National Hydrology Project
National Hydrology Project is the next phase of Hydrology Project Phase-II. The National Hydrology Project is being implemented with the assistance of the World Bank. The Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency is the implementing agency for the Maharashtra Groundwater component of this project. The said project is for a period of 8 years and it has received the approval of Rs.27.00 crores from the Government of India. The project includes the following components.
- Component A – Water Resources Data Acquisition
- Component B – Water Resource Information System
- Component C – Water Resources Operation and Planning
- Component D- Institutional Capacity Enhancement
Digital Water Level Recorder (DWLR), an automatic water level recording device was set up in every talukas of the state. This is the first innovative project in the country to install automatic water level recording devices on large diameter wells drilled in hard rock. Total 336 DWLRs have been successfully installed on existing monitoring wells and also 15 DWLRs have been successfully installed on piezometers and their information has been successfully linked to the data center and WIMS web portal.
This initiative provides real-time information of ground water level of monitoring wells in every taluka from across the state every six hours. This information will be used to inform all the citizens, make water security plan, for planning various ground water policies etc.
https://indiawris.gov.in/wris/More information is available on this website
The construction of the State Groundwater Information and Modelling Center (Data Center) has been completed through the Public Works Department. The Groundwater Information and Modelling Center is equipped with modern facilities with latest systems. All data related to groundwater will be collected and analysed in the Groundwater Information and Modelling Center which will ultimately be used for groundwater management and in decision making system.
Renovation of the existing building including renovation of well-equipped meeting and training rooms has been completed within a year.
Two mobile vehicles have been prepared for Aquifer Performance Test. All necessary procedures and technical problems were resolved. It was also the first attempt in the country to develop such a test vehicle. All equipments required for the test such as pumps, flow meters, generators and ancillary systems etc. have been set up. Field implementation of these vehicles is underway.
Decision Support System, which is important from the point of view of integrated control and management of groundwater resources in the state, is in progress. The said system is being implemented in collaboration with Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre, Nagpur. This includes registration and tracking of bored wells; Registration of wells in urban and rural areas; Issuance of ground water abstraction and other important no objection certificates; Creating various models of groundwater management through MIS-GIS dataset; Creating potential drinking water scarcity prediction model; Preparation of groundwater recharge maps for urban areas; Creating groundwater portal on the lines of India WARIS portal are various objectives. A total of 9 mobile apps and 33 web modules are being created and the first phase of work has been completed. It is also a first of its kind initiative in the country to create a dedicated decision support system for groundwater resources.
Public awareness and water literacy is very important for effective management of groundwater. Keeping this in mind, ‘Groundwater Literacy and Public Awareness Workshops’ are conducted in all divisions of the state under the National Hydrology Project. By organizing these workshops in each revenue division, the participation of urban citizens, students, representatives of various educational institutions, representatives of non-governmental organizations, water guards, villagers, women etc. can be seen in a significant manner. In these workshops eminent persons who have achieved remarkable achievements in the field of groundwater / water are invited for lectures.
Brainstorming workshops on various topics are organized under the National Hydrology Project.
Following are some of the workshops conducted.
• Urban groundwater recharge and management
• Avenues of AI/ML in groundwater
• Exploring deep aquifers
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Women’s Day was celebrated at Bhujal Bhavan by organizing a workshop on the important topic of ‘Women’s Participation in Water Sector’ on 8 March 2023.
In the National Hydrology Project, the groundwater department of Maharashtra ranks first in the country. In this regard, agency was bestowed with a badge of honour from the World Bank in a mission review held by the World Bank in Hyderabad.
