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Mahesh

13/11/22 21:48 PM IST

GROUND WATER RESOURCE ASSESSMENT Report 2022

In News 
  • An assessment report on groundwater by the Central ground water board and States/UTs was released recently.
Major Findings 
  • India is the largest user of Groundwater (GW) ( accounting for 1/4th of total withdrawal)
  • 87% of GW is used for Irrigation
  • Status: GW extraction has declined and the number of over-exploited units (extraction > recharge) has decreased.
  • Currently, 67% of GW units are safe (extraction< 70% of recharge), 14% Overexploited and 4% at the Critical
  • Extraction is very high in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan etc.
  • The World Bank predicts that by 2032, around 60 per cent of aquifers in the country will be in a critical state.
  • A substantial amount of the water flowing in rivers comes from the seepage of groundwater into the streambed. Depletion of groundwater levels may reduce water flow in such streams.
  • Groundwater depletion interrupts the ‘natural’ water cycle putting disproportionately more water into the sea.
Reason 
  • Successive droughts and erratic rainfall have led to excess extraction of groundwater.
  • Low prices or free electricity offers an incentive for the unchecked lifting of groundwater. The vast majority of groundwater pumps are unmetered, and if charged, are billed at a flat, non-volumetric, and highly subsidized tariff.
  • Green Revolution caused the overuse of groundwater.
  • Government encourages farmers to produce water-intensive crops like rice and sugarcane through increased minimum support prices (MSP).
Source- PIB 

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