Ground water depletes to below 4 metres in 16 states

Aditi nigam & Kandula Subramaniam

After the stock market crisis, the next biggest problem that the Centre will have to tackle this summer appears to be the water crisis. Shortage of water is threatening to become worse than last year as 230 districts in 16 states spread across the country have vastly depleted their ground water levels below more than four metres.
To mitigate the problem, the Centre has circulated a model Bill to all states and Union territories, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi, to enable them to enact suitable legislation for regulation and control of ground water development.

The problem has become more acute with most of these states reporting contamination of groundwater with fluoride, heavy metals, arsenic, nitrate and brackishness.

According to the ministry of water resources, ground water level in 16 states dipped to more than four metres in the period 1981-2000. Pockets in 31 districts of Maharashtra, 30 districts in Madhya Pradesh, 23 districts in Andhra Pradesh, 21 in Karnataka, 20 in Uttar Pradesh (including Uttaranchal) and 19 in Orissa are reported to have water tables that are depleting. These are followed by 16 districts in Tamil Nadu, 15 each in Haryana and Rajasthan, 13 in Gujarat, 8 in Chhattisgarh, 5 in West Bengal and 2 in Bihar (including Jharkhand).

The districts affected in Andhra Pradesh are Adilabad, Anantapur, Chittor, Cuddapah, East Godavari, Guntur, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Krishna, Kurnool, Mahboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nellore, Nizamabad, Prakasam, Ranagareddy, Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, Visakhapatnam, Warangal and West Godavari.

In Uttar Pradesh (including Uttaranchal), the groundwater level has depleted in the districts of Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad, Badaun, Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Etah, etawah, Farrukhabad, Fatehpur, Ghaziabad, Hardoi, Kanour, Lucknow, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Rai Bareli, Saharanpur and Unnao.

In Tamil Nadu, which is in the midst of assembly elections, the problem districts are Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Kancheepuram, Kanyakumari, Madras, Pondicherry, Pudukkotai, Sivaganga, Thanjavur, Theni, Tirunelveli, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamali, Tiruvarur and Tuticorin.

Maharashtra, which seems to be the worst off in this regard, will face problems in the districts of Ahmadnagar, Akola, Beed, Bombay, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Kolhapur, Nanded, Nasik, Osmanabad, Amravati, Auranagabd, Bhaddara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Jaina, Latur, Nagpur, Parbhani, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Sindhudurg, Thane, Solapur, Wardha, Yavatmal, Algaon and Satara.

Among areas affected in Madhya Pradesh are Bhiwani, Betul, Bhind, Chhatarpur, Chindwara, Damoh, Datia, Devas, Dhar, Guna, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Katni, Khandwa, Khargone, Madnsaur, Morena, Narsingpur, Neemuch, Panna, Raisan, Raigarh, Ratlam, Sagar, Sehore, Shajapur, Shivpuri, Ujjain and Vidisha.
The statistics given out by the water resources ministry are even more revealing in the capital city of Delhi where long-term observations made by the Central Ground Water Board show that groundwater levels have declined by 4 to 10 metres in the Mehrauli Block, 4 to 8 metres in the City Block, 4 to 7 metres in the Najafgarh Block and 4 to 5 metres in Kanjhawala and Alipur Blocks during the last 10 years.

The situation in adjoining Haryana is no better, with Ambala, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hissar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mahendergarh, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sonepat and Yamunanagar the most affected districts.

One of the biggest hurdles in addressing the problems related to ground water shortage is that replenishment of groundwater and augmentation of water supplies is primarily the state government’s responsibility. Ground water exploitation has gone unchecked over the last decade which has now forced the Central Ground Water Authority to advise the state governments to take measures to check over-exploitation of ground water.

This includes a process of registration of ground water extraction structures throughout the country. Efforts are also on to artificially recharge ground water and a manual is being circulated to enable states and Union territories formulate area-specific schemes.

With western and northern India already in the grip of drought-like conditions, the situation may worsen to a point where breaking out of water riots can’t be ruled out.