GROUND WATER YEAR BOOK - INDIA 2017-18

Aug. 13, 2019

According to the latest Ground water year book - India 2017-18, India is seeing levels declining across the country.

About: 

  • Groundwater, the source of 40% of India’s water needs, is depleting at an unsustainable rate, according to Niti Aayog. 

  • India, the world’s largest groundwater user, is seeing levels declining across the country. India accounts for 12% of global groundwater extraction, pumping some 230 billion cubic metres each year. At this rate, by 2030, nearly 60% of the aquifers will be in a critical state.

  • Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are facing the prospect of having no groundwater left for irrigation by 2025.

  • A study using data from NASA’s “Grace” mission found that India’s Indus Basin aquifer to be one of the most overstressed aquifers in the world.

  • Reason:
    • Consecutive years of weak monsoons, massive deforestation, poor rainwater harvesting and pollution of rivers and lakes have led the country to depend on groundwater.

    • More than 90% of the rice-wheat areas in north-west India are irrigated using groundwater.



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