How was the Atal Groundwater Scheme conceived?
The Atal Bhujal Yojana was conceived in response to the growing groundwater crisis in India. Groundwater has become a critical freshwater resource for India’s agriculture and drinking water security, contributing approximately 62% of irrigation, 85% of rural water supply, and 50% of urban water supply.
India extracts 241 billion cubic meters of groundwater annually—more than a quarter of the global total—and this has resulted in overexploitation of groundwater in some states, where extraction exceeds groundwater recharge. For example, more than 25 percent of overexploited and stressed groundwater units are concentrated in eight states and union territories, primarily in the northwestern regions, such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh.
Even in the arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Punjab, groundwater extraction to meet domestic, irrigation, and industrial water demand exceeds annual recharge. In peninsular India, the hard rock terrain and crystalline aquifers have low storage capacity, and dependence on groundwater for irrigation, domestic, and industrial use means that in areas like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and parts of Telangana, which account for 42 percent of the country’s total overexploited blocks, aquifers run dry during the summer months. Agricultural subsidies, wrong choice of crops, inefficient irrigation methods and rapid urbanization have also aggravated this serious crisis.
Falling water tables increase the risk of groundwater contamination with pollutants like arsenic and fluoride, which are harmful to health. It also causes land subsidence, with rates exceeding 36 mm/year in some cities. Therefore, sustainable development and efficient management of groundwater are considered crucial in the coming years.
Several examples of sustainable groundwater management involving communities in various parts of India, such as the Pani Panchayat movement in Maharashtra and the Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems (APFAMGS) project in drought-prone districts of Andhra Pradesh, demonstrate that a grassroots approach to water management can lead to sustainable groundwater use at the local level. Therefore, there was a need to expand such efforts to other parts of the country.
Recognizing this importance, the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, launched the Atal Bhujal Yojana, which aimed to improve the groundwater landscape in selected water-stressed areas of seven states through demand management and community participation.
What is Atal Groundwater Scheme?
The Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), India’s flagship community-led groundwater management program, was launched in December 2019 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. The scheme initiated institutional reforms and aimed to move away from traditional supply-side solutions to participatory, data-driven, and demand-driven groundwater governance by empowering gram panchayats to lead groundwater planning through real-time data monitoring, hydrogeological mapping, and performance-based incentives.
It also advanced national commitments under Sustainable Development Goal 6.4 (Water Use Efficiency) and Sustainable Development Goal 6.5 (International Water Resources Management). With a total budget of ₹60 billion (US$756.56 million), the scheme was launched in the water-stressed states of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.