Centre to adopt Guj model in water harvesting

The Centre is keen on adopting Gujarat model in water harvesting as the Union Water Resources Ministry is working on revamping two key water monitoring bodies— the central water commission (CWC) and the central ground water board (CGWB).

The Water Resources Ministry, which constituted a panel headed by former planning commission member Mihir Shah to suggest the modalities for restructuring these two organisations, was told to study Gujarat’s successful experiment in irrigation sector on conserving water sources by encouraging drip irrigation for agriculture, recycling of sewage water, creating village ponds and community management of water bodies.

As the CWC is working on managing surface water and the role of the CGWB is to look after the ground water situation in the country, the Water Resources Ministry is in the view that re-orientation of the both the bodies could help to make a policy framework to utilise available water resources judiciously in the country. 

With over 60 per cent of water used for irrigation purpose, the focus of the panel will be to recommend suitable restructuring of two water management bodies, so that the farming needs should be fulfilled with utilising limited sources in the event of failure of rainfall.
 
The committee, comprising Vinod Tare of IIT-Kanpur, Kanika T Bhal of IIT-Delhi and another expert Brij Gopal, will have to submit its report in three months.

With the rising demand for water and dwindling of sources, availability of water is reducing year after year. As per the ministry, the per capita water availability in India has declined from 5,000 cubic metres in the 1950s to 1,300 cubic metres in 2010, a drop of 74 per cent in 60 years.

Though several states have started taking measures to ensure efficient use of water by encouraging drip irrigation, growing less water consuming crops and renovating the canals, the Centre wants initiatives to be further accelerated.

As per the latest World Bank report, if the current trend of indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater is continued, about 60 per cent of all aquifers in India will be in a critical condition in 15 years.

Around 29 per cent of groundwater blocks are semi-critical, critical or overexploited and the situation is deteriorating rapidly. By 2025, an estimated 60 per cent of India’s groundwater blocks will be in a critical condition. Climate change will further strain the groundwater resources, said the report.