South Asia, the fastest growing economic world region, is itself a world macrocosm that fully represents all-natural and human conditions. In areas where population, agriculture, and industry are concentrated, these human infrastructures strongly impact the surface and subsurface environments, spoiling long-standing natural earth balances. These consequences are further amplified due to the erratic rainfall distribution and climate variability, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Water supply can be one of the principal stresses on society, and the need for and accessibility of water will always be local, requiring local organization and management. Groundwater exploitation has grown rapidly and has challenged human capability to sustain the resource, and where the climate is varying, the challenge has intensified. Despite various negative consequences of natural and anthropogenic changes, groundwater still has the potential to mitigate the impacts of climate change if adequately managed and is probably the most resilient water resource. Managed aquifer recharge refers to a suite of increasingly used methods to maintain, enhance, and secure groundwater systems under stress. In this project, a much-required capacity development program is proposed at both local and regional levels to address the knowledge and skill gaps in effectively implementing the MAR schemes for sustainable groundwater management.
Project leader
Dr. M. K. Goel, Head, Groundwater Division NIH Roorkee
“The coordinators Prof. Basant Yadav and Dr. Nitesh Patidar have developed and designed this great portal which will help many to get required knowledge about Aquifer Recharge, advancements and operational problems. The portal houses the G-MCDA tools developed by youngsters which makes site suitability mapping for recharge structures easy and accessible.”
Dr. Dipankar Saha, Former Member, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB)
“The research group has taken a great step to advance the topic of Aquifer Recharge to a national level and by conducting trainings and workshops to disseminate knowledge to the officers working at the ground level. Prajal web portal has a great tool G-MCDA for site suitability mapping and the methodology behind the development of the portal needs to be published.”
Mr. Sanjay Kushwaha, Superintending Engineer, Irrigation Department Uttarakhand
“I was very happy to attend such an informative and interactive training and workshop organized by the Professors and scientists of the collaborating institutions. APN, IIT Roorkee and NIH Roorkee shall take more initiatives which will relate academia directly to the field and vice versa.”