Lok Sabha Question No. 3185 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-18
Subject: Inclusion of Dakshina Kannada under Atal Bhujal Yojana
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Captain Brijesh Chowta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3185

## ANSWERED ON 18.12.2025

## INCLUSION OF DAKSHINA KANNADA UNDER ATAL BHUJAL YOJANA

## 3185.   SHRI CAPTAIN BRIJESH CHOWTA:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether the Government has received any proposal or recommendation from the State Government of Karnataka to include Dakshina Kannada district under the Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal);

(b) if so, the details thereof including the taluks or Gram Panchayats proposed to be covered and if not, the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Government has conducted any recent survey or study to identify the causes of water scarcity or depletion of drinking water sources in Mangalore and other parts of Dakshina Kannada district;

(d) if so, the details and key findings thereof; and

(e) the present status of groundwater levels in each Gram Panchayat of Dakshina Kannada district along with comparative data on changes observed from 2020-21 to 2024-25?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) & (b) Atal Bhujal Yojana was a pilot scheme for community led participatory groundwater management, implemented in priority water stressed areas across 8,203 priority water stressed Gram Panchayats of 229 blocks in 80 districts of seven states viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

In  Karnataka, this  scheme  was  implemented  in  1199  Gram  Panchayats  across  41  Over  Exploited Taluks in 14 districts, which did not include Dakshina Kannada. The scheme demonstrably improved groundwater management in the implemented area and provided a scalable template. However, it is to add that Atal Bhujal Yojana  was  conceived  as  a  pilot  scheme  with  a  fixed  duration  &  outlay and the Scheme's tenure has ended now.

(c) & (d) Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country, including for the state of Karnataka, are being assessed annually, jointly  by  Central  Ground  Water  Board  (CGWB)  and  State  Governments.  As  per  the latest assessment of  2025, for  the  district  of  Dakshina Kannada,  whose  main  city  is Mangalore,  the total Annual Ground Water Recharge is 73,327 hectare meter (ham) and the Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource is 65,995 ham. The total Annual Ground Water Extraction of the entire district for the year 2025

has been estimated as 30,166 ham and the Stage of Ground Water Extraction (SoE), which is a measure of Annual  Ground  Water  Extraction  for  all  uses  (irrigation,  industrial  and  domestic  uses)  over  Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource, is arrived at 45.71 % for the district as a whole, placing it in the 'Safe' category .

Also, all the 9 assessment units (Taluks) within the district of  Dakshina Kannada,  have  been categorized as 'Safe'.

However, despite favourable assessment figures, some pockets may be experiencing seasonal ground water  stress  due  to various  factors like high  population  density,  rapid  urbanization  and industrialization, climate change etc.

(e) CGWB  monitors  groundwater  levels  throughout  the  country  including  Dakshina Kannada  district  of Karnataka  state,  four  times  in  every  year,  through  its  network  of  monitoring  stations  and  not  the  GP wise. The block-wise ground water level data measured during Post monsoon 2024 for Dakshina Kannada district is given in Annexure-I, which indicates that approximately 95% of the analyzed wells have water levels ranging between 0 to 10 meters below ground level (mbgl), indicating ease of access to ground water.

Further, in  order  to assess  the  long-term  fluctuation  in  ground  water  levels, groundwater  level  data of Post  Monsoon November  2024  has  been  compared  with  the  mean water  level data  of previous  five years, i.e. from November 2020-2024, as presented in Annexure II. Analysis of this data indicates that about 86% of the  well monitored have  registered  rise  in  groundwater  level in  2024 as  compared  to  the  mean  of previous 5 years.

***

## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NUMBER 3185 TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  18.12.2025  REGARDING 'INCLUSION  OF DAKSHINA KANNADA UNDER ATAL BHUJAL YOJANA'.

## Block-wise Depth to Water Level Distribution of Percentage of Observation Wells Post-Monsoon 2024 (Unconfined Aquifer) of Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka

| Sr. No.   | Block Name          | Number of well analysed   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | Number/Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   |
|-----------|---------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.   | Block Name          | Number of well analysed   | 0 to 2                                                                           | 0 to 2                                                                           | 2 to 5                                                                           | 2 to 5                                                                           | 5 to 10                                                                          | 5 to 10                                                                          | 10 to 20                                                                         | 10 to 20                                                                         | 20 to 40                                                                         | 20 to 40                                                                         | > 40                                                                             | > 40                                                                             |
| Sr. No.   | Block Name          | Number of well analysed   | No.%                                                                             |                                                                                  | No.%                                                                             |                                                                                  | No.                                                                              | %                                                                                | No.%                                                                             |                                                                                  | No.                                                                              | %                                                                                | No.                                                                              | %                                                                                |
| 1         | Bantval             | 16                        | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 10                                                                               | 62.5                                                                             | 6                                                                                | 37.5                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |
| 2         | Beltangadi          | 16                        | 1                                                                                | 6.3                                                                              | 6                                                                                | 37.5                                                                             | 9                                                                                | 56.3                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |
| 3         | Kadaba              | 15                        | 4                                                                                | 26.7                                                                             | 5                                                                                | 33.3                                                                             | 6                                                                                | 40.0                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |
| 4         | Mangluru/Manglore27 |                           | 4                                                                                | 14.8                                                                             | 7                                                                                | 25.9                                                                             | 12                                                                               | 44.4                                                                             | 4                                                                                | 14.8                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |
| 5         | Mudubidare          | 4                         | 1                                                                                | 25.0                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 3                                                                                | 75.0                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |
| 6         | Puttur              | 5                         | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 1                                                                                | 20.0                                                                             | 4                                                                                | 80.0                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |
| 7         | Sulya               | 8                         | 2                                                                                | 25.0                                                                             | 2                                                                                | 25.0                                                                             | 3                                                                                | 37.5                                                                             | 1                                                                                | 12.5                                                                             | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |
|           | Total               | 91                        | 12                                                                               | 13.2                                                                             | 31                                                                               | 34.1                                                                             | 43                                                                               | 47.3                                                                             | 5                                                                                | 5.4                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              | 0                                                                                | 0.0                                                                              |

## ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE-II REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NUMBER 3185 TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  18.12.2025  REGARDING 'INCLUSION  OF DAKSHINA KANNADA UNDER ATAL BHUJAL YOJANA'.

Block-wise  Water  Level  Fluctuation  (in  meters)  with  Mean  (Post-Monsoon  2020  to  2023)  and  PostMonsoon 2024 (Unconfined Aquifer) of Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka

| Sr. No.   | Number/Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   |
|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

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