The Jal Shakti Ministry has released a geospatial mobile app that helps planners locate suitable groundwater recharge sites, as many Indian states face heavy over-extraction.

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• Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil launched the Punah Bharan mobile application on October 28, 2026.
• The app supports scientific groundwater recharge planning and sustainable groundwater management across the country.
• It was developed by the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) with the National Water Mission.
• The National Water Mission works under the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation of the Jal Shakti Ministry.
• The application identifies potential groundwater recharge zones within a three-kilometre radius of a chosen location.
• It provides village-level maps of Artificial Recharge Structures along with Geographic Information System tools for planning interventions.
• The platform draws on rainfall, groundwater level, yield, slope and drainage data to pick suitable recharge zones.
• Punjab has the highest share of over-exploited groundwater units at 75.16 per cent, followed by Haryana at 61.54 per cent and Delhi at 41.18 per cent.
• Tamil Nadu has 33.87 per cent and Karnataka 18.99 per cent of their groundwater units in the over-exploited category.
• The National Water Mission was set up in 2011 and aims to raise water-use efficiency by 20 per cent.
• It also targets cutting over-exploited groundwater blocks by at least 20 per cent by 2035.