24-Groundwater Governance -Issues & Perspectives Regarding Model Bill Application in Punjab State.

Abstract

Punjab is predominantly an agrarian state having about 85% of geographical area under cultivation with an average cropping intensity of 189%. Agriculture is the backbone of state's economy and dependent on heavy requirement of water. About 80% of water resources available are used for agriculture. The other main sectors consuming water are industrial and drinking water supply. As the surfacewater availability is limited, there is heavy dependence on groundwater resources to meet the demand which has resulted in overexploitation of groundwater resources in large parts of the State. Water table is falling rapidly in more than three-fourth of the state. Therefore, there is an urgent need to take suitable steps for arresting this trend, especially in the agriculture sector which is the largest consumer of groundwater resources in the state. In the present paper, several aspects of groundwater governance have been discussed in detail including the legislation aspects and its experiences in other states and countries. Legislation has been found to be neither acceptable nor successful. Corrective and suitable measures to control the demand, conserve and augment the groundwater resources needs to be implemented for its effective management. This paper attempts to address these issues and Govt. policies and give the suggestions, which are of the author itself, to debate on the issue and its advantages/disadvantages and affect on the users.