Groundwater Assessment 2024: Recharge, Extraction, Stress Zones
Why in the news
The Jal Shakti Minister released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report, 2024. Compared with 2017, it shows better national groundwater health, with more recharge and gentler extraction.
Key facts
- Annual recharge: 446.90 BCM, helped by rainwater harvesting, tanks, ponds and conservation works.
- Annual extraction: 245.64 BCM; stage of extraction is 60.47%.
- Safe units: 73.4% of assessment units.
- Over-exploited units: 11.13%.
- About 61% of recharge comes from rainfall, and roughly 75% of rain falls between June and September, so supplies track the monsoon closely.
- Recharge dipped slightly from 449.08 BCM (2023) to 446.90 BCM (2024) because of erratic rain.
| Indicator | 2017 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Safe units | 62.6% | 73.4% |
| Over-exploited units | 17.24% | 11.13% |
| Recharge from tanks, ponds, artificial structures | about half of 2024 level | 25.34 BCM |
Why depletion persists
- Farming: groundwater serves about 62% of irrigation, and thirsty crops such as rice and sugarcane dominate the north-west and peninsula.
- Rain pattern: recharge is seasonal but pumping goes on all year.
- Hard rock terrain: about two-thirds of India sits on it, so water is held only in fractured zones.
- Power subsidies: cheap or free electricity promotes heavy pumping in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, where over 25% of units are Critical or Over-exploited.
- Urban and industrial demand adds to the draft.
Government initiatives
- NAQUIM and NAQUIM 2.0: aquifer mapping and management plans.
- Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL): community-led demand management in water-stressed blocks.
- Master Plan for Artificial Recharge (2020): about 1.42 crore structures to capture 185 BCM of monsoon runoff.
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain and the groundwater component of PMKSY.
Concerns
- Groundwater meets 85% of rural and about 50% of urban drinking needs.
- 127 units (1.88%) are saline; arsenic and fluoride affect stressed aquifers.
- Groundwater is a State subject, giving uneven regulation and weak pricing signals.
Way forward
- Village-level aquifer plans through NAQUIM, starting with Critical and Over-exploited units.
- Crop diversification, rational power subsidies and micro-irrigation to hold extraction below 60%.
- Implement the 2020 recharge master plan and extend ATAL JAL to 8,220 water-stressed Gram Panchayats.
- Annual assessments through IN-GRES, a GIS platform.
Exam angle
- Figures to remember: 446.90 BCM, 245.64 BCM, 60.47%, 73.4%, 11.13%.
- Nodal ministry: Jal Shakti.
- Related terms: NAQUIM, ATAL JAL, IN-GRES, Catch the Rain.