The rain water harvesting projects initiated by the government have begun to make an impact in the states, including Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. An impact assessment study undertaken by the Ministry of Water Resources has revealed that roof-top rain harvesting projects have led to increase in water table levels by 0.32 to 0.70 metres on an average besides increasing crop intensity by two to three times.

Keeping in view the success of these projects, the ministry has urged the state government to enact legislation to make roof-top rain water harvesting mandatory in urban areas. Provision of roof-top rain water harvesting system has been made mandatory in Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh for specified categories of buildings.

Union Minister of State for Water Resources Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi today told the Lok Sabha that “nationwide water conservation campaign has been launched keeping in view the various target groups like youth and children, women, farmers and villages, policy and opinion makers.”

He said the roof-top rain water harvesting project at the CSIO, Chandigarh, has led to recharging ground water by 3812 metre cubics besides 1985 metre cubic annually at Basic Sciences Block on the Panjab University campus in UT. The ministry has claimed that artificial recharge in alluvial acquifers from Dhuri Link drain, Sangrur district in Punjab have led to a rise in the ground water levels up to 1.38 metres in the vicinity of the project area.

Meanwhile, the recharging wells scheme for recharging of Golden Temple sarovar, Amritsar, has reduced declining rate of ground water level from 0.9 metre to 0.24 metre. Similarly, the artificial ground water recharge projects in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Amritsar districts have led to an average rise in water level by 0.32 to 0.70 metre.

In Haryana, the roof-top water harvesting projects have also made an impact in Faridabad and Kurukshetra districts. “Roof-top and pavement rain harvesting projects implemented in the DC office, Faridabad have recharged ground water by 2370 cubics in only one rainy season,” stated the Study of Recharge to Ground Water undertaken by the Central Ground Water Board.