A

1. PARTICIPATORY GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT IN THE
ALLUVIAL FLOOD PLAINS OF NORTH BIHAR, INDIA
PERCEPTIONS, EXPERIENCES AND WAY FORWARD
Eklavya Prasad
Megh Pyne Abhiyan
&
Himanshu Kulkarni
Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management

2. India‟s groundwater dependence:
springs and wells

3. Users, sources…

4. …& resources (aquifers)

5. India‟s oft-unfathomed groundwater
dependence
Use & users
30 million wells, at least every fourth
farmer has a well
Used for drinking water, agriculture and
industry
Dependence
Rural drinking water: almost entirely
groundwater – 80 to 95%
Agriculture: ???60-70%??? of total use
Urban: 48% of total use
Well (water hole) in Nagzira Tiger Reserve
Agriculture Statistics, various years; DDWS (2009); CSE (2012)

6. Location of Bihar State in the national groundwater typology
Deep alluvial aquifers
– quality issues + mix
of exploitation and
non-access
„Hard-rock‟ quifers –
heterogeneous, overexpl
oited; fluoride
Mixed type – regions
of intensive and
extensive
overexploitation, cont
aminatyion
Groundwater extraction
relatively
limited, forests, tribal
hinterlands, poverty
Groundwater –
high dependence
low visibility
Mountain aquifers
and springs, major
impact of climate
change
Coastal areas – salinity
ingress to
aquifers, erosion of
traditional drinking water
sources
Bihar

7. WSS: Demand, Supply & ???
Aquifers:
RESOURCE
• Type
• Combination
• Character
Source
Distribution
Availability

8. PGWM: Groundwater, management
and participation
Groundwater: only as “aquifers” to perceive and
believe in the concept of CPR
Management: shift from „sources‟ to the „resource‟, i.e.
aquifers and CPR management, with the primary
purpose of ensuring drinking water security protocol
Participation: community participates in developing
understanding and generating knowledge and
converting these into actions...

9. Generalised geology…
Alluvial aquifers are found within
the Gangetic plains, Mehsana
and other basins in
Gujarat, along the Brahmaputra
basin in the NE and along the
coastal parts of peninsular India

10. Alluvial setting

11. Alluvial aquifers

12. Bihar and its scale...
• Name is derived from the ancient word Vihara (monastery)
• Total population of 103.8 million with 1,102 persons per sq. km.
• Total area is approximately 94.2 thousand sq km, split into two by the Ganges –
• Northern region of 53.3 sq. km and
• Southern region of 40.9 thousand sq km
• Approximately 90 per cent of its population lives in rural areas

14. Bihar: floods
 Floods affect about 73 per cent of Bihar‟s total area
with almost 7 million hectares (ha) each year
 Some 17% of the total flood affected area of India is
located in Bihar
 Over 22% of the flood affected population in India
lives in the alluvial plains of Bihar
 Almost 1 million hectares (ha) of land (roughly 15 per
cent of the region) in north Bihar remains permanently
waterlogged
 Floods: a season of misery, destruction, and fatality
accompanying it
 In 2013 5.9 million people in 20 districts of Bihar were
affected. As per Government figure the death toll was
around 176
 In 2008, a total of 3.3 million people were affected
 In 2007 the figure was at 25 million.....

15. Bihar's groundwater
 As per the National Rural Drinking
Water Program's (NRDWP) - 80 per
cent of the sources developed under
the scheme are based on
groundwater tapped by handpumps or
bore wells
 Out of a total of 107,642 habitations
34,909 habitations (32.4 per cent) get
contaminated water
 According to Bihar's minor irrigation
census (2006-07) dugwell (56112);
shallow tubewell (571871) and deep
tube well (23259) based MI schemes
together comprise 98.17 per cent of
the entire MI schemes in Bihar

16. Handpump Results….
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
DakshinTelhua
ShyampurKotraha
BandhChatar
UttarMarar
DahamaKhairiKhuta
Madarpur
Sarsawa
Baliya
Luckhnour
Gangapur
Hardi
Harna
Pastwar
MaheshiUttari
Mahiserho
Telhar
MaheshiDakshini
Balawa
Baria
Piprakhurd
Ramdattpati
Ghuran
Paschim
Champaran
Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul
Percentage of sampled Handpumps showing the presence of Iron beyond the desirable
limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)
Total Samples - 489
73% of samples
had Iron beyond
desirable limits

