The Ministry of Water Resources recently announced in a report presented by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) that excess extraction of groundwater is to blame for the 61% decline in water level in wells in India between 2007 and 2017.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, the main reasons for the decline recorded by CGWB as part of their study submitted in the Lok Sabha include inadequate rainfall, exceptionally high demand versus limited supply owing to rise in population, urbanisation and rise in industries.
P Nandakumaran, member (scientific), CGWB told the daily that groundwater level across central and southern states were the main cause for concern owing to characteristics of the terrain.
United Nations Data from the past few years shows that around 2 billion people i.e. 20% of the world’s population live in areas of scarcity. The report adds that another 1.6 billion people face economic water shortage (where countries lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers).
In an earlier interview with DNA, Himanshu Thakkar of India Water Portal, South Asia Network on Dam, Rivers and People, admitted that while he didn’t want to sound like an alarmist, the situation was grim in India. “We will only know how the crisis pans out in summer. Take one of India’s most prosperous states, Gujarat, for example. A disaster is already developing in the downstream areas of the Narmada basin. We already witnessed what happened in Maharashtra in the past four out of six years. Keeping this in mind, also know that even in the best of times, sections of the poor do not have access to clean drinking water. None of the river plains in India have potable water, as the groundwater levels are depleting and quality is deteriorating,” he said.
