Groundwater Regulation:

 As per the 2021 CAG ( ) report on Groundwater management and

Comptroller And Auditor General

Regulation, groundwater extraction in India increased from 58% to 63%, between

2004-17, exceeding the groundwater recharge rate.

 Climate change effects such as intermittent rainfall further alters the recharge

potential, posing a huge threat to groundwater availability and quality.

 Recent assessments by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) show

that many regions are overexploited, and a majority were also reported as critical
and semi-critical.
 According to the World Bank Report, 2012, India is the world’s largest
groundwater user, estimated at 230 cubic kilometres per year − over a quarter of
the global total.

 It serves about 80% of domestic water supplies and 45% of irrigation water

requirements. 

 Over extraction at the current rate can make nearly 60% of India's aquifers
critical and threaten nearly 80% of drinking water over next two decades.

 This impacts equitable, healthy, and pollution-free access to water resources and
therefore hinders the ‘right to water’ for current and future generations.

 As of now groundwater is regulated in a piecemeal manner.

 This happens because states as trustees of groundwater
fail to adequately
implement laws on groundwater exploitation, poor aquifer management,
contamination, etc.

 Socio-political dynamics and lack of sufficient monitoring add to this problem.

  Considering the total monitoring points and land area in India, only one CGWB
monitoring unit is available for every 100-150 square kilometres.
  Sustainable policies, robust monitoring systems and comprehensive legal
frameworks considering climate change risks are the need of the hour to tackle
these urgent groundwater challenges.

What does our law say about groundwater ownership and

rights?
Legal framework in India does not explicitly define groundwater ownership and rights.
Groundwater rights are still determined by the archaic(old) Indian Easement Act, 1882.
These rights tied to land ownership rights exclude a large part of the society that has
no land rights and gives landowners the liberty to withdraw limitless water.
This, in turn, leads to violation of fundamental right to water and the right to life
(Article 21), failing to protect groundwater as a common pool resource. However, this
has changed over time (Figure 1).
The CGWB was formed in 1970 specifically to develop groundwater policies and
programs. It was later empowered by the Environment (Protection) Act in 1986 to
form the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). Under this groundwater was
acknowledged as a public resource supporting various legal actions such as the 2004
Supreme Court judgement highlighting the ‘public trust doctrine’. This judgement also
reiterates to the government institutions to safeguard and ensure public access to
groundwater.
Mmn

Fig.1: Evolution of Groundwater Regulatory Regime in India.

CGWA is also authorized to declare certain zones as ‘notified areas’ with stringent

regulations such as issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs) and restricting energy
use to extract water.
The top-down approach of groundwater management failed to establish a behavioural
transition among its users.
People are crucial in maintaining the common pool resource nature of groundwater
and to protect it against climate change impacts.
 Existing legal and regulatory frameworks for groundwater
The first Model Groundwater Bill passed in 1970 was revised in 2011, 2016 and 2017.
These bills empowered the state groundwater boards to create laws, manage water
allocation and other relevant issues.
The state boards and acts fail to efficiently regulate the haphazard groundwater
extraction because of being understaffed, lacking expertise, and prioritizing socio-
political conflicts over groundwater resource.
They also focus more on regulating industrial groundwater extraction over domestic
and irrigation sectors. These sectors are equally important to be monitored
considering their significant share in India’s groundwater extraction.
The guidelines laid by the CGWA to regulate extraction, contamination and NOC
renewals are the major contributions towards sustainable groundwater management.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the CGWA to ensure that every
individual and industry obtained permission for extraction.
Groundwater contamination lacks uniform guidelines and is treated through case-
based court proceedings such as the ‘polluter pays principle’. 
Climate change also poses a challenge in maintaining groundwater quality through
altered recharge patterns and aggravated impacts of land use practices. Regulations
should address both prevention and remediation of contamination for providing
potable water.

The current status of groundwater governance in India

The Model Groundwater (Sustainable Management) Bill, 2017, addresses some of the
major concerns in the existing regulatory framework and offers a holistic way forward.
The major highlights include:

 Strong environmental perspective in protection and prevention of damage to the

aquifer
 Bottom-up institutional structure
 Drinking water as highest priority and the right to water, health, and environment
 Decentralization and subsidiarity principles
 Local bodies to form committees for groundwater management
Acknowledging groundwater as ‘commons’ is an important step in the right direction.
Adequate regulations and sensitization programs will make groundwater visible to its
users.
Behavioural shift will help reduce overexploitation and balance aquifer protection. All
states, as trustees of groundwater, should pass acts to realize the Model Bill 2017
guidelines.
Legal frameworks with stringent regulations and monitoring of groundwater
extraction, contamination and recharge can reverse the damages.
It will also help in sustainable groundwater management, protection against climate
change impacts and assured access to groundwater for all.

Government Plans For Groundwater Management Some of the important plans

undertaken by the Government of India for groundwater management are:
• India saw a shift in priority from surface water to groundwater in 1966-1967 with the
Third Five Year plan's coming. The focus was on groundwater management due to
water scarcity resulting from the drought that hit India's eastern parts during 1966.
• Subsequently, in the Fourth Five Year Plan a comprehensive policy was adopted for
water management to focus on refilling water in water scarce areas.
• Further, by Sixth Five Year Plan broader objectives were adopted like: a)
Groundwater Management b) Organization and functioning of authorities
• By Seventh Five Year Plan, water management strategy has been taken up and
includes plans for exploration of groundwater based on priority and focus on eastern
and northeastern states. It further provides for conjunctive use of surface water and
groundwater.
• National Aquifer Management (NAQUIM23 This particular program was launched
on the 12th Plan Working Group's recommendation on Sustainable Groundwater
Management of the erstwhile Planning Commission. One of the important objectives
of the program is to promote and enhance participatory groundwater management.
The program aims to educate local communities with a seamless flow of information
regarding local water aquifers.
• Water Policy and Action plan 202024:

The Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Act 2002:

This particular Act was adopted by the state of Andhra Pradesh in the year 2002 to
regulate and promote groundwater development and focus on the conservation of
trees. Some important features of this Act are:
• As per section 3 of the said Act there shall be an authority for regulating all
groundwater resources in the state, including wells and other water bodies.
• The Act further empowers the Authority to prohibit pumping of excessive water if it
believes that such excessive pumping would result in damage of groundwater table or
environment and such prohibition can be extended to a period of 6 months.
• Section 13 further provides for distance and depth at which pumping can be done in
order to curb unhealthy tapping of water from deeper layers of water resource.
• The Act is comprehensive and provides reasonable opportunity of being heard,
provisions of appeal and penal punishments area also there.