Soon 'Atal Bhujal Yojana' be sent to Union Cabinet for approval

NEW DELHI: The Atul Bhujal Yojana (ABHY), aimed at improving the groundwater table in the country, will soon be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval, Water Resources Secretary U P Singh said on Thursday.

The Rs 6000 crore ABHY scheme, which was approved by the World Bank in August last year, has been pending since last three years.

The scheme was announced in the 2016-17 Union Budget under which the funding was to be done on 50 per cent basis by the Centre as well as the World Bank.

"The scheme will soon be sent to the Cabinet for approval," Singh said.

According to the Central Groundwater Board, of the 6584 blocks in the country, 1034 have been over-exploited. This includes 64 blocks of Haryana, 43 from Karnataka, 105 from Punjab, 164 from Rajasthan, 358 from Tamil Nadu and 113 from Karnataka.

The scheme will be implemented in 78 districts, 193 blocks and 8,350 gram panchayat, over the next five years.

The priority areas identified under the scheme fall in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

These states represent about 25 per cent of the total number of over-exploited, critical and semi-critical blocks in terms of groundwater in India.