National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme
Also called: NAQUIM · Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM) is a Central Ground Water Board programme that began in 2012. It maps India's aquifers, the underground rock and soil layers that store water. For each aquifer it records how far it spreads, how much water it can give (its yield) and how good that water is. The maps are drawn at a detailed 1:50,000 scale and cover about 25 lakh sq km. Officials then use them with the states to draw up plans for managing each aquifer.
Example
NAQUIM's maps show a sharp contrast inside India. The Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains have thick alluvial aquifers that hold a lot of water. The hard basalt and granite rocks of the Deccan, Karnataka and Telangana hold little water and run dry fast when pumped.
Don't confuse with
- Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment: a yearly count of groundwater recharge and pumping in each block. NAQUIM maps the structure and quality of the aquifers themselves.