Abstract

Groundwater law in India gives individual landowners immense control over groundwater. This is inappropriate in a context where groundwater is now the primary source of water for the realization of the human right to water. This also fails to provide the basis for effective protection of groundwater at aquifer level. According to a 2016 study, aquifer depletion in agricultural regions could threaten nearly half the world’s food sources and deny 1.8 billion people from reliable access to water by 2050. The same study projects that aquifers in India’s Upper Ganges basin may be depleted within 25 years. This alarming vulnerability calls for immediate policy action from central and state governments. This paper will mainly be focusing on three aspects: a) India's existing policies to preserve ground water and use it in the most efficient manner, b) environmental reforms, the Government of India is trying to achieve and c) In addition to this, this article argues that groundwater law must be reconnected to around a new set of principles that recognize the common nature of groundwater, its importance, the need for a governance framework starting at the local level and the need for a stronger aquifer protection regime. Further this study, would focus upon behavioral management i.e. towards environmental sustainability, an ideal combination of conservation, awareness about moral and social responsibility among the citizens of India through campaigns and innovative technologies that would successfully arrest continued groundwater loss and possibly reverse it.

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