1. 36% of India’s districts are classified as "overexploited" or "critical" by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).
2. CGWA was formed under the Environment (Protection) Act.
3. India has the largest area under groundwater irrigation in the world.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Explanation
Central Ground Water Board monitors groundwater levels throughout the country on a regional scale, four times in a year during the months of March/April/May, August, November and January. For monitoring of ground water level, CGWB has a dedicated network of about over 30000 monitoring stations called "National Hydrograph Network Stations (NHNS)", which comprises open dug wells and purpose built bore/tube wells for water level monitoring called piezometers.
Statement 1 is incorrect: 256 of our approximately 700 districts have groundwater levels which are "critical" or "overexploited" as per the latest data from the Central Ground Water Board (2017). As per the report ‘National Compilation on Dynamic Groundwater Resources of India, 2017 out of the total 6881 assessment units (Blocks/Mandals/ Talukas) in the country, 1186 units in various States (17%) have been categorized as ‘Over-Exploited’, 313 units (5%) are ‘Critical’. This adds to 22%.
Statement 2 is correct: The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), established under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. It operates under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. Its primary mandate is to regulate and control the development and management of groundwater resources across the country.
Statement 3 is correct: FAO research paper shows the countries with the largest extent of areas equipped for irrigation with groundwater, in absolute terms, are India (39 million ha), China (19 million ha) and the USA (17 million ha).