The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo motu cognizance of a report which talks about the depleting groundwater levels in India.
The case began after the leading newspaper Hindustan Times published an article under the the headline ‘UN predicts groundwater level in India will reduce to ‘low’ by 2025.’
The NGT after understanding the gravity of the matter has asked the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), as well as the water resources departments in 19 states and 2 union territories for a quick response on the same.
As per the finding by the United Nation certain areas in the Indo-Gangetic basin in India have already surpassed the groundwater depletion tipping point, and the entire northwestern region is anticipated to face critically low groundwater availability by 2025.
The report revealed that India is the world’s largest consumer of groundwater, surpassing the combined usage of the United States and China.
The northwestern region of India, crucial as the breadbasket for the nation’s burgeoning 1.4 billion people, sees Punjab and Haryana producing 50 per cent of the country’s rice supply and 85 per cent of its wheat stocks.
Pertinently, the report highlighted that 78 per cent of wells in Punjab are considered overexploited, and that the northwestern region as a whole is projected to encounter critically low groundwater availability by 2025.
Based on the report, a coram of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel observed that a serious issue relating to environment had been raised.
The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), in response, submitted a report stating that the government has implemented measures encompassing all the recommended actions outlined in the UN University report to enhance the groundwater situation in the country.
However, the NGT noted that the CGWB’s Annual Report of 2022 portrayed a significantly different picture compared to the one presented before the Tribunal.
The NGT recorded that the CGWB’s report showed over-extraction in several areas, particularly in Rajasthan and Gujarat, where prevailing arid climatic conditions resulted in low groundwater recharge.
In the peninsular area, the NGT observed that over-exploited units are widespread in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Furthermore, the NGT noted that the CGWB report suggests conducting more experimental studies to refine norms, taking into consideration factors such as irrigation, soil types, agro-climatic zones, recharge from water conservation and from water bodies.
The matter is listed for further hearing on February 9, 2024.