{"id":69992,"date":"2026-03-24T21:19:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T15:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=69992"},"modified":"2026-03-24T21:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T15:51:46","slug":"water-governance-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-03-2026\/water-governance-india","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Water Governance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance; GS3\/Water Conservation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Prime Minister Modi shared an article highlighting <strong>India\u2019s comprehensive vision for achieving a water-secure future.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Highlights of the Article<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s approach to water governance is built on a <strong>foundation of conservation, sustainable use, and active community involvement.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It further underscores how the <strong>creation of the Jal Shakti Ministry<\/strong> marked a decisive shift towards holistic and integrated water management across the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Water Availability in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India holds <strong>18%<\/strong> of the world\u2019s population but only <strong>4%<\/strong> of its freshwater resources, placing enormous pressure on available water systems.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the <strong>Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2024<\/strong> by the <strong>Central Groundwater Board (CGWB)<\/strong> under the <strong>Jal Shakti Ministry<\/strong>, the average stage of groundwater extraction in India stands at<strong> 60.4%.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Southern states, particularly <strong>Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh<\/strong>, are facing the most severe and multidimensional water challenges in the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Water Governance in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Constitutional Provisions<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>State Subject: <\/strong>Water is primarily under <strong>Entry 17 of State List (Seventh Schedule).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Union Role: <\/strong>Regulation of inter-state rivers under<strong> Entry 56 of Union List.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Article 262: <\/strong>Parliament can adjudicate inter-state water disputes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Issues in Water Governance in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fragmented Institutional Framework: <\/strong>Water governance in India is highly fragmented due to its placement in the State List, which leads to jurisdictional conflicts between states.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Predominance of Engineering-Centric Approach: <\/strong>Water management policies in India have historically focused on large-scale infrastructure such as dams, canals, and irrigation systems.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This approach prioritises supply augmentation while neglecting ecological sustainability and demand management.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Agricultural Policies: <\/strong>Agricultural policies promoting water-intensive crops such as rice and wheat have led to excessive groundwater extraction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of Ecosystem-Based Approach: <\/strong>Water governance does not adequately incorporate the interlinkages between land, water, and ecosystems.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Environmental flows (e-flows) are often ignored, leading to degradation of rivers and wetlands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Weak Data Systems: <\/strong>There is a lack of reliable, comprehensive, and accessible water data across the country.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This leads to poor planning, inefficient allocation, and unregulated extraction of water resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Neglect of Demand-Side Management:<\/strong> Water policies largely focus on increasing supply rather than managing demand.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Limited attention is given to water-use efficiency, conservation practices, and rational pricing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for a Paradigm Shift<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is a need to move from a <strong>fragmented and engineering-dominated approach <\/strong>to a comprehensive governance framework.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Water must be treated as a shared and finite resource, requiring coordinated management across sectors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The focus should shift from <strong>supply augmentation to sustainability, efficiency, and equity.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Jal Shakti Abhiyan (2019):<\/strong> Focuses on water conservation and groundwater recharge in water-stressed districts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>AMRUT 2.0 scheme<\/strong> was launched in the 2021 in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)\/ cities, enabling the cities to become &#8216;self-reliant&#8217; and &#8216;water secure&#8217;.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rejuvenation of water bodies and development of green spaces and parks are other components of the mission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Amrit Sarovar Mission:<\/strong> Aims to develop and rejuvenate 75 water bodies per district.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Aquifer Mapping Program (NAQUIM): <\/strong>Helps delineate and understand aquifers for sustainable management.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Atal Bhujal Yojana<\/strong>, was launched to improve groundwater management in priority areas with critical and overexploited blocks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM):<\/strong> To enable every rural household in the country to have assured potable water; since 2019, Government in partnership with states, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This initiative facilitates adequate quantities of prescribed quality water on a regular and long-term basis, through tap water connection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2243363&amp;reg=3&amp;lang=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Prime Minister Modi shared an article highlighting India\u2019s comprehensive vision for achieving a water-secure future. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Highlights of the Article <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India\u2019s approach to water governance is built on a foundation of conservation, sustainable use, and active community involvement.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> It further underscores how the creation of the Jal Shakti Ministry marked a decisive shift towards holistic and integrated water management across the country. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-03-2026\/water-governance-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69992"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69995,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69992\/revisions\/69995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}