India - Water resources management sector review : groundwater regulation and management report
Langseth, Petter | Stapenhurst, Rick
The importance of groundwater to India's economy and development prospects should not be underestimated. The resource is of importance as a source of drinking water and food security for the 950 million inhabitants of India, supplies 80 percent of water for domestic use in rural areas and perhaps 50 percent of water for urban and industrial uses. Over the last three decades, the rapid expansion in use of groundwater primarily for irrigation has contributed significantly to agricultural and overall economic development in India. Groundwater irrigation potential, the number of wells, and the number of energized pump sets have grown exponentially since the early 1950s. Groundwater now supplies more than 50 percent of the irrigated area and, due to higher yields in groundwater-irrigated areas, is central to a significantly higher proportion of total agricultural output. In addition, in drought years, groundwater represents the primary reliable source of irrigation. This rapid development in groundwater, however, has had a price. In many arid and hard-rock zones, increases in overdraft areas and associated water-quality problems are emerging. Sustainability of the resource base is thus critical for meeting an array of basic needs -from health to economic development.
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