MyWell app launched

Water co-operatives a way out?

Times View

‘Gujarat using 72% of its groundwater’

AHMEDABAD: As the state is waiting for the onset of monsoon, water management experts are worried about harnessing the maximum amount rainwater to replenish aquifers.During a national-level workshop in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, experts said that out of 25 blocks defined by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), 23 are overexploited in the state. The worst affected are districts in north Gujarat where depletion is more than 100% - meaning that more water is extracted from the ground than is replenished. Dr R C Jain , former chairman of CGWB and advisor to state government, said that against the national average where 62% groundwater resources are used, Gujarat uses 72%. “About 80% of this is used for irrigation. In Gujarat, the exploitation ranges from 30% to 150%. North Gujarat is especially affected,” said Jain. He said Gujarat is one of seven states covered under an $1billion National Groundwater Management Improvement Program (NGMIP). Other states being Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Gujarat will get about Rs900 crore under the scheme.Jain was speaking at a national workshop ‘Groundwater Monitoring, Planning, Recharge and Sustainable Use: Village-level Participatory Approaches and Tools’ organized by city-based Development Support Centre (DSC) and Western Sydney University , Australia, along with government and NGOs. Mohan Sharma , executive director, DSC, said that in a recent field trip by his organization, farmers at Dedroka village near Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha reported water availability at 1,200 feet which earlier used to be found at about 300 feetWe have started it by mapping the resources in a pilot study,” he said.As part of the ongoing project, ‘Managing groundwater use and sustaining Aquifer Recharge through Village-level Interventions’ (MARVI), conducted by Western Sydney University and other partner organizations, MyWell, an application for Android and iOS was launched during a workshop. Village-based Bhugarbh Jaankar (groundwater experts) will update groundwater level figures on a weekly basis on the app. At the moment, the data is collected only for areas under a pilot project which covers 250 wells in Dharta watershed in Rajasthan and 110 wells in Meghraj watershed in Gujarat. Through the app, experts will be able to ascertain annual trends. The system can also be updated with SMS inputs, said officials.Gujarat has some successful water co-operative experiments where farmers and local villagers form groups to monitor groundwater resources, take decision on crops to be cultivated on the basis of water availability, and also keep a tab on individuals drawing more water than allowed. The major difference is observed in the crop pattern, said experts, where they went for less water-intensive crops and went for drip irrigation rather than flooding. Experts want to replicate the learnings in other parts of the state.Water availability will be crucial in the future not only for agriculture but is also for the industrial sector. Experts have repeatedly warned against the rampant digging of wells when there are no plans for groundwater replenishment. Better water management strategies including laws that will regulate surface and groundwater availability are needed, along with awareness drives to educate users about the importance of groundwater. There is also need to control the number of borewells and encourage farmers to join water cooperatives to save water