Water Governance in India

The Ministry of Jal Shakti recently released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report for 2025 that was prepared jointly by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and various States/UTs.

• The recent tragedy in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where contaminated municipal supply led to at least 10 deaths and left over 2,000 ill, underscores the pressing issue of clean water accessibility in India. 

Key Highlights of the 2025 Report

• National Resource Statistics:
  • Annual Groundwater Recharge: 448.52 BCM (Billion Cubic Meters), showing a marginal increase due to improved rainfall patterns and conservation efforts.
  • Extractable Resources: 407.75 BCM (Total recharge minus natural discharge).
  • Annual Extraction: 247.22 BCM is currently being extracted for all uses.
  • Stage of Extraction (SoE): The national average stands at 60.63%, which is considered within a manageable range globally, though regional pockets remain critical.
• Categorization of Assessment Units: The report evaluated 6,762 units (Blocks/Mandals/Talukas) across the country:
  • Safe: 73.14% – Extraction is well within recharge limits.
  • Semi-Critical: 11.21% – Cautionary levels of extraction.
  • Critical: 2.97% – Extraction is approaching the limit of annual recharge.
  • Over-Exploited: 10.8% – Extraction exceeds the annual replenishable limit (primarily in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and parts of TN).
  • Saline: 1.88% – Groundwater is naturally brackish and unfit for direct consumption.
• Scientific Planning & Mapping (NAQUIM): NAQUIM has mapped ~25 lakh sq.km, covering 14 Principal and 42 Major Aquifers.
  • Output: Generated detailed District-level aquifer maps and specific management plans for 654 districts to guide local governance.
• Water Quality & Potability:
• • Overall Status: Groundwater remains largely potable across the country.
  • Localized Threats: Identified “hotspots” of contamination involving Arsenic, Fluoride, Nitrate, and Heavy Metals, necessitating specialized treatment infrastructure in those regions.
• Governance & Artificial Recharge:
  • Master Plan 2020: Aims to construct 1.42 crore structures (check dams, recharges shafts, etc.) to harness an additional 185 BCM of water.
  • Strengthened Regulatory Oversight by CGWA: The CGWA has tightened No-Objection Certificate (NOC) requirements and carries out strict monitoring of industrial extraction in “Over-Exploited” areas.
• Impact of Community Initiatives: 
  • Jan Bhagidari: Programs like Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) and Atal Bhujal Yojana have completed 1.21 crore works and rejuvenated 83,000 recharge structures.
  • Rising Water Tables: Post-monsoon 2024 data shows that 54.4% of monitored wells registered an increase in water levels.
  • Success Stories: Significant localized rises were noted in Jodhpur (81.25%), Palghar (80%), and Pali (68.9%).

About Groundwater

• Definition & Process: Groundwater is water that seeps through the soil and rocks and is stored underground. 
• Geological Reservoirs (Aquifers): The rocks where groundwater is stored are called aquifers, which are typically made of sandstone, gravel, limestone, or sand. 
• India’s Global Footprint in Extraction: India is the largest consumer of groundwater globally, using about 25% of the world’s groundwater resources.
• Pillar of National Water & Food Security: Groundwater is the backbone of India’s agriculture and drinking water security, contributing  nearly 62% to irrigation, 85% to rural water supply, and 50% to urban water supply.

Groundwater Regulations in India

• Legal Framework: Legal framework in India does not explicitly define groundwater ownership and rights. 
  • Groundwater rights are based on the Indian Easement Act, 1882, which ties groundwater ownership to land rights.
  • The public trust doctrine (Supreme Court, 2004) emphasizes government responsibility to protect groundwater as a common resource.
• Regulatory Mechanisms: The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) enforces regulations, declares “notified areas,” and issues No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for groundwater extraction.
• Constitutional Framework: Groundwater falls under the state list, giving individual states the primary responsibility for its management. The Central Government provides guidance through policies and programs.
• Policy and Regulation Efforts: The Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection, Regulation, and Management of Groundwater (2017) proposes treating groundwater as a common resource rather than private property.
  • Some states, like Maharashtra, have enacted laws to regulate groundwater extraction and protect shared resources.

