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Abstract:
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"Groundwater has the attributes of extremely high use value common resource with feasibility for private access. In India, groundwater is treated as de facto private property since land and water rights are linked as per Indian Easements Act of 1882, hence often resulting in over exploitation and inequity in its access. The Andhra Pradesh (AP) state with about 900 mm average annual rain fall and 85% of the area underlain by hard rock formations has 143 over-exploited and critical ground water assessment units out of 1229 as per 2008-2009 assessment for groundwater estimation. Groundwater irrigated area crossed 50 per cent of the total irrigated area. Competitive drilling of bore wells at closer spacing led to well interference, failure of functional wells, lowered yields and groundwater over-extraction. Moreover, social equity issues in accessing and utilizing groundwater water became a major concern for the state. The paper discusses the ground water situation in India with special reference to Andhra Pradesh, existing and proposed legal provisions, policy issues, possibility for collective action, experience of implementing various participatory groundwater management practices by the state and NGOs with special focus on comprehensive land development programme with focus on equity issues, and the outcomes arising out of the experience. Information available with the state government, third party evaluation studies and other sources of literature are used for analyzing the relevant details. The paper concludes that as long as water rights are linked to land, sharing and networking of wells through coordinated participatory groundwater management by combining social and formal regulations besides building capacities of farmers is the best option to achieve equity. The paper strongly recommends for revisiting the legal systems also keeping the sustainability and long term implications in view."
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