Groundwater sources within the drought-prone Bundelkhand area are largely “protected,” in line with an evaluation accomplished by the Central Floor Water Board (CGWB) in 2024.
The Bundelkhand area contains 14 districts throughout Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh which have traditionally skilled advanced drought resulting from a number of elements, together with modifications in rainfall patterns and water extraction. Nevertheless, Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Ministry of Water Sources), C.R. Patil, instructed the Parliament on July 24 that groundwater ranges in ten districts of Bundelkhand area had been discovered to be protected, whereas three had been discovered to be crucial, and one to be semi-critical. He was citing the CGWB’s 2024 Dynamic Groundwater Evaluation knowledge.
The CGWB categorises groundwater sources primarily based on ranges of water extraction and recharge. Groundwater sources are thought of to be “protected” if the speed of extraction is 70% or much less in comparison with annual recharge ranges. It turns into “semi-critical” when the speed of extraction is between 70% and 90% of the annual recharge, and “crucial” when between 90% and 100%. Groundwater sources are thought of “overexploited” when the extraction exceeds 100% of annual recharge ranges.
Although the charges of groundwater extraction are largely protected, water is discovered at larger depths in a number of components of Bundelkhand, deeper than three metres under floor degree, exacerbating shortage. The area is characterised by a dry, arid local weather and a tough rock terrain, with low vitamin black soil.
In its Grasp Plan for Synthetic Recharge to Groundwater, the CGWB advisable nearly all of the districts in Bundelkhand to try synthetic recharge by way of the creation of examine dams, percolation tanks, bunds, village ponds, and rainwater harvesting.
Within the Jhansi district, synthetic recharge of a shallow aquifer in a single moist season served two dry seasons, and in some areas improved floor water ranges by two-five metres. Regardless of proof and professional suggestions for floor water recharge, the federal government has pushed for river interlinking as the answer to Bundelkhand’s drought. The river linking challenge envisions becoming a member of the Ken and Betwa rivers by way of a canal which can run by way of Bundelkhand and supply the area with a further supply of irrigation and consuming water provide.
The challenge is not going to solely submerge 10% of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, however may inadvertently intrude with rainfall patterns over the long-term and worsen climatic stressors.
Patil was requested in regards to the groundwater state of affairs in Bundelkhand by Narayan Das Ahirwar, a Member of Parliament from the Samajwadi Parti representing the Jalaun constituency, falling in northern Bundelkhand, the place reductions in rainfall between 1984 and 2023 have worsened droughts.
Banner picture: A woman carries water in Bundelkhand. Picture by Arjun Claire through Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
