2-Groundwater Resources of India -Towards a Framework for Practical Management and Effective Administration

Abstract

This paper is intended as a contribution to the on-going discussion on the development of a framework for appropriate and effective groundwater resources management taking account of the main groundwater settings occurring in India. It is based on the international experience of the authors and informed by on-the-ground work in World Bank-funded projects with the States of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu during 2002-06. The main focus is on the management of ground water in weathered hard-rock aquifers outside the command of major irrigation canal systems, because it is precisely these very extensive areas that are experiencing the most pressing problems. But the differences of approach required for groundwater resource management in other hydrogeologic and socioeconomic settings are also discussed briefly.