PIB Tracker1.55 crore recharge structures, and 2.43 bcm back underground
A Jal Shakti backgrounder put numbers on Catch the Rain and Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari - and on how much groundwater a sample of the structures actually recharged.
What happened
- A PIB backgrounder reviewed the Catch the Rain campaign and Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari - rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and the restoration of water bodies.
- It records over 1.55 crore artificial recharge and storage structures built under the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari initiative.
- An impact study of 23 lakh JSJB 1.0 structures, using rainfall from 1 June to 31 December 2025, estimated 2.43 billion cubic metres of groundwater recharge.
- From 1 June 2026, JSJB was merged with Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain as JSJB: CTR, run by convergence across VB-G RAM G, PMKSY, CAMPA and Finance Commission grants.
- Recommended actions include rainwater harvesting in homes and workplaces, recharge pits and shafts, reviving unused borewells, restoring baolis and traditional water bodies, desilting ponds and planting in recharge areas.
For Prelims
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan (2019): 1,592 water-stressed blocks in 256 districts.
- JSA: Catch the Rain: launched 22 March 2021 (World Water Day); theme 'Catch the Rain, Where It Falls, When It Falls'.
- Yearly themes: 2022 expanding conservation · 2023 source sustainability for drinking water in 150 districts · 2024 'Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti'.
- JSJB 1.0: 1 April 2024 to 31 May 2025; the 3Cs = Community, CSR, Cost; over 10 lakh recharge structures constructed.
- JSJB 2.0: from 1 June 2025, focus on over-exploited and critical districts.
- JSJB: Catch the Rain: from 1 June 2026, converging VB-G RAM G, PMKSY (Per Drop More Crop; Repair, Renovation and Restoration of water bodies), CAMPA and Finance Commission grants.
- Outcome: 1.55 crore+ structures; study of 23 lakh structures (rainfall 1 Jun-31 Dec 2025) estimated 2.43 bcm recharge.
- Institutions: Jal Shakti Kendras = district-level knowledge and facilitation hubs; Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman recognises women-led efforts.
For UPSC: JSA: Catch the Rain (22 Mar 2021) + Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (3Cs: Community, CSR, Cost) = 1.55 crore recharge structures; 23 lakh studied gave 2.43 bcm recharge.
What it is NOT: Catch the Rain is a campaign run by convergence, not a centrally funded scheme with its own outlay - the money comes from VB-G RAM G, PMKSY, CAMPA, Finance Commission grants and State schemes. The backgrounder gives no expenditure figure and no State-wise numbers, and its 2.43 bcm covers only the 23 lakh structures studied, not all 1.55 crore.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.14 · GS2.10 · Linkage L1
Anchor
India's groundwater policy has shifted from regulating extraction to financing recharge, and from government projects to community structures built with local labour, CSR money and existing scheme funds.
Substantiation (data)
Over 1.55 crore recharge and storage structures; an impact study of 23 lakh of them, using rainfall from June to December 2025, estimated 2.43 billion cubic metres of recharge.
Exemplification
The 3Cs - Community, CSR, Cost - describe the model: cheap, hyper-local structures such as recharge pits, revived borewells and desilted ponds, built by convergence rather than from a dedicated budget, with Jal Shakti Kendras as district hubs.
Problematisation
The 2.43 bcm measured from the 23 lakh structures studied is about one per cent of the 247 bcm India extracts a year, per the 2025 groundwater assessment - structure counts are large, recharge small against extraction.
Way-forward
Report recharge per structure and the share still functional after two or three monsoons, so the campaign is judged on water returned to aquifers, not on structures counted.
Position
The government's stated approach is whole-of-government and whole-of-society: low-cost, hyper-local interventions, community ownership, digital monitoring through the JSJB: CTR portal and app, and convergence of existing schemes.
Deploys into: Conservation + government interventions (GS3.14, GS2.10) · groundwater depletion, community-led water governance and scheme convergence.
PIB Backgrounder · 2026-10-26 · PRID 2328335 · PIB source ↗