PARTICIPATORY GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT IN THE

ALLUVIAL FLOOD PLAINS OF NORTH BIHAR, INDIAPERCEPTIONS, EXPERIENCES AND WAY FORWARD

Eklavya PrasadMegh Pyne Abhiyan

&Himanshu Kulkarni

Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management

India‟s groundwater dependence: springs and wells

Users, sources…

…& resources (aquifers)

India‟s oft-unfathomed groundwater dependence

Use & users

30 million wells, at least every fourth farmer has a well

Used for drinking water, agriculture and industry

Dependence

Rural drinking water: almost entirely groundwater – 80 to 95%

Agriculture: ???60-70%??? of total use

Urban: 48% of total use

Well (water hole) in Nagzira Tiger Reserve

Agriculture Statistics, various years; DDWS (2009); CSE (2012)

Location of Bihar State in the national groundwater typology

Deep alluvial aquifers – quality issues + mix of exploitation and non-access

„Hard-rock‟ quifers –heterogeneous, overexploited; fluoride

Mixed type – regions of intensive and extensive overexploitation, contaminatyion

Groundwater extraction relatively limited, forests, tribal hinterlands, poverty

Groundwater –high dependence low visibility

Mountain aquifers and springs, major impact of climate change

Coastal areas – salinity ingress to aquifers, erosion of traditional drinking water sources

Bihar

WSS: Demand, Supply & ???

Aquifers: RESOURCE• Type

• Combination• Character

Source

Distribution

Availability

PGWM: Groundwater, management and participation

Groundwater: only as “aquifers” to perceive and believe in the concept of CPR

Management: shift from „sources‟ to the „resource‟, i.e. aquifers and CPR management, with the primary purpose of ensuring drinking water security protocol

Participation: community participates in developing understanding and generating knowledge and converting these into actions...

Generalised geology…

Alluvial aquifers are found within the Gangetic plains, Mehsanaand other basins in Gujarat, along the Brahmaputra basin in the NE and along the coastal parts of peninsular India

Alluvial setting

Alluvial aquifers

Bihar and its scale... • Name is derived from the ancient word Vihara (monastery)

• Total population of 103.8 million with 1,102 persons per sq. km.

• Total area is approximately 94.2 thousand sq km, split into two by the Ganges –

• Northern region of 53.3 sq. km and

• Southern region of 40.9 thousand sq km

• Approximately 90 per cent of its population lives in rural areas

Bihar: floods Floods affect about 73 per cent of Bihar‟s total area

with almost 7 million hectares (ha) each year

Some 17% of the total flood affected area of India is

located in Bihar

Over 22% of the flood affected population in India

lives in the alluvial plains of Bihar

Almost 1 million hectares (ha) of land (roughly 15 per

cent of the region) in north Bihar remains permanently

waterlogged

Floods: a season of misery, destruction, and fatality

accompanying it

In 2013 5.9 million people in 20 districts of Bihar were affected. As per Government figure the death toll was around 176

In 2008, a total of 3.3 million people were affected

In 2007 the figure was at 25 million.....

Bihar's groundwater

As per the National Rural Drinking

Water Program's (NRDWP) - 80 per

cent of the sources developed under

the scheme are based on

groundwater tapped by handpumps or

bore wells

Out of a total of 107,642 habitations

34,909 habitations (32.4 per cent) get

contaminated water

According to Bihar's minor irrigationcensus (2006-07) dugwell (56112);shallow tubewell (571871) and deeptube well (23259) based MI schemestogether comprise 98.17 per cent ofthe entire MI schemes in Bihar

Handpump Results….

0

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Dak

shin

Tel

hua

Shya

mp

ur

Ko

trah

a

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dh

Ch

atar

Utt

ar M

arar

Dah

ama

Kh

airi

Kh

uta

Mad

arp

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Sar

saw

a

Bal

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Luck

hn

our

Gan

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Har

di

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Pas

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Mah

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ttar

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ho

Tel

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Mah

esh

i D

aksh

ini

Bal

awa

Bar

ia

Pip

rakh

urd

Ram

dat

tpat

i

Gh

ura

n

Paschim Champaran

Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul

Percentage of sampled Handpumps showing the presence of Iron beyond the desirable limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)

Total Samples - 489

73% of samples had Iron beyond desirable limits

Handpump Results….

