New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel, Faggan Singh Kulaste launched the “Jaldoot App to monitor groundwater tables, and Jaldoot App e-brochure” at a function in New Delhi today.
Jointly developed by the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, the Jaldoot app will be used across the country to capture the water level of selected 2-3 wells in a village. Manual monitoring of water levels in open wells will be measured twice a year, from May 1 to May 31 as pre-monsoon water levels and from October 1 to October 31, for post-monsoon levels for the same well. Jaldoots, that is, officers assigned to measure the water levels, should also upload the geo-tagged photographs through the app on every occasion of measurement.
This Mobile app will work in both online and offline mode. So water level can be captured even without internet connectivity and captured data will be stored on mobile and when mobile comes into the connectivity area, data will synchronize with the central server. The regular data to be input by the Jaldoots would be integrated with the database of the National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC), which can be utilised for analysis and display of various useful reports for the benefit of various stakeholders.
Kulaste said that with the newly launched app, the State Government/UTs and gram panchayats should involve themselves in systematically collecting groundwater level data and assimilating the same into the central digital database for analysis. He said that despite promoting watershed development, afforestation, waterbody development and renovation, and rainwater harvesting initiatives, the groundwater level in various parts of the country has depleted. He said this app will facilitate in observing water tables across the country and the resulting data can be utilised for Gram Panchayat Development Plan and Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Plans.
Minister of State for Rural Development, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in her address said that the withdrawal of groundwater has reached critical levels in many parts of the country and addressing this issue is a priority. Therefore measurement and observation of the levels of water tables across the country have become necessary.
– global bihari bureau
