Parliament Question: National Groundwater Monitoring Infrastructure

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6231 ANSWERED ON 02.04.2026 NATIONAL GROUNDWATER MONITORING INFRASTRUCTURE 6231. Smt. SHAMBHAVI: SHRI RAJESH VERMA: Dr. D. PURANDESWARI: SHRI ARUN BHARTI: Dr. LATA WANKHEDE: Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: (a) the details of the national groundwater monitoring infrastructure currently operational in the country including the network of groundwater level monitoring stations, Atal Jal Water Quality Monitoring Stations and Jal Shakti Kendras; (b) the measurable progress achieved under major initiatives such as Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari, Atal Bhujal Yojana, NAQUIM 2.0 and Mission Amrit Sarovar in terms of groundwater recharge, check on declining groundwater level and community participation; (c) whether any consolidated assessment has been undertaken regarding improvement in groundwater levels in water-stressed districts under Atal Bhujal Yojana across the seven participating States, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; (d) the steps taken to strengthen regulation through adoption of the Model Groundwater Bill by States; and (e) the manner in which these initiatives align with country’s commitments under Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6, SDG 11 and SDG 12 and climate resilience goals? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY) (a) Ground water level and quality monitoring in the country is being regularly carried out by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under this Ministry and the respective State Governments. CGWB currently has a well spread out country-wide network of around 27,000 monitoring stations for ground water level and around 20,000 stations for ground water quality. Additionally, the State Governments have their own monitoring stations. Further, the Ministry has progressively adopted advanced digital technologies for efficient monitoring of groundwater regime across the country. Under various schemes like National Hydrology Project (NHP) and Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) around 22,000 Digital Water Level Recorders (DWLRs) 1with Telemetry have been installed across the country which transmit ground water level data to centrally located servers on real time basis. Moreover, under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan of the Ministry, 712 Jal Shakti Kendras (JSKs) have been established at district level across the country to act as community centers for dissemination of knowledge and promoting local level dialogue on water/ground water related issues. (b) & (c) Although ‘Water’ is a State subject, the Central Government on its part facilitates the water conservation and sustainable ground water management efforts of the State Governments by way of technical and financial assistance through its various schemes and projects. The major steps taken by the government in this direction, for scaling up aquifer mapping, enhancing ground water conservation and recharge and ensuring long term sustainability of the resource in the country through community involvement, are provided below: i. Efforts of the Government for augmenting the water/groundwater resources of the country are mainly channeled through the flagship campaign of Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), an annual mission mode programme for taking up water harvesting and artificial recharge activities through active community involvement. As per the available information, under JSA, more than 2 Cr water conservation and artificial recharge works have been taken up through convergence in the country so far, which has played a key role in enhancing the sustainability of ground water resources. ii. To further strengthen the momentum of JSA, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) initiative has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2024 with a vision to make rain water harvesting a mass movement in the country. By promoting community ownership and responsibility, the initiative seeks to develop cost-effective, local solutions tailored to specific water challenges across different regions. Thus far, more than 49 lakh rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures have been constructed across the country under this initiative. iii. National Aquifer Mapping & Management Programme (NAQUIM) studies have been taken up across the country by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for delineation and characterization of aquifers and preparation of plans for ground water management and during its Phase 1.0, the entire mappable area of the country of about 25 lakh sq. kms has been mapped and District-wise aquifer maps and ground water management plans have been shared with local administrations. Subsequent to this, NAQUIM 2.0 has been launched in the country, which harnesses state-of-the-art technologies for generating highly detailed, scientific aquifer data for identified priority areas. iv. Further leveraging the community potential for strengthening local management of water resources, Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched by the Government of India with an aim to develop/rejuvenate at least 75 water bodies in each district of the country. As an outcome 2nearly 69,000 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed/rejuvenated in the country, leading to enhanced water storage and ground water recharge. v. M/o Jal Shakti has successfully demonstrated the efficacy of community led participatory ground water management through Atal Bhujal Yojana, which was implemented in 8,203 water stressed Gram Panchayats (GPs) across 229 Blocks in 7 States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. By educating and empowering the communities in scientific management of their ground water resources, this unique scheme has established a scalable decentralized ground water governance model. Under the scheme, construction/rejuvenation of more than 83,000 rain water harvesting and recharge structures were completed and more than 9 lakh Ha area was brought under efficient irrigation practices. As a result, 180 out of 229 Blocks have shown improvement in ground water levels during periodic assessments conducted from 2023 to 2025. As a result of such cumulative efforts, the total annual groundwater recharge in the country has increased from 432 BCM in 2017 to 448.52 BCM in 2025. Further, the share of Safe assessment units has increased from 62.6% to 73.14%, while Over-exploited units have declined from 17.2% to 10.8% over the same period, indicating an overall improvement in groundwater status. (d) In order to facilitate the states in their endeavor towards proper regulation and management of ground water resources, this Ministry had drafted a Model ‘Groundwater (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Bill’ providing a regulatory framework to curb indiscriminate extraction of ground water while also making provisions for rain water harvesting and artificial recharge. The Model Bill has been circulated to all States/UTs and so far 21 States/UTs have adopted it. Further leading the path, Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has been established under this Ministry for regulation of ground water extraction at the central level. Apart from that, 17 States/UTs, are having their own regulatory mechanism/authorities. CGWA regulates ground water withdrawal in 19 States/UTs by way of issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for ground water extraction for various purposes like industrial, infrastructure, mining etc. in accordance with its Guidelines dated 24.09.2020. The Guidelines have stringent provisions like imposition of Environmental Compensation (EC) charges and penalties for unlawful extraction of ground water. (e) The Government policies are aligned to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. In addition to the schemes and programmes mentioned above like Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari, NAQUIM etc. centered around water conservation, ground water recharge and aquifer protection, the schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) for providing safe drinking water to every rural household of the country, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) for universal sanitation, AMRUT 1.0 & AMRUT 2.0 for building sustainable cities and a myriad other initiatives, the Government is ensuring an environmentally sustainable and climate resilient future for the country. **** 3