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Dak

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Ko

trah

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Ban

dh

Ch

atar

Utt

ar M

arar

Dah

ama

Kh

airi

Kh

uta

Mad

arp

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Sar

saw

a

Bal

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Luck

hn

our

Gan

gap

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Har

di

Har

na

Pas

twar

Mah

esh

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ttar

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Mah

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Mah

esh

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aksh

ini

Bal

awa

Bar

ia

Pip

rakh

urd

Ram

dat

tpat

i

Gh

ura

n

Paschim Champaran

Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul

Percentage of sampled Handpumps showing the presence of Arsenic beyond the desirable limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)

Total Samples - 453

24% of samples had Arsenic

beyond desirable limits

Handpump Results….

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Dak

shin

Tel

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Shya

mp

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Ko

trah

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Ban

dh

Ch

atar

Utt

ar M

arar

Dah

ama

Kh

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Kh

uta

Mad

arp

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Sar

saw

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Bal

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Luck

hn

our

Gan

gap

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Har

di

Har

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Pas

twar

Mah

esh

i U

ttar

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ho

Tel

har

Mah

esh

i D

aksh

ini

Bal

awa

Bar

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Pip

rakh

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Ram

dat

tpat

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Gh

ura

n

Paschim Champaran

Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul

Percentage of sampled Handpumps showing the presence of Colliforms beyond the desirable limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)

Total Samples - 489

28% of samples had Coliforms beyond

desirable limits

Dugwell Results….

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25

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45

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Dakshin Telhua

Shyampur Kotraha

Bandh Chatar

Madarpur Sarsawa Baliya Luckhnour Gangapur Hardi Harna

Paschim Champaran Khagaria Madhubani

Percentage of sampled Dugwells showing the presence of Iron beyond the desirable limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)

Total Samples - 39

20% of samples had Iron beyond desirable limits

Dug Well Results….

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Dak

shin

Tel

hua

Shya

mp

ur

Ko

trah

a

Ban

dh

Ch

atar

Mad

arp

ur

Sar

saw

a

Bal

iya

Luck

hn

our

Gan

gap

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Har

di

Har

na

Pas

twar

Mah

esh

i U

ttar

i

Mah

iser

ho

Bar

ia

Pip

rakh

urd

Ram

dat

tpat

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Gh

ura

n

Paschim Champaran

Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul

Percentage of sampled Dugwells showing the presence of Arsenic beyond the desirable limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)

Total Samples - 39

15% of samples had Arsenic

beyond desirable limits

Dug Well Results….

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Dak

shin

Tel

hua

Shya

mp

ur

Ko

trah

a

Ban

dh

Ch

atar

Mad

arp

ur

Sar

saw

a

Bal

iya

Luck

hn

our

Gan

gap

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Har

di

Har

na

Pas

twar

Mah

esh

i U

ttar

i

Mah

iser

ho

Bar

ia

Pip

rakh

urd

Ram

dat

tpat

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Gh

ura

n

Paschim Champaran

Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul

Percentage of sampled Dugwells showing the presence of Colliforms beyond the desirable limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)

Total Samples - 39

80% of samples had Coliforms

beyond desirable limits

Bihar's groundwater

• Groundwater is commonly the

largest source of perennial

domestic water and irrigation

• While considering the region as

water abundant, groundwater

quality remains a serious issue to

be addressed.

• Clearly, in such areas, the

quantity of groundwater is of

secondary importance as

compared to accessing good

quality water

• Participatory groundwater

management must be embedded

in this background…

PGWM as a water security process in North Bihar

• Rainwater harvesting and storage – an alternative during the flood season

• Dug wells as arsenic-iron-bacteria free „community‟ sources in vulnerable areas

• Household filters for iron, arsenic and bacteria filtration

• Phaydemand Shauchalay – Beneficial toilets – for household-level sanitation

• Jal doots - water ambassadors – to promote concept and facilitate processes – fulcrum for PGWM in Bihar

GROUNDWATER

SANITATIONWATER SUPPLY

Groundwater: source & sink

KNOWLEDGE DRIVEN

floodsaquifers,

groundwater quality

JAL DOOTS

Ambassadors to deliver appropriate messages

Connecting to rural HHs

APPROPRIATENESS

Alternatives

Application of science

Practices

PGWM

PROCESS

Demystification of science

Behavioral change

COLLABORATION& PARTNERSHIP

Institutions

Disciplines

People

PGWM – Principles and processes in North Bihar

Water as a “commons”

Respect the natural resource regime of an area

Data availability and accessibility are crucial for water security plans – at all scales

Include involvement of all stakeholders

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