Groundwater Usage Pattern in India

• Dominant Source of Freshwater: Groundwater is the primary source of freshwater in India, accounting for nearly 60% of irrigation needs and over 85% of rural drinking water supply, making it central to food security and livelihoods.
• Agriculture-Centric Extraction: The bulk of groundwater extraction is driven by irrigation-intensive agriculture, particularly for water-guzzling crops such as rice, wheat, and sugarcane, encouraged by free or subsidised electricity and assured procurement policies.
• Regional Imbalances in Usage: Groundwater use is highly uneven across regions. States such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and western Uttar Pradesh exhibit over-exploitation, while eastern India remains relatively under-utilised despite abundant aquifers.
• Over-Exploited and Critical Blocks: A growing number of assessment units fall under Over-Exploited, Critical, and Semi-Critical categories, reflecting extraction exceeding annual recharge, especially in hard-rock and arid regions.
• Urban and Industrial Dependence: Rapid urbanisation and industrial growth have increased dependence on groundwater due to inadequate surface water supply, leading to declining water tables and quality deterioration in cities.
• Quality Concerns and Contamination: Excessive extraction has led to salinity ingress, arsenic, fluoride, and nitrate contamination, particularly in Gangetic plains, Deccan Plateau, and coastal belts, posing serious public health risks.
• Climate Change Influence: Erratic monsoons, reduced recharge, and extreme rainfall events linked to climate change are altering groundwater replenishment patterns, increasing reliance during drought years.

Major Reasons for Groundwater Depletion in India

• Irrigation-Intensive Agriculture and Crop Choices: Nearly 90% of groundwater extraction in India is used for agriculture, driven by water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane. 
  • States such as Punjab and Haryana continue paddy cultivation despite being semi-arid, leading to chronic depletion.
  • The Dynamic Groundwater Assessment 2025 reports a high concentration of over-exploited blocks in north-western India due to irrigation demand.
• Distorted Incentives: Free or subsidised electricity for agriculture encourages excessive pumping, while Minimum Support Price (MSP) incentives reinforce water-unsuitable cropping patterns.
  • Example: Punjab’s power subsidy has been repeatedly flagged by NITI Aayog as a key factor behind falling water tables, declining by over 1 metre per year in some districts.
• Weak Regulation and Open-Access Exploitation: Groundwater remains a de facto open-access resource, linked to land ownership, with limited aquifer-level regulation. Enforcement of CGWA’s NOC norms is largely confined to urban and industrial users.
  • Example: Despite tighter CGWA rules, agricultural extraction remains unregulated, especially in Over-Exploited assessment units.
• Rapid Urbanisation and Industrial Demand: Cities increasingly depend on groundwater due to inadequate surface water supply and infrastructure lag.
  • Example: Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad rely heavily on private borewells and tanker markets, leading to falling water tables and localised depletion.
• Declining Natural Recharge Zones: Urban concretisation, wetland loss, floodplain encroachment, and deforestation have reduced natural recharge.
  • Example: The disappearance of wetlands around cities like Delhi (Najafgarh Jheel) and Chennai (Pallikaranai marsh) has weakened groundwater replenishment capacity.
• Climate Change and Monsoon Variability: Erratic rainfall, short-duration high-intensity showers, and frequent droughts reduce effective recharge while increasing dependence on groundwater.
  • Example: The 2023–24 El Niño conditions forced many rain-fed regions to rely heavily on groundwater, accelerating depletion.
• Water Quality Degradation Reducing Usable Reserves: Contamination by arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, and salinity renders large aquifers unusable, effectively shrinking available groundwater.
  • Example: Arsenic contamination in the Gangetic plains and fluoride belts in Rajasthan and Telangana reduce safe extraction options.

Government Initiatives for Groundwater Management

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS): Includes water conservation and water harvesting structures, enhancing rural water security.
• Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA): Launched in 2019, now in its 5th phase (“Catch the Rain” 2024), focusing on rainwater harvesting and water conservation across rural and urban districts through convergence of various schemes.
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0: Supports rainwater harvesting via stormwater drains and promotes groundwater recharge through ‘Aquifer Management Plans’.
• Atal Bhujal Yojana (2020): Targets water-stressed Gram Panchayats in 80 districts across 7 states, focusing on groundwater management.
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY): Aims to expand irrigation coverage and improve water use efficiency through components like Har Khet Ko Pani, Repair & Renovation of water bodies, and Surface Minor Irrigation schemes.
• Bureau of Water Use Efficiency (BWUE): The Ministry of Jal Shakti has set up the Bureau of Water Use Efficiency (BWUE) under the National Water Mission on 20.10.2022, to act as a facilitator for promotion of improving water use efficiency across various sectors namely irrigation, drinking water supply, power generation, industries, etc. in the country.
• Mission Amrit Sarovar (2022): Aims to create or rejuvenate 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district for water harvesting and conservation.
• National Aquifer Mapping (NAQUIM): Completed by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for over 25 lakh sq. km, supporting groundwater recharge and conservation plans.
• Master Plan for Artificial Recharge (2020-2030): Developed by CGWB, plans for 1.42 crore rainwater harvesting and recharge structures to harness 185 BCM of rainfall.
• National Water Policy (2012) has been formulated by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, which advocates rainwater harvesting and conservation of water and also highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through direct use of rainfall.
• Watershed Development Component of PMKSY (WDC-PMKSY): Focuses on rainfed and degraded lands, incorporating activities like soil conservation, rainwater harvesting, and livelihoods development.

