Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal): Managing India’s groundwater for the future

The Atal Bhujal Yojana was thought of in response to the growing groundwater crisis in India. Groundwater has become a crucial freshwater resource to sustain India’s agriculture and drinking water security, contributing nearly 62% to irrigation, 85% to rural water supply, and 50% to urban water supply. 

India extracts as much as 241 billion cubic metres annually—over a quarter of the global total—and this has led to grave overexploitation of groundwater in some states where extraction exceeds groundwater recharge. For example, more than 25 per cent of over-exploited and critical units are concentrated in eight states and UTs, predominantly in the northwestern regions, such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh. In arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab too, groundwater extraction is above the annual recharge to meet domestic, irrigation, and industrial water demand. In peninsular India, the hard rock terrain and crystalline aquifers have low storage potential and dependence on groundwater for irrigation, domestic, and industries, means that aquifers run out of water during summer months in regions such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which account for 42 percent of the total over-exploited blocks in the country. This critical crisis has also been fuelled by agricultural subsidies, poor crop choices, inefficient irrigation practices and rapid urbanisation.

Falling water tables can also increase the risks of groundwater contamination with pollutants like arsenic and fluorides, which are harmful to health. It also causes land subsidence, with rates exceeding \(36 \text{mm/year}\) in some cities. Thus, sustainable development and efficient management of groundwater were thought to be extremely important in the years to come. Several examples of sustainable groundwater management involving the community that existed in different parts of India, such as the Pani Panchayat movement in Maharashtra and the Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater System (APFAMGS) project in drought-prone districts of the state, have shown that bottom-up approaches to water management can lead to sustainable use of groundwater at the local levels. A need was thus felt to scale up such efforts to other parts of the country. Realising the importance of this, the MoJS, GoI, launched the Atal Bhujal Yojana, which envisaged improvement in the groundwater scenario through demand management and community participation in the selected water-stressed areas of seven states in the country.

Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), India’s flagship community-led groundwater management programme, was launched in December 2019 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. The scheme initiated institutional reform and aimed at moving away from traditional supply-side solutions towards participatory, data-driven, and demand-focused groundwater governance by empowering Gram Panchayats to lead groundwater planning, supported by real-time data monitoring, hydrogeological mapping, and performance-based incentives. It also advanced national commitments under SDG 6.4 (water-use efficiency) and SDG 6.5 (IWRM implementation). With a total budget of Rs 6000 crore (USD 756.56 million), the scheme was initiated in the water-stressed states of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. 

Goal: To demonstrate community-led sustainable groundwater management which can be taken to scale

Aim: The main aim of the scheme has been to improve groundwater management in select over-exploited and groundwater-stressed areas in identified priority States through implementation of various interventions with community participation.

Objective: To improve the management of groundwater resources in select water-stressed areas in identified states viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. This was to be achieved by implementing appropriate investments/management actions led by the community through the convergence of various ongoing /new central and State schemes focusing on demand-side management. The scheme also focused on strengthening the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management and bringing about behavioural change at the community level through awareness programmes and capacity building for fostering sustainable groundwater management in identified states. 

This was through:

• Strengthening institutional structure in the States to facilitate scientific and sustainable groundwater management

• Promoting participation of communities and stakeholders in sustainable groundwater management

• Enabling efficient and planned use of public funds for groundwater management by encouraging convergence among ongoing schemes central and state governmental schemes such as like MGNREGS, PMKSY, MIDH, RKVY, Amrit Sarovar, etc.

• Promoting activities relating to water harvesting, recharge of aquifers and water conservation.

• Supporting efficient use of water through new and emerging technologies such as sensor-based irrigation, water-efficient fodder cultivation, use of drones in agriculture, hydrogel and Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled technologies apart from traditional practices like drip/sprinkler systems, crop diversification, mulching, etc.

The Atal Bhujal Yojana focused on using a four-pronged strategy that included the following:

• Use of Decision Support Tools for groundwater management.

• Strengthening community-based Institutions to foster management 

• Improving water use efficiency and enhancing groundwater recharge 

• Supporting fiscal decentralisation.

The details can be read here 

The scheme encouraged active participation of the communities and panchayats in the participating States through formation/strengthening of Water User Associations, monitoring and disseminating groundwater data, water budgeting and preparation of Gram Panchayat-wise Water Security Plans (WSPs) and their implementation. The participation of women in water budgeting and water security planning exercises has been kept at least at 33% in the Gram Panchayat-level Water User Associations. The existing Village Water & Sanitation Committee in each Gram Panchayat has been enlarged and engaged for this purpose. 

For behavioural change at ground level, use of data related to water availability and usage while preparing Water Budget and Water Security Plans was encouraged. A range of equipment, such as Digital Water level Recorder (DWLRs), Water level sounders, Rain gauges, and Water flow metres, was installed in all Atal Jal States.  Government of India also planned to install various Real Time Data Acquisition Systems (RTDAS) for both Surface and groundwater across the Country under National Hydrology project.

The scheme was directed at the general public, including marginal and poor farmers, SC, ST, minorities and other vulnerable groups, and the increased availability and sustainability of water were expected to help social groups distribute these resources equitably.

• Strengthened institutional framework and effective groundwater data monitoring and disclosure.

• Improved planning and implementation of groundwater management interventions.

Implementing agencies

Central-Level 

• National Level Steering Committee (NLSC)

• National Project Monitoring Unit (NPMU)

• National Technical Support Agency (NTSA)

• Third-Party Government Verification Agency (TPGVA)

State-Level 

• Nodal Department

• Program Implementation Agency (PIA)

• State Level Steering Committee (SLSC)

• State Program Management Unit (SPMU)

District-Level 

• District Program Management Unit (DPMU)

• District Implementation Partners (DIPs)

Gram Panchayat-level

• Village Water & Sanitation Committees (VWSC)

Details on the roles and activities undertaken by the agencies can be found here

Strategy for implementation

• Programme implementation was the responsibility of the state, district and block governments; gram panchayats (GPs); and communities. The approaches included:

  1. Foundation of national and state-level inter-agency Steering Committees for better coordination between groundwater departments and agencies.

  2. Disbursement of funds to the states based on achievement

  3. Hiring of Technical Support Agencies (TSAs) at the national and state level and Support Organisations (SOs) to bridge capacity gaps and build capacity in public institutions and

  4. Development of an integrated Management Information System (MIS) that increases the flow of information and eases the implementation of standardised Program procedures

Project management, implementation and coordination

Was planned to be done through:

• Central Level through Program Management Unit (PMU) and Technical Support Agency (TSA)

• State Level through State Steering Committee and Program Implementation Agency (PIA)

• District Level through District, Block, and Gram Panchayat institutions and Divisional Program Implementation Units (DPIUs) and Support Organisations (SOs)

The details can be read here

State-wise district and Gram Panchayats covered under the Atal Bhujal Yojana as of 11th December 2025