Factsheet: Community Engagement in Monitoring the Quality and Quantity of Groundwater used for Drinking in Rural India

May 16, 2024

There is a need to monitor the drinking water supplied by Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to the rural households. Since more than 80 per cent of this drinking water is groundwater dependent – ensuring the quality and quantity of groundwater is the need of the hour. The communities manage their drinking water supplies and hence it is very important for them to be equipped with the monitoring process for making their water source sustainable.

This factsheet brings out the urgency for monitoring the groundwater level and quality in India. JJM dashboard trains the communities to monitor the groundwater quality by using economical field testing kits (FTKs). The dashboard shows how different states have engaged the communities in monitoring the drinking water quality using these FTKs. But the dashboard is silent about how the communities are engaged in monitoring the groundwater levels. It is found that the communities are only trained by some non-profits at the state level to monitor the groundwater levels.