The Multi-Dimensional Crisis of Groundwater Stress in India

• Social & Health Dimensions: 
  • Threat to Drinking Water Security: Groundwater stress leads to the drying of wells, especially in rural and peri-urban areas.
    • The 2025 Context: While the Report shows a 73% “Safe” rating, the seasonal crises in Bundelkhand and Marathwada persist because the recharge is not distributed throughout the year.
    • Indore Linkage: In peri-urban Indore, the lack of piped water forced a reliance on shallow aquifers, which, when stressed, became susceptible to the nitrate and pathogenic contamination that led to the 2026 tragedy.
  • Worsening Social Inequalities: Large farmers and urban elites can afford to “chase the water table” by deepening borewells, while small farmers and the poor are pushed toward the expensive and unregulated tanker markets (seen in Chennai and Bengaluru).
• Economic Dimensions: Agriculture & Food Security:
  • Agricultural Distress: In the “North-West Mining Zone” (Punjab/Haryana), the 2025 Report records a Stage of Extraction (SoE) exceeding 140%.
  • The Cost Trap: Falling water tables increase irrigation costs and energy consumption. This leads to a cycle of farmer indebtedness, as the cost of “input” (deepening wells) outpaces the “output” (crop yield), threatening national food security.
• Environmental & Quality Dimensions: 
  • Groundwater Quality Degradation: The 2025 Assessment notes that nearly 28% of units face quality issues. Over-extraction causes a “vacuum” that draws in Arsenic (Gangetic plains) and Fluoride.
    • The Salinity Crisis: In coastal regions, declining freshwater pressure leads to Salinity Ingress, turning fertile land barren.
  • Ecological Damage: There is a direct link between falling groundwater and the drying of Base Flows in rivers. Shrinking wetlands like the Najafgarh Jheel (Delhi) are no longer recharging the city, creating a feedback loop of urban heat and water scarcity.
• Governance & Climate Dimensions: 
  • Increased Climate Vulnerability: Stressed aquifers act as a “broken buffer.” During the irregular monsoon patterns noted in the 2025 report, these aquifers fail to support the population, making India more vulnerable to El Niño events.
  • Governance & Conflict Challenges: We are moving toward “Water Wars” at a local level. The Indore incident also highlights a governance failure—a lack of Utility Mapping and oversight where sewage and water lines compete for the same subterranean space.

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Way Forward

• Structural- Integrated Urban-Rural Infrastructure:
  • Utility Mapping & “Blue-Green” Infrastructure: Taking a lesson from the Indore tragedy, cities must adopt 3D GIS Mapping of underground utilities to prevent cross-contamination between sewage and water lines.
  • Decentralized Wastewater Treatment: Shift from massive, centralized STPs to ward-level Greywater Management. Recharging treated wastewater into non-potable aquifers can reduce the 50% urban dependence on fresh groundwater.
• Regulatory- Strengthening Governance & Accountability: 
  • The “One Water” Approach: Break the silos between the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and urban bodies. Adopt the Mihir Shah Committee recommendations to create a unified National Water Commission.
  • Legal Teeth for “Bhu-Neer”: Transition the Bhu-Neer portal from a mere permit-issuing site to a real-time monitoring tool. 
    • Implement “Water Audits” for industries and high-rise residential complexes in “Critical” zones identified in the 2025 Report.
  • Enforcing Article 21: Legally mandate Water Quality Standards at the tap level (not just the source level) to ensure the “Right to Safe Drinking Water” is a reality for peri-urban and rural populations.
• Economic- Demand-Side Management:
  • Incentivizing Crop Diversification: Move beyond the “Paddy-Wheat” cycle in the North-West. 
    • Scale up schemes like Haryana’s ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ to a national level, providing direct cash incentives to farmers who shift to millets or oilseeds.
  • Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for Electricity: To curb the “mining” of groundwater in states like Punjab, replace free electricity with a fixed water-saving subsidy (DBT-E), where farmers are paid for the units of power they don’t use.
• Innovative- Technology & Community Participation:
  • Digital Twins & IoT Sensors: Deploy IoT-based groundwater sensors in stressed aquifers (Marathwada/Bundelkhand) to provide real-time data to communities, similar to the Atal Bhujal Yojana dashboard.
  • Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) & Fog Harvesting: For “Quality-Stressed” areas (Arsenic/Fluoride belts), deploy off-grid AWG technologies as a supplementary source for drinking water.

Conclusion

The 2025 Assessment proves that while we are getting better at ‘counting’ our water, the Indore tragedy proves we are still struggling to ‘protect’ it. The path to 2030 (SDG 6) requires moving from a Construction-centric approach (building pipes) to a Conservation-centric approach (protecting aquifers). 

• As the 2026 UN Water Conference suggests, water must be treated not as a commodity to be extracted, but as a Global Common to be governed with transparency and equity.