Centre to implement Rs 6000-crore Atal Bhujan Yojana in 78 districts

In a major push to improve the groundwater situation and recharge of underground water tables, the Central Government is speeding up the ambitious Rs 6000-crore Atal Bhujal Yojana. This programme, part-funded by the World Bank, will help address the water scarcity plagging vast areas of the country.

The project is being fast-tracked so that it could be approved before March 31 this year and implemented from April 1. The hallmark of the scheme is the community participation in the groundwater recharge. The sceme would be implemented in 78 worst-affected districts in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The situation has arisen because ground water accounts for 60 per cent of country’s irrigation, 85 per cent of drinking water needs in rural areas and 50 per cent of urban drinking water needs. This is leading to over exploitation of groundwater resources.

The scheme is being speeded up after the recent surveys by the Central Ground Water Board have shown that underground water levels are fast depleting in 30 per cent of the blocks assessed. The survey showed that as many as 1,034 of 6584 assessed blocks in the country are dark zones, marked by extreme exploitation of ground water resources.

Such dark zones, where the water recharge is far too less than the exploitation, are mostly in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Numerically, Tamil Nadu has the largest number of dark zones (358 in 1139 units).

But, percentage wise, Punjab has 76 per cent dark zones. Out of the 138 assessed units, 105 are dark zones in Punjab. Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana have 66 per cent, 56 per cent and 64 per cent dark zones.