sustainable usage practices, rainwater harvesting and aquifer recharge. The Atal Jal Yojana, spread over 8,350 villages and across 78 districts in seven states, where groundwater levels are already critically low, seeks to institutionalise sustainable groundwater management with focused demand-side changes at the community level. There is scope to make extensive use of sensors and information technology to augment water data and make water usage patterns transparent, leading to district and state-level best water usage practices. Focused, economical use of water resources would strengthen the local economy and improve livelihoods.

Source: Economic Times January 01, 2020 00:11 UTC