The Shallow Aquifer Management (SAM) initiative was conceived under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0). SAM 1.0 was launched as a pilot project in 2022 across 9 diverse Indian cities, selected for their varying hydrogeological conditions and severity of groundwater issues. These cities are Bengaluru, Chennai, Dhanbad, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Rajkot, Thane, and Pune. The initiative aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of strategic interventions in managing shallow aquifers, focusing on aquifer mapping, the construction and restoration of recharge structures, and the integration of groundwater management into urban planning frameworks. 

The success of SAM 1.0 was evident in the significant improvements in groundwater levels, strengthened local capacities, and increased public awareness about sustainable water management. Building on these successes and the lessons learned, SAM 2.0 under AMRUT 2.0 now seeks to scale these efforts to 75 additional cities. The initiative is designed to integrate aquifer management into broader urban planning, ensuring that groundwater resources are managed sustainably as cities continue to grow. Through innovative approaches, capacity building, and community involvement, SAM 2.0 will demonstrate how shallow aquifers, often overlooked, can play a crucial role in securing urban water supplies for the future.

The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), aims to enhance urban infrastructure by improving water supply, wastewater and septage management, and developing parks and green spaces in cities. To ensure that projects under AMRUT 2.0 meet quality standards and stipulated project timelines, regular monitoring and evaluations are conducted. These assessments help identify challenges, provide feedback to states and MoHUA, and recommend corrective actions. This process also plays a key role in determining the release of subsequent central fund instalments.

While project feasibility—such as its necessity and viability—is assessed before approval, the Independent Review and Monitoring Agency (IRMA) focuses on evaluating project implementation, identifying obstacles, and facilitating timely interventions.

As part of this initiative, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) has been tasked with independently reviewing contract-approved projects across 1,000 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in 11 Indian states under AMRUT 2.0. Unlike traditional approaches to assessing infrastructural projects, AMRUT 2.0 integrates third-party independent monitoring through IRMA, ensuring real-time on-site evaluation and necessary course correction for better project outcomes.

India is the largest extractor of groundwater in the world. About 55% of the water demand in our cities is met by groundwater. Indian cities use groundwater in both formal water supply and through informal water abstraction to meet the growing freshwater demand. In most cases, this is the water stored at shallow depths below the ground or in shallow aquifers. However, because of indiscriminate abstraction, several Indian cities have exhausted their shallow aquifers. While there is a tendency in cities to dig deeper for water, an easy solution would be to just manage their shallow aquifers more judiciously. 

The reason is that shallow aquifers are not only easily accessible water reserves but also relatively much quicker to recharge when compared to deep aquifers. To promote sustainable shallow aquifer management (SAM), a pilot project was initiated in 2022 under AMRUT 2.0 in 10 cities.

The overarching objective of this pilot project was to create an enabling environment for mainstreaming shallow aquifer management in a city’s water management strategy. It focuses on interventions aimed towards developing water secure cities through the restoration of the shallow (unconfined / phreatic) aquifers which have stood the test of time in India’s long-standing water history. 

The project has two components. First, to enhance the practical and action-oriented knowledge of city stakeholders on managing shallow aquifers in a scientific manner. Second, to demonstrate the use of recharge wells as one of the means for shallow aquifer management.

A variety of approaches/structures as means for shallow aquifer recharge were designed for the pilot cities, which also address the larger problems of groundwater depletion, urban flooding and contamination of groundwater reserves. The SAM project cities are Bengaluru, Chennai, Dhanbad, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Pune, Rajkot, and Thane.