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In India, the hydrogeological, social, economic, cultural and political factors vary greatly at local or regional scales. To manage India's groundwater economy, I think no single template for GW management can be developed due to the trend of indiscriminate exploitation induced aggregate impact of millions of individual pumping decisions and also pollution of ground water. The aquifers in India (particularly in the Ganga Basin) are likely to be in a critical condition in future if this trend continues. In order to achieve the goal of sustainable development of groundwater resources, it has to be managed by participatory water resources management taking into account the environmental as well as economic, social, geographical and political aspects and treat social & practical decisions ethically, i.e., moral principles and values that comprises of honesty, trust, treating others fairly & loyally, and govern the actions & decisions of an individual or group. There is a need to recognize these inextricable linkages, especially aggressive to GW depletion & degradation. The knowledge and status of ground water resources availability (both in terms of quantity and quality) and its use have to be systematically assessed and evaluated. It will be worthwhile to develop guidelines and policies to control opportunistic exploitation of ground water for meeting future water demand.
By Prof. Partha Sarathi Datta