New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS): The latest state of the art technology is being employed by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for mapping ground water sources in arid regions, Union Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday.

"This technology can thus help utilise ground water for drinking to supplement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Har Ghar Nal Se Jal' scheme," he said.

The Minister disclosed that the CSIR, along with the National Geophysical Research Institute NGRI, have undertaken High Resolution Aquifer Mapping and Management in arid regions of northwestern India to augment the groundwater resources.

The heli-borne geophysical mapping technique of the CSIR-NGRI provides a high resolution 3D image of the sub-surface up to a depth of 500 meters below the ground, a release from the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

The meeting at the CSIR was attended by Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister, Professor K VijayRaghavan, CSIR Director General, Dr Shekhar Mande, and other chief scientists.

Singh said the Jal Shakti Ministry has entrusted the responsibility for mapping ground water sources in arid regions to the CSIR-NGRI .

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 75th Independence Day speech, where he said that in just two years of the Jal Jeevan Mission, more than four and a half crore families have started getting water from taps, he said that the government is promoting science and technology with emphasis on emerging areas and their application for bringing "Ease of Living" for the common man.

The minister said that arid areas in the north western India spread over parts of states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab cover nearly 12 per cent of the total geographical area of the country and are home to more than eight crore people. He said, with an annual rainfall in the range of less than 100 to 400 mm, this area faces acute shortage of water throughout the year and it is proposed to take up high resolution aquifer mapping and management to augment the groundwater resources.

This technique is cost-effective, precise and is useful to map large areas (districts/states) within a short time to map the vast extent of groundwater resources in arid regions, he added.

The entire work will be completed by 2025 with more than 1.5 lakh sq kms area with an estimated cost of Rs 141 crore, the release said.

He said that the ultimate aim of this project is to map the potential sites for groundwater withdrawal and conservation and results will be used to meet the broader objectives of aquifer mapping, rejuvenation, and management of groundwater resources in the arid areas, it added.