Last Updated: 3 Nov 2024

Punjab CGWB report 2023: Tops the list, with the extraction of groundwater at 164% i.e. 64% more extraction than recharge^[1]

-- The water table is depleting at an annual average of 51 cm
-- 76.47% (117 out of 153) blocks declared over-exploited i.e. Dark Zone^[2]
-- 13.07% (20) blocks in Safe category^[2:1]
-- Water level expected to reach 1000 feet depth by 2039^[3]

CGWB report 2024^[4]: Efforts by AAP Govt showing IMPACT

-- After 24 years, 63 blocks showed RISE in Water Levels
-- 2 Blocks enter SAFE zone from Semi-Critical
-- 2 Blocks enter Semi-Critical zone from Critical

Initiatives to reverse this trend (Detailed Next section)

1.Canal Irrigation to avoid tubewell pumps
2.Canal water for drinking
3.Water Recharge

¶ Initiatives to reverse falling water table

¶ 1. Canal Irrigation to avoid tubewell pumps

• Reviving Canal Irrigation systems Target to save 28% of Tubewell pumps

¶ 2. Canal water for drinking

• Canal Water projects for drinking Ground Extraction should stop with this

¶ 3. Water Recharge

• 32 defunct groundwater recharge structures have been made operational^[6]
• 129 recharge sites have already been constructed just in 1 year^[7]

¶ Water table Report: Nov 2023^[8]

• Data collected by the CGWB during November 2023 is compared with the decadal mean of water levels for the month of November from 2013 to 2022

• Himachal Pradesh is even worse than Punjab, where water level has gone down in 72% of the monitored wells

References:

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1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/groundwater-recharge-this-year-maximum-since-2004-punjab-rajasthan-haryana-extract-more-than-recharged/articleshow/105663998.cms ↩︎

2. https://cgwb.gov.in/cgwbpnm/public/uploads/documents/17067037961497272345file.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎

3. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/punjab-farmers-urged-to-switch-from-paddy-farming-for-environmental-sustainability/articleshow/111941459.cms ↩︎

4. https://www.bhaskar.com/local/punjab/news/punjab-ground-water-water-level-update-guru-sahay-and-makhu-block-safe-zone-133882447.html ↩︎

5. https://cgwb.gov.in/cgwbpnm/public/uploads/documents/17067037961497272345file.pdf ↩︎

6. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=157819 ↩︎

7. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=180029 ↩︎

8. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/in-parliament-water-table-depleting-fast-in-punjab-65-wells-register-fall-642975 ↩︎