The Atal Bhujal Yojana, a pilot initiative for community-led groundwater management, was implemented in 8,203 prioritized water-stressed gram panchayats across seven states, including 549 in Uttar Pradesh. Participatory planning, adoption of efficient water use practices, Through community monitoring and the construction of recharge structures, the program has demonstrated significant improvements.
Key activities include public disclosure of groundwater data in all participating gram panchayats, the creation and annual updating of community-led water budgets and water security plans, and the installation of piezometers, digital water level recorders, and rain gauges. Nearly 128,000 training sessions were conducted at the village, block, district, and state levels, while nearly 70,000 wells were monitored and data shared publicly.
Over 99,000 existing water conservation structures were mapped and over 83,800 supply-side works were constructed or renovated to achieve groundwater recharge. has been instrumental in strengthening the Atal Bhujal Yojana. Efficient water use measures such as drip irrigation, sprinklers, mulching, and crop diversification have been adopted on approximately 0.97 million hectares of land in seven states. State-wise details are available in Appendix I, while district-level information for Uttar Pradesh is provided in Appendix II.
Performance-based funding was allocated to states under the program, and coordination with existing schemes has been a key pillar of implementation. According to the report submitted by the Uttar Pradesh State Project Monitoring Unit, ₹2,753.5 million has been mobilized through coordination for activities recommended in the water security plans.
Water budgets and water security plans, the key components of the Atal Bhujal Yojana, have been completed for all 549 participating Gram Panchayats in Uttar Pradesh and are updated annually.
According to the periodic assessment conducted between 2023 and 2025, groundwater levels have improved in 344 of these Gram Panchayats, while 205 Gram Panchayats have still not reached the target standard. Details of improved Gram Panchayats are given in Appendix V.