India 2018

526 India 2018
Central Ground Water Authority has also framed revised guidelines for grant
of NoC for ground water abstraction by industries/projects in the country.
Central Ground Water Authority has been entrusted with the responsibility of
regulating and controlling ground water development and management in the
country and issuing necessary directives for the purpose. Total notified areas in
the country are 162.
Ground Water Development
There is considerable variation in ground water potential in different parts of
the country. While some areas like Indo-Gangetic alluvium have huge ground
water potential, many hard rock areas have limited ground water resources.
Similarly, the development of ground water resources in different areas of the
country has not been uniform. Highly intensive development of ground water
in certain areas has resulted in over - exploitation leading to decline in ground
water levels, whereas in some other areas it is still sub-optimally developed,
leaving scope for future extraction. CGWB carries out periodic assessment of
ground water resources jointly with the state ground water departments. As
per the latest assessment carried out with 2011 as base year, estimated total
annual replenishable ground water resources is 433 billion cubic metres (bcm).
Keeping 35 bcm for natural discharge, the net annual ground water availability
is estimated as 398 bcm. Annual ground water draft for the entire country for
2011 is estimated as 245 bcm per year.
Rajiv Gandhi National Ground Water Training and Research Institute
The Rajiv Gandhi National Ground Water Training and Research Institute
(RGNGWTRI) located at Raipur, Chhattisgarh caters to the training requirements
of Central Ground Water Board and other central and state government
organizations, academic institutes, NGOs, etc. During XII Plan RGNGWTRI is
implementing a three tier (national, state level and block level) training
programme keeping in view the requirements of the National Project on Aquifer
Management. RGNGWTRI is also mandated to carry out research in the field of
ground water.
Central Water Commission
Central Water Commission (CWC) is divided among 3 wings namely, designs
and research wing (D&R), water planning and projects wing (WP&P) and river
management wing (RM). Allied functions are grouped under respective wings.
There is a separate human resources management unit to deal with human
resources management and development, financial management, training and
administrative matters of the CWC. In order to achieve better management in
the water resources sector and have better coordination with the state
government departments, CWC has established 13 regional offices. The offices
are located at Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Delhi,
Hyderabad, Lucknow, Nagpur, Patna, Shillong, Siliguri and Gandhi Nagar.
National Water Academy, the training institute of CWC, is located at Pune for
training of central and state in-service engineers, NGO's, etc.