The Centre plans to extend the Atal Bhujal Yojana, a scheme aimed at improving groundwater sustainability in seven water-stressed states, to five more states, including Bihar, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu, according to a report tabled in Parliament.The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under the Jal Shakti Ministry has informed the Standing Committee on Water Resources that it has received "in-principle" approval from the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, for the "expansion of Atal Bhujal Yojana with an outlay of Rs 8,200 crore to be implemented in five additional states, viz., Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, with the condition that the scheme may be restructured as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)."The department has informed the panel, chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy, that all five states were asked in August last year to provide their consent for converting the Atal Bhujal Yojana into a central sector scheme.It has said Punjab has given its approval, while responses from the other states are awaited.Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) has been in place since April 2020, covering 8,774 water-stressed gram panchayats in 222 administrative blocks or talukas across 80 districts in seven states -- Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme is set to run for five years.These selected states account for about 37 per cent of all water-stressed (over-exploited, critical, and semi-critical) blocks in the country.The Jal Shakti Ministry has also informed the parliamentary panel that the scheme has led to a rise in groundwater levels in 813 gram panchayats and 47 blocks across 26 districts.Water-efficient practicesOne of the core objectives of Atal Bhujal Yojana is sustainable management of groundwater in the scheme area. This is being done through adoption of various water-efficient practices in agriculture such as micro-irrigation, crop diversification, and pipelines. Further, groundwater recharge measures have been undertaken through interventions such as check dams, ponds, percolation tanks, and recharge shafts, according to the ministry.
