Mysuru: “Conservation of ground water has become inevitable and citizens must cooperate with various Government agencies by minimising the use of water,” opined Regional Director of Central Water Authority N. Jyotikumar.

He was speaking at a seminar ‘Antarjala Abhivruddhi Mattu Nirvahana Abhyasa,’ jointly organised by the Department of Geology, University of Mysore (UoM) and Central Water Authority, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India at the Department auditorium recently.

“Conservation of ground water is not possible by experts and Government officials alone. Public co-operation is also essential. Hence, everyone must help in conservation of ground water,” he said.

He said that large quantity of ground water is needed for agriculture and the Union Government has formulated policies keeping this in mind. But, mere policies cannot ensure good management of ground water at the lower level. Awareness should be created among farmers about the usage of water as per crop requirements. It is only then the policies of ground water management will be effective, he said.

UoM Vice-Chancellor Prof. N.K.  Lokanath, who inaugurated the seminar said “As the population increases, there will be depletion of water resources. To manage this, proper management of ground water is very essential.”

Director of Atal Bhujal Yojana H. Kiran said ground water is a rare resource and India depends heavily on it. While 80% of ground water is needed for agriculture, it is also being used to meet 85% of rural drinking water needs and 55 % of urban drinking water requirements.

Scientist Rahul R. Shinde, Prof. D. Nagaraju of Geology Department and others were present.