Lok Sabha Question No. 6231 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-02
Subject: National Groundwater Monitoring Infrastructure
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Rajesh Verma, Smt. Shambhavi, Dr. D. Purandeswari, Dr. Lata Wankhede, Shri Arun Bharti

## 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)

with  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

nearly  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.

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