Why is it in the News?

Securing water for the future as the mantra, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the latest intervention has taken up the Shallow Aquifer Management (SAM) model on a pilot basis in the city.

What is an Aquifer?

• An aquifer is a body of porous rock or sediment that is saturated with groundwater.
• Groundwater enters an aquifer through precipitation that seeps down through the soil.
• It can then move through the aquifer and emerge at the surface via springs and wells.
• Aquifers are classified into two types:
  • Deep Aquifers
  • Shallow Aquifers

What is Shallow Aquifer Management (SAM)?

• In 2022, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) launched a Shallow Aquifer Management (SAM) pilot program in ten cities across nine states:
  • Bengaluru (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Dhanbad (Jharkhand), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Hyderabad (Telangana), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Kolkata (West Bengal), Pune and Thane (Maharashtra), and Rajkot (Gujarat).
• The SAM pilot is overseen by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and supported by the Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM) in Pune and the Biome Environmental Trust in Bengaluru.
• Under SAM, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has identified five municipal parks for implementation this year.

How does it work?

• The project involves drilling shallow water injection borewells to depths of 100-120 feet to extract water from shallow aquifers.
• This process helps recharge the underlying layers during rainfall events by collecting water from the surrounding watershed and directing it through recharge pits.
• Consequently, underground water layers are replenished, leading to a rise in the water table.