India News | Maha: Detailed Mapping Plan Envisaged to Locate Potential Groundwater Resources
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Maharashtra Department of Water Supply and Sanitation will embark on a minute mapping plan that will cover 25 lakh groundwater resources and water conservation works amid fall in water levels and scarcity, an official said.
Nagpur, Jul 24 (PTI) The Maharashtra Department of Water Supply and Sanitation will embark on a minute mapping plan that will cover 25 lakh groundwater resources and water conservation works amid fall in water levels and scarcity, an official said.
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The mapping will be carried out at a ratio of 1:10000, which means every centimetre on the map will represent 10,000 centimetres on the ground, giving a detailed assessment of such resources, he said.
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"It will be done under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Maharashtra will be the first state to take up such an initiative," he said.
Emphasizing the importance of the plan, Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) Commissioner Chintaman Joshi said around 80 per cent of irrigation and 85 per cent of supply for drinking purposes in Maharashtra was based on groundwater resources.
"Moreover, micro and small-scale industries and other businesses also pump out groundwater on a large scale. This has resulted in a fall in groundwater levels and has led to water scarcity in many places," he said.
Recognizing that the situation could get more serious in future, the mapping initiative was undertaken by Sanjeev Jaiswal, Principal Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Hrishikesh Yashod, Mission Director of State Water and Sanitation Mission, and the GSDA, the official added.
"The process of determining sustainable sources for the tap water supply scheme to be implemented under the Jal Jeevan Mission in the state is in full swing. These maps will be used to determine suitable and potential groundwater potential areas and identify sources for these tap-water supply schemes. They will also help in systematic implementation of future water conservation measures," Joshi informed.
Other important tasks like fixing the location of borewells and tube wells, information related to groundwater quality and estimating groundwater quantity based on level will be provided, he said.
The official said mapping with a ratio of 1:50000 has been carried out in the past by the GSDA, the National Remote Sensing Agency and the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre in 2008-09, but more minute mapping was needed due to quick change in geological conditions associated with groundwater.
"All 34 rural districts in Maharashtra are part of this project. Of approximately 38,000 proposed water schemes in the state, over 23,000 sources (of supply) have been selected in these 34 districts," Joshi said.
The GSDA commissioner said Ahmednagar, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nashik, Pune and Solapur have seen considerable fall in groundwater levels as these districts have the maximum number of over exploited watersheds.
It means more groundwater is exploited than the quantity recharged annually, he said, adding that scarcity issues are also being witnessed in some talukas in Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad regions.
Giving statistics, Joshi said that in 2011, a total of 76 watersheds in 13 districts were over exploited, which reduced to 67 in 11 districts in 2017 and 64 in nine districts in 2019-20 due to efforts taken by the state government through various missions, including Jal Jeevan Mission.
The impact of the groundwater potential mapping under the Jal Jeevan Mission began in May this year and its impact will be seen from 2023-24, he said.
"The mapping being done with a ratio of 1:10000 will give much greater accuracy that before," Joshi said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)