Foreword

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.

Rajasthan is the largest state of India covering an area of 3,42,239 sq.km and represents 10.5% of the country?s geographical area. On the other hand it has only 1.15% of total surface water and 2.6% of dynamic groundwater resources of the country?s resources due to arid climatic conditions. Surface water availability is restricted to command areas of canal system; hence groundwater is the only dependable source in major part of the state. Groundwater quality deterioration with depth coupled with low and erratic rainfall has generated constraints as regards availability and development potential of groundwater resources. Over exploitation of groundwater has caused mining of groundwater, which has set in declining trend in water level and threatening depletion of limited available fresh groundwater resources at an alarming rate. Management of groundwater resources in this context is an extremely complex proposition. The highly uneven distribution of groundwater and its utilization make it impossible to have single management strategy for Rajasthan as a whole. Any strategy for scientific management of groundwater resources should involve a combination of supply side and demand side measures depending on the regional setting and local geology and also on use of saline water. There are saline water tracts in various parts of the state. Recently conservation of water through crop diversification and use of saline water in several parts of the state has gained momentum.

Maharashtra is one of the largest states of the country and playing a vital role in the India?s economy through its agricultural and industrial growth. Agriculture is the most predominant occupation in the state and is dependent mainly on ground water irrigation. However, specific focus is being given for the demand side intervention rather than supply side interventions for management of limited ground water resources that available in the state, as the 92% of the state is underlain by hard rocks bearing limited yield potential. The rainfall is the sole source of natural recharge to aquifers and the rainy season extends for three months with barely 55 to 60 rainy days. This is the period during which aquifers get replenished and during the remaining part of this water is utilized for agriculture, domestic and industrial uses. Highest rainfall is received in the coastal areas which have very high runoff rate, whereas remaining part of the state receives rainfall varying from <400mm to 1500 mm per year. A concept plan to recharge the aquifers has been prepared, and details of the artificial recharge structures suitable for the varying geological and topographical setups have been suggested. Besides, micro irrigation techniques are also suggested for water intensive crops to regulate the ground water draft.

India is a water stressed country. Regionwise scenario is different but in general surface water resources are not sufficient to fulfil the need of the country. Available sites for water storage are limited and are located in reach regions which makes it difficult to rationally distribute the available surplus water resources to the deprived regions. This compels the extraction of groundwater in the deprived regions. Even in the command areas of the dams the tail enders do not get water and hence they have to depend on groundwater. Cropping pattern has been continuously changing due to market variations and hence the regions which are not expected to grow water-intensive crops have started growing them by meeting the water demand from precious groundwater. Objective of agriculture has been changed from food production to profit-making. Urbanization and Industrialization have furthered the dependence on groundwater. The erratic rainfall sometime is the cause of depending on groundwater. In all, the reasons for dependence on groundwater are many and the overall dependence on groundwater has been at present between 50 % to 90 % in different parts of India. For last so many years that the dependence on groundwater has been on increase which has posed a serious threat of quantity and quality of water almost in the entire country and the present model of economy, agriculture and development as a whole has become a subject of reconsideration on the ground of sustainability and environmental change. The root cause of this situation is the unsustainable ways of resource management we have adopted. Gujarat is one of the most suffering states in water scarcity because of all the aforesaid factors. The objective of the paper is to discuss the issues and the probable solutions such that that the future course could be corrective and is approached early to save the future of the state and the entire country.

Surface water resources in Rajasthan are scarce and scanty owing to hot arid climatic conditions. Major parts of western Rajasthan are devoid of any major drainage system and are reeled under spells of chronic droughts. Average annual rainfall in the state is of the tune of 540mm, decreases westward and is even less than 150mm in the western most parts of Jaisalmer district. Annual Potential evapo-transpiration is also as high as 2060mm in parts of Jaisalmer district. There are 15 river basins in the state. There are also numerous natural as well as artificial freshwater lakes including Pushkar, Rajsamand, Nakki, Ana Sagar, Kayalana, Ramgarh, Foy Sagar etc. mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the state. Salt lakes include Sambhar, Kuchaman, Pachpadra, Didwana, Phalodi, Lunkaransar etc. Indira Gandhi Nahar (IGNP), Bhakara and Gang canals have been constructed to bring Himalayan water to the desert areas of western Rajasthan in addition to other major commands of Chambal, Mahi and Narmada canals etc. In Rajasthan, irrigation projects completed include 22 Major projects, 77 Medium projects, 660 Minor projects and 3139 Tanks have been transferred to Panchyat Raj Department. Usable water is of the magnitude of 16.05 BCM and the Gross Storage Capacity created is of the order of 14.547 BCM. The Live Storage Capacity created is about 11.99 BCM. Out of the total allocated share of 17.88 BCM under interstate water agreement, average annual water availability remains 12.66 BCM due to various climatic, political, institutional or hydrological reasons. In addition to various Central Government Schemes, Watershed schemes and Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan are also implemented in the state.