It is not just data; rather, it's a warning for thousands of farmers and rural families.
Punjab Groundwater Crisis: Over 156% Extraction Threatens Agriculture and Water Security
According to the Central Ground Water Board, Punjab extracted groundwater at a staggering 156.36 per cent of its annual replenishable resource last year. It is the highest figure in India, which is more than double the national average of about 60.63 per cent.
What does this mean?
According to the CGWB report, out of Punjab’s 153 groundwater-assessment units, a massive 72.55 percent are classified as “over-exploited”. Nearly all of the water being drawn, 94.74 per cent, is utilised for irrigation, mostly for water-intensive crops like paddy. Officials emphasise that tubewell irrigation, which is over 1.45 million tubewells, has become widespread across the state, showing how deeply agriculture is reliant on groundwater to sustain cropping patterns.
In absolute numbers, Punjab withdrew about 26.27 billion cubic metres (BCM) of groundwater, while the natural recharge was only around 18.6 BCM, a severe deficit that underlines chronic over-exploitation.
It is not just data; rather, it’s a warning for thousands of farmers and rural families. According to experts, the wells that now irrigate crops and supply drinking water might soon run dry or become unreliable. Groundwater, which was once seen as a dependable fallback, is shrinking.
Water policy analysts warn that For other agrarian states like Rajasthan, Punjab’s crisis must give an alert. Regions dependent on agriculture and groundwater should read this as a wake-up call: more than ever, cropping patterns, water management and irrigation practices matter today.
Environmentalists caution that if Punjab doesn’t take needful action – by diversifying crops, reducing dependency on paddy, improving recharge, and adopting sustainable irrigation – it risks turning a green, fertile land into a cautionary tale of how improper resource use can backfire.
CGWB experts emphasise that it is more than a Punjab story. It’s a mirror: a warning, especially for neighbouring states.
Source: Times of India
