Examine the factors responsible for depleting groundwater in India. What are the steps taken by the…

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Examine the factors responsible for depleting groundwater in India. What are the steps taken by the government to mitigate such depletion of groundwater ?

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Groundwater in India is depleting because flat-rate farm power, MSP-backed paddy, land-linked pumping rights and shrinking recharge reward extraction, and the government now responds through aquifer mapping, recharge campaigns and regulation. The 2025 assessment found 730 of 6,762 units over-exploited, and Atal Bhujal Yojana manages demand through village water budgets.

**Introduction**

Groundwater meets nearly 62% of India's irrigation needs and 85% of rural drinking water (PIB, 2026). The 2025 Dynamic Ground Water Resources Assessment finds 730 of 6,762 units over-exploited and 201 critical.

**Factors Depleting Groundwater in India**

SKETCH: flow-cycle | Free power and falling water tables
- Flat-rate farm power
- Unmetered pumping
- Falling water table
- Deeper tubewells
- Higher energy use

1. **Water-intensive cropping**: MSP and assured procurement keep paddy and sugarcane in semi-arid Punjab and Haryana, helped by flat-rate power.
2. **Weak legal control**: The Indian Easements Act, 1882 ties groundwater to land ownership, allowing unlimited pumping.
3. **Shrinking recharge**: Concretisation and lost lakes cut infiltration, and Chennai's Purasaivakkam block extracts 158.61% of its recharge (CGWB, 2025).

**Government Steps to Mitigate Depletion**

1. **Community management**: Atal Bhujal Yojana (2019) ties incentives to water budgets in seven states, covering 2,835 gram panchayats in its 2025 assessment.
2. **Mapping and monitoring**: The National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme and 43,228 monitoring stations track aquifers.
3. **Recharge campaigns**: Catch the Rain and Mission Amrit Sarovar build recharge ponds with public participation.
4. **Regulation**: CGWA guidelines (2020) require permits for industrial extraction, and Punjab's 2009 subsoil water law delays paddy transplanting.

**Way Forward**

1. **Rational power pricing**: Separate farm feeders as Gujarat's Jyotigram Yojana did and meter supply.
2. **Crop diversification**: Align MSP with water use, as Haryana's Mera Pani Meri Virasat attempts.
3. **Commons approach**: Treat groundwater as a common pool resource under the Model Groundwater Bill (2016).

**Conclusion**

Cheap power, paddy markets and land-linked rights drive depletion, so balancing aquifer recharge with extraction is vital for water security under SDG 6.

Examine the factors responsible for depleting groundwater in India. What are the steps taken by the government to mitigate such depletion of groundwater ?

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