Hydrology Project Phase I(1995-2003) and II(2006-2012)

India is facing an acute water shortage, and various attempts are being made to overcome the problem. One such effort was made by the government of India when it set up a Hydrology Project in 1996.

To support the project the World Bank made available a loan of us $162 million and the government of Netherlands gave a credit of us $17 million to assist the project with consultancy services. The main objective of the project was to set up a Hydrology Information System ( HIS ) throughout peninsular India that can supply detailed and comparable data on important water resources.

The project aims to fulfill this objective by developing comprehensive, easily accessible and user-friendly databases covering all aspects of the hydrological cycle (quality and quantity) in the domain of surface water, groundwater and climatic measurements, particularly rainfall. This means installing water monitoring equipment to measure rainfall, the quantity that flows into the seas, rivers, lakes and into the groundwater and to check the quality of these water resources. 

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT (IDA-27740 TF-28729)
PDF Version of ICR(Closed Phase I)

Now The Project is in Phase II  having time frame of 6 years (2006-2012)
Phase II- World Bank Website and the PAD
The Second Hydrology Project (Phase 2) for India aims to extend and promote the sustained and effective use of the Hydrological Information System by all potential users concerned with water resources planning and management, both public and private, thereby contributing to improved productivity and cost-effectiveness of water-related investments in the 13 States and eight Central agencies. The project has three main components: 1) Institutional strengthening consisting of consolidation of recently concluded Hydrology Project (HP I) activities in the existing States; Awareness raising, dissemination and knowledge sharing; and implementation support; 2) Vertical Extension comprising development of hydrological design aids; development of decision support systems; and implementation of purpose-driven studies; and 3) Horizontal Expansion supporting upgrading/establishment of data collection network; establishment of data processing and management systems; purpose-driven studies; and training. 
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PUDUCHERRY,The Union Territory has received an award for the best hydrology project website from the World Bank and Union Ministry of Water Resources.

Hydrology Project nodal officer, Pondicherry, V. Radhakrishnan received the prize from Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, U.N. Panjiar, and Winston Yu of the World Bank, according to a release,

Mr. Radhakrishnan, along with D. Govindaraj, Manager (Project Administration) and a technical team, designed the Website, which allows anybody to obtain information about water resources in Puducherry. It provides detailed information on groundwater, surface water and water quality, the release said.

The website bagged the prize in a competition conducted among 26 governmental agencies involved in Hydrology Project-II. The project, which is an initiative of the Union government and World Bank, is among the most crucial water projects of the country. It aims at establishing, upgrading and expanding infrastructure which collects and publicises information about water, thereby enabling better management of water resources and judicious use.

Access to information about water was limited to governmental and other official bodies. Due to demand from organisations and individuals, it was decided to make information more freely available via the web.

Though the project was initiated in 1995(Phase I of the Hydrology Project), Puducherry became a part of it only in 2006. However, it was able to gather hydrology information quickly, the release said.