Assessment was carried out annually since 2022 by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and States/UTs.
Key Highlights
- Recharge: Total annual groundwater recharge has decreased marginally from 2023 (449BCM) to 446.90 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM). Rainfall contributes to nearly 61 % in this.
- Extraction: Annual extractable groundwater resources have decreased marginally from 407.21 to 406.19 BCM.
- Overall stage of groundwater extraction has marginally increased from 59.21 % to 60.47 %.
- Categories:
- Assessment units under Safe Category have increasedmarginally from 2023 (73%) to 73.4 % in 2024.
- 3.05 % assessment units are Critical.
- 11.1% assessment units are Over-exploited.
- Concentration of Over-exploited units: North West (Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Western UP); West (Rajasthan, Gujarat); South (Karnataka, TN, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh).
- Overexploited: Groundwater extraction exceeding annually replenishable ground water recharge.
- Critical: Groundwater extraction is between 90-100 % of annual extractable resources available.
- Safe: Groundwater extraction is less than 70%.
Factors behind Groundwater Depletion
- Irrigation: Excessive groundwater use for irrigation (>60%), poor irrigation practices like flood irrigation, and cultivation of water intensive crops like rice etc.
- Recharge: Decreasing groundwater recharge due to loss of vegetation, spatial and temporal variation in rainfall etc.
- Climate change: Erratic rainfall pattern impacting groundwater recharge.
CGWB
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