Bhujal Sena, Pani Panchayat to tackle problem

The ground water level in parts of Uttar Pradesh is going down dangerously. According to official figures, underground water level is depleting on a regular basis.

Around one-third districts in the state have dark zone areas with extremely low ground water level. A total of 271 development blocks in 22 districts of the state have been identified with fast depleting ground water level.

For addressing the issue, the state government, as part of Rajya Bhujal Sanrakshan Mission, has decided to constitute ‘Bhujal Sena’ in urban areas and ‘Pani Panchayat’ in rural belts of affected districts for creating awareness about the issue.

Talking to Hindustan Times, director, UP Ground Water department VK Upadhyay said a significant 271 development blocks in 22 districts of the state had been identified with low ground water level.

“Of the total count of blocks placed in dark zone, 113 are placed in over exploited category, 59 in critical and 99 in semi critical category. In 2017-18, under the mission 25 blocks including 15 in Bundelkhand region, 7 in eastern belt besides 3 in western belt of state would be covered,” he said.

As per the official, under the mission a master plan on watershed principle will be prepared to address the problem besides an awareness campaign through Bhujal Sena would be launched in 22 affected districts of the state.

In rural areas of the affected districts, ‘Pani Panchayat’ would be formed for carrying out different activities in villages for conserving ground water level including reviving existing ponds, efficient use of pond water, etc, he added.

“The ‘Pani Panchayat’ will have only 10 to 20 % males while the rest would have womenfolk of the village who would be able to take care of ponds and ensure proper use of water in their respective villages,” added Upadhyay.

It may be mentioned that the 22 district with problem areas in terms of ground water level include Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Varanasi, Aligarh, Meerut, Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bijnor, Bareilly, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Jhansi and Bhadohi.

The ‘Pani Panchayat’ will have 10 to 20 % males while the rest would have womenfolk of the village who would be able to take care of ponds and ensure proper use of water in their respective villages VK UPADHYAY, Director