17^th April, 2022, Sunday

12 noon - 1pm

• Ground water plays a vital role in food security, water availability and economic role for over 1.3 billion people in India. Both rural and urban population including agriculture depend on ground water. Therefore, sustainable management of ground water in India is vital for tackling challenges related to water availability. 
• With the expansion in groundwater-based irrigation, rural water supply, urban water supply has to meet the rising demand of large population of India. It has resulted in several environmental implications particularly declining ground water levels and deterioration of its quality. 
• As per the report of Central Ground Water Board released in January 2022, 1114 units (16%) in various states have been categorized as overexploited indicating that ground water extraction is exceeding the annual replacement in ground water. In 270 (4%) assessment units, the stage of ground water extraction is between 90-100% and have been categorized as critical. There are 1057 semi critical units, around 15%, where the stage of ground water extraction is between 70-90%. But the good part is that as per the Ground water Resources assessment 2004 to 2020, the total annual ground water recharge has been assessed to be 436 billion cu m.
• The rampant use of borewells is depleting ground water level; also, pollution and discharge of industrial effluents and sewerage are causing metallic (heavy metals) contamination of water. There is lack of discipline and human value. The regulatory agencies have also failed in regulating the things.
• The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and the Central Water Commission (CWC) are two separate bodies. While CWC talks only of surface water, the CGWB manages the ground water. But in nature, the two are not separate. In many places river feeds the ground water and in some places the ground water feeds the river. The springs which meet the river is ground water only. 
• When the ground water table was not very low then the ground water used to provide base flow to the rivers. This base flow is reducing and the river flow is also reducing because the demand of ground water is more for the river to feed it. 
• Encroachment on the flood plains has continued and we have obtained thousands of hectares for development without realizing what it means to the river if its flood plains are encroached upon or taken away.
• There is a major lack of understanding about the nature of water and the interchangeability between ground water or surface water. 
• When an enthusiasm came for recharging ground water, which is very just and necessary, the practices recommended were terrible. A site design had been provided in which reverse tube well boring was suggested to recharge ground water. It is very dangerous. After a very elementary filtration the rain water would be taken through an inverted tube well right up to the aquifer. So, if this water is carrying any dissolved metals or toxic metals or any other thing which is undesirable into ground water, they would leach the ground water and then it would be very difficult to clean up the ground water. Ground water is not as easy as to clean as surface water. 
• Recommendations are that all the devices for ground water recharge should be at least 3 m above the ground water table. In the efforts of recharging ground water there was no mention where the ground water table was. It was shown by a cut line that it will go straight up to the aquifer.
• Discharge of industrial effluents through the inverted tube well into the ground water is extremely dangerous to the society and has to be treated as a serious crime.
• The central ground water authority has asked for an impact assessment report, a comprehensive hydrogeological report and a water audit report by the end of June. These reports will be overlapping with each other and will pose difficulty in collation. None of these reports hint on ground water quality, which is very important.
• The first thing to be seen is are the three reports technically feasible. Standardization and capacity building of these report making agencies and the manpower is also essential. The interrelationship and interlinkage of surface water and ground water should be understood.
• Extraction is occurring at such an extent that practically all the rivers are becoming effluent rivers. When the ground water level is down the river is feeding to the ground and when the ground water level is up, the river is again fed from the ground.
• Ground water being extracted in the country has been mapped. Water is being extracted mainly for two purposes: drinking and agriculture. So even it is meant for agriculture, ultimately it comes from ground and the water table comes down. 
• Textile dyeing industries are polluting the ground water.
• Pollution through geogenic sources is through extraction. Arsenic and fluoride are contaminating the water.
• In the ground water, 97% is sea water; 2% is ice caps and snow and we are not able to use the remaining one percent; 30% of this 1% is ground water. So, we should use water judiciously & educate people about using water.
• Indiscriminate excavation of sand from river beds should be controlled otherwise the recharge of the river as well as ground will be affected.
• The ground water extraction is not just affected by urbanization, the rural area is also catering to the water needs of the urban areas. Unplanned urbanization without taking into consideration the water availability should be checked. Real pricing of water and not giving freebies of water to any sector needs to be looked into by the government. An overall integrated approach is required.
• All components of the environment are complementary to one another. We cannot think of any water body without sand or microorganisms, also we cannot think of any soil without water. 
• The rains and arteries of river and ground water are closely linked.
• Initially we thought that surface water is more polluted than ground water. But the ground water contains lots of metals, chlorides, arsenic. This needs to be looked into.
• If ground water is not recharged, it will result in a grave situation.
• The available ground water must be mapped every block and accordingly the development must be carried out. Water rationing may be required to be carried out to survive in the long run.
• Because of the increase in population density, nature is not able to serve us properly because its carrying capacity is getting reduced day by day. But we are going against nature and are in conflict with the environment. We have to be rational while developing all aspects of life.
• Water must be a concern for all. We have only two sources of water: rain water and glacier water. In the Indian peninsula, the rainy season is only for 2.5 months in a year. Glacier water comes from Himalayas. The snow fall has reduced. So, the water from this source has also reduced. It was believed that rivers in South India dried in summers and that rivers in North India were perennial. But even these rivers now dry up in summers. 
• The focus has to be on where do we get water from. We should rejuvenate ponds.
• The Water Act is in place since 1974. In the last 48 years, the water quality of that area has not only deteriorated but the area affected has also increased.
• Despite fines and penalties, situation has not improved. The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has notified a water conservation fee (WCF) for industries on groundwater extraction, which is very expensive. Industry cannot afford it.

Participants

Dr Anil Kumar

Mr Paritosh Tyagi

Dr Dipankar Saha

Dr RN Jindal

Dr M Dwarakanath

Mr Rajeev Sharma

Mr Pradeep Khandelwal

Mr Sanjeev Aggarwal

Mr Neeraj Tyagi

Mr Ankit Sethi

Mr Vikas Singhal

Mr Varun Singh

Ms Ira Gupta

Dr S Sharma