Master plan for artificial recharge of groundwater in India (2002) and its critical assessment and suggestions for revision

Master plan for artificial recharge of groundwater in India (2002)

This document prepared by Central Ground Water Board in 2002 after realising the necessity and urgency to provide sustainability to ground water resources in the critical areas of the country, for different States and Union Territories of the country.

As per this plan, harnessing of monsoon run-off through artificial recharge techniques would be one of the thrust areas in coming years in management of ground water resources. This plan today, serves as a planning and implementation document to the various state governments in the country.

The document has been divided into the following sections:

• Introduction
• National scenario of groundwater
• Concept of artificial recharge to groundwater
• Need for artificial recharge to groundwater
• Methodology for preparation of the master plan
• Design of artificial recharge structures
• Monitoring mechanism
• Statewise master plan for artificial recharge
• Overview of master plan for artificial recharge to groundwater

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Critical assessment 

of the existing master plan 

and suggestions for revision

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly reflects back on the government's Groundwater Recharge Master Plan (GRMP) and provides a critical assessment of the existing plan and offers some suggestions for revision. The paper argues that the plan is major step forward in terms of highlighting the water priorities of India and it has made a significant contribution in terms of emphasising the importance of groundwater recharge on a massive scale against the investment priorities, which continue to favour large surface water structures.

However, the paper argues that the GRMP is doubtful as an action plan, which although deals with hydro-geological specifics, has nothing to say about the implementation of the plan. The plan is dominated by the supply-side thinking and overlooks the demand-side of the groundwater socio-ecology. The paper argues that the plan gives groundwater recharge the last priority in allocating available run-off in a basin under utmost groundwater-stress since these are most likely to have the least “uncommitted surplus water”. This is untenable in India, which has come to depend overwhelmingly on groundwater storage for all her needs. Because of this fundamental flaw, the GRMP ends up with perverse allocation of resources.

The paper argues that the plan is completely silent on who will do what, what will be the role of government agencies, people, NGOs and civil society institutions; who will construct the recharge structures and how will they be maintained. Most importantly, GRMP completely ignores the vast recharge potential offered by hard rock India’s 11 million dug wells, which are farmer owned and farmer managed.

The paper ends by making the following suggestions:

• Groundwater recharge ought to be the top priority of water sector investment planning in India
• Investments for groundwater recharge in a basin should be maximum in basins with most intensive groundwater use and high-level of resource depletion
• Over-exploited and “dark” blocks should get the first priority in groundwater recharge
• India’s strategy should be based on imaginative use for groundwater recharge of 11 million private dug wells the farmers have already dug
• Groundwater recharge should be accorded top priority even before reservoir storage
• The programme should be a farmer-led programme, which can have a higher chance of becoming a self-managing programme, with the government agencies and NGOs taking up the role of providing technical and resource support.