Parliament Question: Areas with lowest groundwater level and highest groundwater exploitation in the country

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4063 ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 AREAS WITH LOWEST GROUNDWATER LEVEL AND HIGHEST GROUNDWATER EXPLOITATION IN THE COUNTRY 4063 # SHRI SANJAY YADAV: Will the Minister of Jal Shakti be pleased to state: (a) the districts/States with the lowest groundwater levels in the country and the main reasons for the decline in the groundwater level in these areas and the rate thereof; (b) the provisions being implemented and the programmes being run by Government to prevent groundwater exploitation in areas with low groundwater levels; (c) whether a special budget has been provided to promote groundwater management, recharge and conservation in these districts and if so, the details thereof district-wise; and (d) whether groundwater level monitoring stations, Jal Shakti Kendras and quality monitoring stations have been mandatorily established in these districts, if not, the reasons therefor and the district-wise details of the station? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY) (a) Ground water level monitoring is conducted on a regular basis by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under this Ministry and respective State Governments. Data on ground water levels recorded by CGWB for the entire country during its post-monsoon monitoring round of monitoring conducted during November/December, 2025 indicates that around 89.9% wells monitored in the country have recorded water levels up to 10 metres below ground level (mbgl). Further, based on the analysis of decadal mean ground water level data, it is seen that higher rate of decline in ground water levels has been recorded in the districts falling in Western, North-western and Central peninsular parts of the country. It is also to add that based on the dynamic ground water resource assessment, 2025, of the country conducted by CGWB in coordination with States, 94 districts of the country have been categorized as ‘Over-Exploited’, where the annual ground water extraction exceeds the extractable ground water resource and 21 districts have been categorized as ‘Critical’. The list of such districts is provided in the Annexure. 1However, despite favourable conditions in the country as a whole, some pockets may be experiencing seasonal ground water stress due to various factors like high population density, rapid urbanization and industrialization, dependence on water intensive crops, inefficient irrigation practices, climate change etc. (b) ‘Water’ being a State subject, sustainable development and management and regulation of groundwater resources is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments. However, the Central Government facilitates the efforts of the State Governments by way of technical and financial assistance through its various schemes and projects. The major steps taken in this direction, with a special focus on priority areas showing declining ground water levels, are provided below: i. Efforts of the Government for augmenting the water/groundwater resources of the country are mainly channeled through the flagship campaign of Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), an annual mission mode programme for taking up water harvesting and artificial recharge activities. Since its inception in 2019, every edition of JSA has prioritized water stressed districts of the country as areas of special focus for concerted efforts. As per the available information, under JSA, more than 2 cr water conservation and artificial recharge works have been taken up through convergence in the country so far, which has played a key role in enhancing the sustainability of ground water resources. ii. To further strengthen the momentum of JSA, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) initiative has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2024 with a vision to make rain water harvesting a mass movement in the country. By promoting community ownership and responsibility, the initiative seeks to develop cost-effective, local solutions tailored to specific water challenges across different regions. Thus far, more than 47 lakh rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures have been constructed across the country under this initiative. iii. M/o Jal Shakti has successfully demonstrated the efficacy of community led participatory ground water management through Atal Bhujal Yojana, which was implemented in 8,203 water stressed Gram Panchayats of 229 Blocks across 7 States, viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Under the scheme, construction/rejuvenation of more than 83,000 rain water harvesting and recharge structures like check dams, ponds, shafts etc. was done under the scheme and an area of more than 9.7 lakh Hectares was brought under efficient irrigation practices like use of drips, sprinklers etc. As a result, 180 out of 229 Blocks have shown improvement in ground water levels during the assessments conducted between 2023 to 2025. iv. Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched by the Government of India which aimed at developing and rejuvenating at least 75 water bodies in each district of the country. As an outcome nearly 269,000 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed/rejuvenated in the country leading to enhanced water storage and ground water recharge. v. Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (DA & FW) is implementing Per Drop More Crop Scheme since 2015-16, which focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation leading to conservation of ground water. vi. On the ground water regulation front, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti is involved in regulation of ground water extraction at the central level. That apart, 17 States/UTs are having their own regulatory mechanism/bodies. In remaining 19 States/UTs CGWA issues No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for ground water extraction to industries, mines, infrastructure projects etc. in accordance with its Guidelines dated 24.09.2020 and takes stringent measures such as imposition of Environmental Compensation (EC) charges and penalties for unlawful ground water extraction. CGWA Guidelines also prohibit setting up new large scale industries in Over-Exploited areas. (c) The programmes of Jal Shakti Abhiyan and Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari are being implemented in convergence with other ongoing Central and State schemes like MGNRGES (VB G RAM G), PMKSY etc. and no separate budgetary provisions are made. Under Atal Bhujal Yojana, an amount of around Rs. 3,900 Cr as direct expenditure and Rs. 5,140 Cr as expenditure through convergence has been incurred in the water stressed Gram Panchayats covered under the Scheme. However, under the scheme, budget is not allocated district-wise. Further, during September, 2025, under the ‘National Initiative on Water Security’, it has been decided to spend at least 65% of MGNREGS funds on water conservation works in Over-Exploited (OE) and Critical Blocks of the country and 40% in Semi-critical Blocks. (d) Ground water level and quality monitoring stations of CGWB and State governments are available in all States and Districts of the country barring a few exceptions. Currently, CGWB is having around 27,000 manual and 22,000 automated monitoring stations for ground water level and around 20,000 monitoring stations for ground water quality spread across the country. Further, under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Jal Shakti Kendras have been established in 712 districts of the country to serve as community knowledge centers for water related issues. *** 3ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4063 TO BE ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 30.03.2026 REGARDING “AREAS WITH LOWEST GROUNDWATER LEVEL AND HIGHEST GROUNDWATER EXPLOITATION IN THE COUNTRY”. List of Districts Categorized as ‘Over-Exploited’ and ‘Critical’ Based on Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment, 2025 ‘Over-Exploited’ Districts with Stage of Ground Water Extraction >100% Stage of S. No. Name of States Name of District Ground Water Extraction (%) 1 Rajasthan Jaisalmer 321.84 2 Punjab Sangrur 309.99 3 Punjab Malerkotla 301.93 4 Punjab Jalandhar 281.17 5 Rajasthan Jodhpur 254.97 6 Punjab Kapurthala 242.96 7 Punjab Moga 233.09 8 Rajasthan Dausa 232.64 9 Rajasthan Jhunjhunu 227.55 10 Haryana Kurukshetra 225.54 11 Punjab Barnala 219.36 12 Haryana Panipat 217.84 13 Rajasthan Jaipur 217.01 14 Punjab Patiala 208.53 15 Punjab Tarn Taran 202.49 16 Haryana Kaithal 196.96 17 Punjab Ludhiana 194.65 18 Haryana Gurgaon 194.60 19 Rajasthan Sikar 191.35 20 Rajasthan Nagaur 187.24 21 Karnataka Kolara 184.43 22 Rajasthan Alwar 182.14 23 Punjab Fatehgarh Sahib 182.13 24 Rajasthan Jalor 178.14 25 Haryana Fatehabad 177.90 26 Karnataka Bengaluru (Urban) 177.28 27 Haryana Faridabad 175.38 28 Haryana Karnal 173.53 29 Karnataka Chikkaballapura 165.66 30 Rajasthan Chittaurgarh 161.86 31 Punjab Amritsar 160.33 32 Haryana Sirsa 159.72 33 Rajasthan Pali 158.32 34 Haryana Mahendragarh 156.85 435 Rajasthan Bhilwara 155.81 36 Rajasthan Sawai Madhopur 152.11 37 Rajasthan Karauli 149.49 38 Tamil Nadu Salem 147.53 39 Karnataka Bengaluru (Rural) 146.78 40 Tamil Nadu Tirupathur 142.87 41 Rajasthan Bikaner 140.57 42 Haryana Charkhi Dadri 139.59 43 Rajasthan Ajmer 138.14 44 Rajasthan Dhaulpur 138.03 45 Rajasthan Baran 134.91 46 Rajasthan Barmer 134.50 47 Madhya Pradesh Ratlam 133.20 48 Haryana Yamuna Nagar 133.19 49 Haryana Rewari 133.17 50 Karnataka Chitradurga 133.04 51 Haryana Ambala 130.16 52 Rajasthan Pratapgarh 129.17 53 Rajasthan Churu 128.88 54 Punjab Bathinda 128.04 55 Punjab Hoshiarpur 124.81 56 Uttar Pradesh Ghaziabad 123.75 57 Delhi New Delhi 123.24 58 Tamil Nadu Vellore 121.75 59 Tamil Nadu Chennai 121.72 60 Gujarat Banaskantha 121.47 61 Punjab Gurdaspur 121.14 62 Rajasthan Rajsamand 120.66 63 Rajasthan Sirohi 119.30 64 Punjab Faridkot 119.22 65 Gujarat Patan 118.57 66 Madhya Pradesh Indore 117.96 67 Tamil Nadu Dindigul 117.45 68 Punjab Sas Nagar 116.90 69 Rajasthan Bharatpur 116.72 70 Tamil Nadu Mayiladuthurai 116.62 71 Haryana Jind 116.25 72 Tamil Nadu Namakkal 115.86 73 Punjab Sbs Nagar 115.21 74 Delhi Shahdara 112.21 75 Uttar Pradesh Agra 111.39 76 Gujarat Gandhinagar 111.28 77 Rajasthan Kota 110.99 78 Haryana Bhiwani 110.90 79 Punjab Firozpur 108.86 80 Gujarat Mahesana 108.74 81 Haryana Sonipat 108.73 82 Punjab Mansa 108.71 83 Madhya Pradesh Ujjain 107.72 84 Delhi North East 106.01 585 Rajasthan Jhalawar 105.93 86 Tamil Nadu Perambalur 105.85 87 Madhya Pradesh Shajapur 105.36 88 Uttar Pradesh G.B.Nagar 105.21 89 Delhi South 103.41 90 Tamil Nadu Karur 103.12 91 Madhya Pradesh Neemuch 101.47 92 Tamil Nadu Thanjavur 100.84 93 Uttar Pradesh Shamli 100.51 94 Rajasthan Udaipur 100.08 ‘Critical’ Districts with Stage of Ground Water Extraction >90% and ≤ 100 % 95 Madhya Pradesh Mandsaur 99.93 96 Uttar Pradesh Firozabad 98.86 97 Telangana Hyderabad 98.32 98 Uttar Pradesh Saharanpur 96.68 99 Delhi East 96.42 100 Rajasthan Bundi 95.91 101 Uttar Pradesh Bagpat 95.91 102 Uttar Pradesh Hapur 93.93 103 Uttar Pradesh Bulandshahar 93.14 104 Uttar Pradesh Amroha 93.08 105 Punjab Rupnagar 92.80 106 Madhya Pradesh Agar Malwa 92.79 107 Delhi West 92.54 108 Tamil Nadu Krishnagiri 92.38 109 Chhattisgarh Bemetara 92.32 110 Haryana Palwal 91.99 111 Tamil Nadu Coimbatore 91.85 112 Uttar Pradesh Hathras 91.46 113 Karnataka Tumakuru 91.43 114 Rajasthan Tonk 91.42 115 Karnataka Bengaluru South 91.18 ***** 6