India, Aug. 18 -- The Government of India issued the following news release:

Water, being a State subject, places the primary responsibility for the augmentation, conservation, assessment and efficient management of water resources with the respective State Governments. However, the Central Government supplements the efforts of the States through technical and financial support.

The Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are assessed every year from 2022 jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments to analyze trends in groundwater recharge and extraction. As per the report of "National Compilation of Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2024", shared by CGWB, 102 districts are categorized as 'Over- exploited', 22 districts are categorized as 'Critical' and 69 districts are categorized as "Semi-critical". The State wise details of 193 OCS (Over Exploited, Critical and Semi Critical) districts is provided below.

Additionally, the Ministry of Jal Shakti launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019 as a time-bound, mission-mode water conservation campaign in 256 water-stressed districts of the country. The Hon'ble Prime Minister launched "Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain" (JSA: CTR) in 2021 with the tagline "Catch the Rain - Where it Falls When it Falls". The Abhiyan was scaled up to cover all districts, blocks, and municipalities across the country.

Although JSA:CTR campaign is implemented nationwide, each edition has included a targeted focus since 2023 to maximize impact. The JSA: CTR 2023, with the theme "Source Sustainability for Drinking Water," prioritized 150 special focus districts identified by the Jal Jeevan Mission. The JSA: CTR 2024 campaign, themed "Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti," was carried out across the country with a special focus on 151 districts identified by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). The JSA: CTR 2025 was launched with the theme "Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari: Jan Jagrukta Ki Or" emphasizing deeper grassroots engagement, inter-sectoral convergence and innovative financing mechanisms with special focus on 148 districts identified by CGWB. The lists of focused districts under JSA:CTR Campaign (for 2025, 2024 & 2023) is attached at below respectively.

Water' is State subject and the Central Government supplements the efforts of the States through technical and financial support. Water conservation is one of the foremost priorities of the Government.

To address the challenges faced by States and local bodies in implemention of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan campaign particularly in water-stressed regions, the Government of India has adopted a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach. As part of this strategy, Central teams consisting of Central Nodal Officers (CNOs) of the Rank of Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary/Director/Deputy Secretary and Technical Officers (TOs) from the organizations of DoWR, RD & GR (CWC, CGWB, NIH, CSMRS, CWPRS, etc) are sent for field visits to the focused districts during the campaign for interaction with district authorities on Jal Shakti Abhiyan and to facilitate the districts and provide technical assistance. Further, State Nodal Officers are also appointed by all the states/UTs to oversee the implementation of the campaign at state level. 148 Central Nodal Officers have been appointed for 148 high focus districts for the JSA: CTR 2025-2026 campaign. List of 148 high focus districts are at below.

This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

MAM/SMP

(Rajya Sabha US Q2803)

Table Omitted (The document can be viewed at https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2157432 )

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.