Community Empowerment in Art of Living’s River Rejuvenation Projects

Gujarat State is located in the western part of India, it is well known for entrepreneurship of its peoples. Water resources in the state are very much unevenly distributed. There are very high rainfall areas in the southern part of state, whereas the northern and western parts face desert like climate. Hydrogeologically there are diverse aquifer systems. Some form prolific aquifer system like alluvial formations of North and Central Gujarat plains. There are also hard rock formations like Granites, Deccan Basalts which form poor aquifers. Due to frequent and persistent droughts water resources management has been a challenge in northern and western parts of the state. Total annual availability of water in the state is estimated at 51 BCM/ out of which surface water contribution is 38 BCM, whereas groundwater accounts for 13.58 BCM. The groundwater plays a very important role in agriculture as well as water supply in this drought prone state. The total annual Groundwater Recharge has been assessed as 22.37bcm and Annual Extractable Ground Water Resources as 21.25bcm. The Annual Ground Water extraction has been assessed as 13.58bcm and Stage of Ground Water extraction as 64%. There are 248 assessment units (talukas) out of which 25 Talukas have been categorized as ?Over- exploited?, 5 are ?Critical?, 11 are ?Semi-Critical?,194 as ?Safe? and 13 saline talukas in the state. A well-planned strategy is required for management of water resources in the state. Number of water conservation and augmentation measures have been taken up in the state in the form of Sujalam Suflam Yojna, Sauni Yojna, Participatory irrigation management, ATAL-JAL, Hydrology Project, Interlinking of Rivers to name a few. Further steps suggested for conservation and sustainable use of ground water can be augmentation of groundwater resources through Artificial Recharge, revival of ponds, reuse and recycling of wastewater, protection of water sources from pollution, conjunctive use of surface and ground water, etc

In western India, the states Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan having area of 0.11%, 5.97%, 9.36% and 10.41% of India respectively have 0.24%, 6.83%, 13.48% and 4.52% of the total population of the country. The area, except Goa which records high precipitation, receives moderate rainfall. Arid conditions prevail in north Gujarat and major part of Rajasthan. The utilization pattern of ground water is uneven across the region resulting in ground water stressed conditions and over exploitation in some parts, particularly the arid regions and sub-optimal ground water utilization in others. Water level varies widely being very shallow in the southern part and deep to alarmingly deep in the northern part, having deepest water level of the country in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. Water quality is of concern in the major parts. In considerable areas, some chemical constituents exceed the permissible limit for drinking water, and large patches with brackish to saline water are encountered in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Sporadic occurrences of Fluoride and Nitrate in ground water exceeding the permissible limit for drinking water are spread almost throughout the region which necessitates cautious use of ground water in these areas for drinking purposes. The stage of ground water development is 37%, 68% and 54% in Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra respectively. In Rajasthan, the stage of ground water development is 140% and 164 out of 248 ground water assessment units are overexploited and 23 ground water assessment units in Gujarat are over exploited. This requires immediate judicious intervention without which some areas will not be able to meet even the drinking water needs. Groundwater withdrawal requires to be strictly regulated so that it does not exceed the annual recharge and also that it does not disturb the hydro-chemical balance. Alarming declines in groundwater levels warrant immediate attention for taking-up of recharge schemes to arrest further decline and augment the groundwater resources. In areas of scanty recharge, ground water should be allowed only for drinking water purposes. In other areas, along with water conservation and ground water augmentation measures, demand side management using micro irrigation techniques and change of cropping pattern etc should be religiously adopted.

As per the assessment of the dynamic ground water resource in Gujarat the utilsable ground water resources have been assessed as 24905 MCM, after providing for natural discharge (March 2021). The annual ground water draft is 13296 MCM. The Stage of ground water development works out to be about 53%. However, this is not uniform across the state. The stage of development is exceedingly high in North Gujarat and Kachchh regions. Highly intensive development of ground water in these areas has resulted in over - exploitation leading to the decline of ground water levels, deterioration in the ground water quality and sea water intrusion in the coastal areas. The paper presents existing scenario of various supply and demand side interventions implemented in the state with their impact. Recommendations for various interventions necessary for sustainable ground water management have been made with particular emphasis on use of scientific inputs from the supply as well as demand side interventions to the community participation in planning, implementing and monitoring.

The Ground Water Resources play an important role in agro-economy of the Chhattisgarh State being heavily dependent on rain?fed agriculture. The Ground water resources are controlled by normal monsoon rainfall of 1201 mm with four aquifer systems, viz a) Sandstone aquifers, b) Limestone aquifers, c) Crystalline aquifers comprising granites, gneisses schists, ultrabasics and basalts of Archean, Proterozoic and Cenozoic age respectively forming discontinuous, unconfined and semi-confined aquifers, and d). Alluvial aquifers comprising alluvium, clays, silts, laterites etc. forming thin and extensive unconfined aquifers in several isolated patches and near major river courses. These are unconsolidated formations of Quaternary age. During pre-monsoon period in the 70% area of the state groundwater level remains under 5 to 10m, 21% under 10 ? 20 m and less than 1% under more than 20 mbgl. In the Post-monsoon period, 71% area shows the groundwater level in the range of 2 to 5 m, 24% area, 5 to 10m and 2% more than 10 m bgl. In general, 23% wells show rise in the range of 0-2m, 35 % 2-4 m and 42%, > 4 m in response to rainfall. Ground water quality is bicarbonate type and suitable for all purposes. Isolated patches of Arsenic, Sulphate, Fluoride and NO3 contamination have also been reported. Ground water meets 84.5 % and 14.5 % of total irrigation and drinking water requirements respectively. The annual ground water recharge has been estimated as 11,579 MCM. The existing ground water extraction for all uses is 4691MCM. Out of 146 blocks, 41 blocks have Stage of Ground Water Extraction < 30 %, 46 blocks, between 30 to 50%, 35 blocks within 50 and 70 % and 24 blocks have > 70%. The groundwater utilization over the years has increased drastically from 5.11 % in 1990 to 44.37% in the year 2017.The immediate attention is needed on (a) Creation of additional Irrigation potential, (b) Supply of contaminant free water through alternate source, (c) Promotion of rainwater harvesting and sartificial recharge with community participation,. (d) Regulation of overuse of ground water and (e) Sensitizing Farmers through incentivizing water efficient irrigation techniques.

Among the challenges faced by the world today in the area of health care, water is the greatest challenge, and this is particularly true for the developing countries. A large proportion of the world?s population relies on ground water as primary source for drinking and domestic use. In recent years, due to increase of population, urbanization, industrialization, use of chemical fertilizers, pesticide in agriculture, there is over increasing threat to surface and ground water quality. The indiscriminate use of ground water for irrigation and other purposes has resulted in sharp decline in ground water table and in changes in the natural geochemistry of ground water. In the largest areal state of the country i.e. Rajasthan higher concentration of all the three hydrochemical parameters viz. salinity, nitrate and fluoride in ground waters have adversely affected the lives of people in general and their socio-economic status in particular. Ground water of western, north-eastern parts of Rajasthan are facing problem of salinity, nitrate and fluoride, whereas central and southern parts are generally facing an acute problem of fluoride. Therefore, immediate action for mitigating the problems at government, semi-government or social levels are required for the welfare of countrymen.