Groundwater institutions and Governance in north indian states evidence and lessons from Hoshiarpur and Jammu Districts Singh Ishita*, Dhawan Megha** *Post Graduate Government College, Chandigarh, India **Department of Evening Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India Online published on 27 August, 2019. Abstract Green revolution and development of drilling technology allowed intensive groundwate Abstraction in North Indian states since mid-1960s without simultaneous evolution of institutions. Overuse of groundwater and lack of adequate planning, legal frameworks and governance pose a threat to sustainability of intensive use of groundwater resources in Punjab. More or less similar is situation in Jammu region of state of Jammu and Kashmir, where groundwater is being used intensively for irrigation. Keeping above scenarios in view, a deeper analysis of institutions for groundwater governance is essential in both north Indian states of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, which have ultimately leads to policy prescriptions for robust institutions for groundwater governance and help overcome serious problems associated with its abuse and misuse. The primary data and information has been collected from 180 water users each in agriculture from Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir state and Hoshiarpur district of Punjab state. The study reveals that energy subsidies to agriculture have resulted in over pumping of groundwater, declining water table levels, failure of tube-wells, and increasing diesel run pumping costs, with serious environmental consequences. Minimum support price for paddy, wheat and sugar have greater influence on groundwater use. Uncertainty of monsoon and existence of groundwater markets add further stress to groundwater resources. Therefore, there is need for a gradual phasing out of cross-energy subsidies. Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water is capable of achieving much greater water-supply security, larger net water-supply yield, better timing of irrigation-water delivery, and reduced climate impact. Top Keywords Groundwater Institutions, Governance, North Indian States. Top |