17. Handpump Results….
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
DakshinTelhua
ShyampurKotraha
BandhChatar
UttarMarar
DahamaKhairiKhuta
Madarpur
Sarsawa
Baliya
Luckhnour
Gangapur
Hardi
Harna
Pastwar
MaheshiUttari
Mahiserho
MaheshiDakshini
Balawa
Baria
Piprakhurd
Ramdattpati
Ghuran
Paschim
Champaran
Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul
Percentage of sampled Handpumps showing the presence of Arsenic beyond the desirable
limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004) Total Samples - 453
24% of samples
had Arsenic
beyond desirable
limits

18. Handpump Results….
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
DakshinTelhua
ShyampurKotraha
BandhChatar
UttarMarar
DahamaKhairiKhuta
Madarpur
Sarsawa
Baliya
Luckhnour
Gangapur
Hardi
Harna
Pastwar
MaheshiUttari
Mahiserho
Telhar
MaheshiDakshini
Balawa
Baria
Piprakhurd
Ramdattpati
Ghuran
Paschim
Champaran
Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul
Percentage of sampled Handpumps showing the presence of Colliforms beyond the desirable
limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)
Total Samples - 489
28% of samples had
Coliforms beyond
desirable limits

19. Dugwell Results….
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Dakshin
Telhua
Shyampur
Kotraha
Bandh
Chatar
Madarpur Sarsawa Baliya Luckhnour Gangapur Hardi Harna
Paschim Champaran Khagaria Madhubani
Percentage of sampled Dugwells showing the presence of Iron beyond the desirable
limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)
Total Samples - 39
20% of samples
had Iron beyond
desirable limits

20. Dug Well Results….
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
DakshinTelhua
ShyampurKotraha
BandhChatar
Madarpur
Sarsawa
Baliya
Luckhnour
Gangapur
Hardi
Harna
Pastwar
MaheshiUttari
Mahiserho
Baria
Piprakhurd
Ramdattpati
Ghuran
Paschim
Champaran
Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul
Percentage of sampled Dugwells showing the presence of Arsenic beyond the desirable
limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)
Total Samples - 39
15% of samples
had Arsenic
beyond desirable
limits

21. Dug Well Results….
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
DakshinTelhua
ShyampurKotraha
BandhChatar
Madarpur
Sarsawa
Baliya
Luckhnour
Gangapur
Hardi
Harna
Pastwar
MaheshiUttari
Mahiserho
Baria
Piprakhurd
Ramdattpati
Ghuran
Paschim
Champaran
Khagaria Madhubani Saharsa Supaul
Percentage of sampled Dugwells showing the presence of Colliforms beyond the desirable
limits - 2010 (as per IS 10500; 2004)
Total Samples - 39
80% of samples
had Coliforms
beyond
desirable limits

22. Bihar's groundwater
• Groundwater is commonly the
largest source of perennial
domestic water and irrigation
• While considering the region as
water abundant, groundwater
quality remains a serious issue to
be addressed.
• Clearly, in such areas, the
quantity of groundwater is of
secondary importance as
compared to accessing good
quality water
• Participatory groundwater
management must be embedded
in this background…

23. PGWM as a water security process
in North Bihar
• Rainwater harvesting and storage – an alternative during the flood season
• Dug wells as arsenic-iron-bacteria free „community‟ sources in vulnerable
areas
• Household filters for iron, arsenic and bacteria filtration
• Phaydemand Shauchalay – Beneficial toilets – for household-level
sanitation
• Jal doots - water ambassadors – to promote concept and facilitate
processes – fulcrum for PGWM in Bihar

28. GROUNDWATER
SANITATION
WATER SUPPLY
Groundwater: source & sink

29. KNOWLEDGE DRIVEN
floods
aquifers,
groundwater quality
JAL DOOTS
Ambassadors to deliver
appropriate messages
Connecting to rural HHs
APPROPRIATENESS
Alternatives
Application of science
Practices
PGWM
PROCESS
Demystification of science
Behavioral change
COLLABORATION
& PARTNERSHIP
Institutions
Disciplines
People

30. PGWM – Principles and processes in North
Bihar
Water as a “commons”
Respect the natural resource
regime of an area
Data availability and
accessibility are crucial for
water security plans – at all
scales
Include involvement of all
stakeholders

31. Meghpyneabhiyan.wordpress.com
meghpyneabhiyan@gmail.com
www.acwadam.org
acwadam@gmail.com