The "vast potential" of groundwater was either over-exploited or under-utilised, said minister of state for water resources and urban development P K Thungon at a seminar held in Delhi on March 22 to discuss the need for a shift in focus from large and medium surface-water projects to small dams and ground-water projects. The seminar was organised by the Indian Water Resources Society (IWRS) to mark Water Resources Day, 1994.

Thungon said that it is essential to recharge groundwater artificially to augment it. "There is a general feeling that large and medium projects are costly to execute and have long gestation periods," said the theme paper of the seminar, presented by IWRS. "They submerge large amounts of cultivated land and forests and lead to environmental problems, while small dams and groundwater projects have many favourable aspects like quick construction and fewer environmental problems."

A B Joshi, chairperson of the Central Water Commission and president of IWRS revealed that the Central Ground Water Board had found that of the total of 1,142 cubic km utilisable groundwater resources in the country, 452 cubic km could be replenished. He said that of the ultimate irrigation potential of approximately 113 m ha, 40 m ha was from groundwater exploitation.

The seminar also discussed issues such as whether groundwater should be treated as a national asset and legislation enacted especially for the exploitation and use of transboundary aquifers, and whether state tubewells should be handed over to the beneficiaries for operation and maintenance. It also discussed the disparity between rates for surface and groundwater irrigation. The seminar's deliberations will be considered by the National Water Convention, to be held later this year.