Chhattisgarh Chairs ‘Best Practices’ Session at India International Water Week 2026, Rajesh Toppo Leads

Rajesh Toppo Presents Chhattisgarh’s Groundwater Miracle at India Water Week: From 9 Critical Blocks to ZERO

Zero Critical Blocks, Extraction Down For First Time — Rajesh Toppo Showcases Chhattisgarh Model at India Water Week

“A Best Practice That Stays In One District Is A Story, One That Travels Is A Policy” — Rajesh Toppo at 9th India Water Week

Chhattisgarh Chairs ‘Best Practices’ Session at India International Water Week 2026 — Rajesh Toppo Leads

Korea’s 5% Model Goes National: Rajesh Toppo Offers Chhattisgarh’s Water Turnaround Formula to Other States

Chhattisgarh Chairs ‘Best Practices’ Session at India International Water Week; State’s Groundwater Turnaround Presented to National and International Delegates

Zero critical blocks and the first recorded fall in groundwater extraction; Korea district’s ‘5% model’ offered to other States

Chhattisgarh chaired the session on “Best Practices” at the 9th India International Water Week (IIWW-2026) at Bharat Mandapam. Shri Rajesh Sukumar Toppo, IAS, Secretary, Water Resources Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, chaired the session at the invitation of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, with Shri Atul Jain, former Chairman, Central Water Commission, as Co-Chair. The session was anchored by the National Water Mission and attended by delegates from across India and partner countries.

Opening the session, Shri Toppo set out a simple test for any practice claiming to be “best”: it must show in water levels rather than in the number of structures built, an ordinary district must be able to adopt it, and it must survive the transfer of the officer who started it.

Presenting Chhattisgarh’s experience as evidence, he informed the gathering that the State’s Groundwater Resources Assessment 2026, carried out with the Central Ground Water Board, records zero critical blocks, down from nine in 2020; annual recharge at an all-time high of 14.65 BCM; and extraction falling from 6.30 to 6.21 BCM, the first decline on record. The State’s stage of extraction stands at 46.37 per cent against the national figure of 60.63 per cent. Nineteen semi-critical blocks remain, and the State’s goal is no water-stressed block by 2030.

Two Chhattisgarh models drew particular interest. In Korea district, over 1,260 farmers have voluntarily set aside five per cent of their fields for recharge pits and ponds, planned through Gram Sabhas and maintained by women’s groups and youth volunteers, with no land acquisition. Over 2,000 soak pits have been built, 440 traditional ponds revived, and water levels have risen by three to four metres in many villages.

In Bemetara, Balod and Rajnandgaon, farmers moved out of summer paddy, cutting its area by 70 to 81 per cent; Bemetara has come out of the critical category. Shri Toppo invited teams from other States to visit Korea district.

The session heard presentations on North Tripura’s rooftop rainwater harvesting, climate adaptation in Andhra Pradesh, urban water governance in Surat, water conservation in the Himalayan hills and watershed development for a drought-free India by 2047, followed by an open house. Six principles common to practices that have scaled in India and abroad were placed before the delegates: science before structures, people as co-owners, blended finance, demand management before supply, measuring outcomes, and institutions that outlast campaigns.

“This recognition belongs to the engineers, district teams, Gram Sabhas, women’s groups and farmers of Chhattisgarh whose work is now visible in the State’s water table. A best practice that stays in one district is a success story; one that travels is a policy,” Shri Toppo said.