Gurgaon: Data on the city’s groundwater levels will soon be available on GMDA’s website. The metropolitan authority is planning to replace the existing manual piezometers (devices used to measure underground water pressure) with automatic ones, which will transmit data to GMDA’s integrated command control centre (ICCC) for 24X7 monitoring. This data will be uploaded daily on the GMDA website dashboard for residents by mid 2024.
The idea is for GMDA and residents to be able to understand and monitor groundwater extraction and recharge patterns, officials said. Groundwater data will be made available online, just like air quality index (AQI) data can be accessed on CPCB’s website, they said.
“Apart from upgrading the existing 110 manual piezometers in the city with new ones, we will also install 81 more devices at every 10 square kilometres to better monitor groundwater depth. Work will be completed by June. Using GPS, we have already identified locations where we will install the additional piezometers,” GMDA additional CEO Subhash Yadav said.
“The data will be monitored constantly to analyse if construction sites are exploiting groundwater. We will also be able to get a clearer picture of the effectiveness of steps taken to recharge the water table,” Yadav added.
Under the Centre’s Atal Bhujal Yojana, the groundwater cell is already installing piezometers in rural areas of Gurgaon, but the urban areas need constant monitoring, he said.
The city has been perilously close to a water crisis since 2013, when it was categorised as ‘overexploited’ by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). Water experts have already established that the city is extracting three times more water than it is recharging. As some areas still don’t have regularised water connections, people living there are dependent on groundwater, according to the water cell.
Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA) launched an integrated action plan on April 26, 2023 to plug the state’s water gap. The government plans to save 5.48 trillion litres of water over the next two years with a series of interventions .
The idea is for GMDA and residents to be able to understand and monitor groundwater extraction and recharge patterns, officials said. Groundwater data will be made available online, just like air quality index (AQI) data can be accessed on CPCB’s website, they said.
“Apart from upgrading the existing 110 manual piezometers in the city with new ones, we will also install 81 more devices at every 10 square kilometres to better monitor groundwater depth. Work will be completed by June. Using GPS, we have already identified locations where we will install the additional piezometers,” GMDA additional CEO Subhash Yadav said.
“The data will be monitored constantly to analyse if construction sites are exploiting groundwater. We will also be able to get a clearer picture of the effectiveness of steps taken to recharge the water table,” Yadav added.
Under the Centre’s Atal Bhujal Yojana, the groundwater cell is already installing piezometers in rural areas of Gurgaon, but the urban areas need constant monitoring, he said.
The city has been perilously close to a water crisis since 2013, when it was categorised as ‘overexploited’ by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). Water experts have already established that the city is extracting three times more water than it is recharging. As some areas still don’t have regularised water connections, people living there are dependent on groundwater, according to the water cell.
Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA) launched an integrated action plan on April 26, 2023 to plug the state’s water gap. The government plans to save 5.48 trillion litres of water over the next two years with a series of interventions .