Atal Bhujal Yojana

About

Atal Bhujal Yojana is a groundwater management scheme launched by Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi on the 95th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (i.e. on 25 December 2019). The purpose of the scheme is to arrest the decline in groundwater levels and improve groundwater management by involving community participation and line departments in seven states of India (i.e. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh).

In Haryana, the said scheme is currently being implemented by the Irrigation and Water Resources Department. It has a proposed budgetary provision of INR 723 crores to help in conserving groundwater and strengthening the organisations concerned from year 2020-21 to 2024-25. Under this scheme, 1656 Gram Panchayats of 36 blocks in 14 districts have been identified, which fall in the overexploited/critical category.

These 14 districts are Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurugram, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mahendragarh, Palwal, Panipat, Rewari, Sirsa, Yamunanagar. Till date, Water Security Plans (WSPs) have been prepared with the help of active participation of community for all the 1656 Gram Panchayats as a part of this scheme.

Atal Bhujal Yojna

Decision support tools for groundwater management

To operationalize and standardise programme implementation across the Participating States, a Management Information System (MIS) has been developed by Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Strengthen community-based institutions to foster management

The Atal Bhujal incentives will spur activities to develop enabling institutions and build the necessary database for bottom-up, participatory planning and execution of appropriate groundwater management and usage solutions. This is a significant departure from the business-as-usual approach and will put us on the right track to achieving long-term groundwater management on a bigger scale.

Improve water use efficiency and enhance groundwater recharge

The program promotes volumetric metering and real-time data systems, as well as boosting public awareness about the necessity of sound groundwater management. It also promotes on-the-ground efforts based on community ownership and sensible water resource management.