Punjab and Haryana have to pay a heavy price for being the grain bowl of country and for feeding the nation as the groundwater table in the two states has come down to alarming levels.
Punjab has only 1.5 % of country’s land but its output of rice and wheat accounts for 50 % of the grain, the government purchases to feed more than 400 million people across the country. Same for Haryana, which holds second position in terms of contribution to buffer stock.
The two states were particularly responsible for the success of green revolution and now are on verge of facing serious ecological threats as their water tables have reached 1600 feet deeper and groundwater levels dropping by 25-30 meters each year as increasing installation of tubewells and water pumps are not being discouraged there, says the Asssocham findings released on Wednesday.
Despite, Punjab and Haryana having installed over 20 lakh tubewells and pumps to extract groundwater, levels for both domestic, agriculture and horticulture purpose, the two states continue to face water shortages, adds the Assocham paper on ?Water woes in northern India?.
One tubewell in Mahendergarh districtof Haryana has been installed at a depth of about 600-1600 feet and water table in its Safidon subdivision has dipped to 810 feet.