Parliament Question: Groundwater Management and Drinking Water Schemes in Punjab

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1085 ANSWERED ON 05.02.2026 GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AND DRINKING WATER SCHEMES IN PUNJAB

1085. SHRI CHARANJIT SINGH CHANNI:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether groundwater depletion and water quality issues in Punjab have been reviewed;

(b) if so, the details of districts identified as most affected and the remedial measures proposed in this regard;

(c) whether any new drinking water schemes or river rejuvenation projects are planned for Punjab; and

(d) if so, the details thereof including funding pattern, implementation timeline fixed and expected outcomes? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY)

(a) & (b) The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under this Ministry conducts dynamic ground water resources assessment of the country including Punjab, on annual basis, in co-ordination with State governments. As per the latest assessment of 2025, the following districts in Punjab have been found to be facing ground water stress viz. Amritsar, Barnala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozpur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Malerkotla, Mansa, Moga, Patiala, SAS Nagar, SBS Nagar, Sangrur and Tarn Taran and Roopnagar.

Furthermore, CGWB also monitors ground water quality across the country including for the state of Punjab, through its network of monitoring stations as per the prescribed frequency and the data generated is shared with all stakeholders. Such data on ground water quality generated by CGWB from time to time indicates that the ground water in the country, including Punjab, remains largely potable with localized occurrences of contaminants in isolated pockets.

'Water' being a State subject, sustainable development and management 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. In this direction, the important steps taken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and other central ministries for sustainable development of ground water resources in the country including Punjab, are given below:- Efforts of the Central government for augmenting the water/groundwater resources of the country, are mainly channeled through the flagship campaign of Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA). JSA is a time bound and mission mode programme being conducted annually since 2019 by the M/o Jal Shakti, covering both rural and urban areas, wherein all the efforts and funds under various schemes and projects are converged to deliver water harvesting and artificial recharge works on the ground. As per the data available on JSA dashboard, completion of around 62,000 water conservation works has been coordinated through convergence in Punjab since 2021 under JSA.

1To further strengthen the momentum of Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister 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.

Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (DA & FW), GoI. is implementing Per Drop More Crop

(PDMC) Scheme in the country, including Punjab, since 2015-16, which focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation and better on-farm water management practices to optimize the use of available water resources.

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, including Punjab. As an outcome nearly 69,000 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed/rejuvenated in the country with 1,450 in Punjab, leading to enhanced water storage and ground water recharge.

Based on the advisories of M/o Jal Shakti to States to emphasize on crop rotation/diversification/other initiatives to reduce over-dependence on groundwater, Department of Agriculture, Punjab is pursuing hard to diversify the acreage under paddy to other less water consuming crops by extending incentives to farmers.

To reduce dependence on ground water and to increase the availability of surface water, the Government of Punjab has taken up several projects to extend and revive the canal networks.

On the ground water quality front, the data generated by CGWB is regularly disseminated to the state governments and concerned line departments through fortnightly alerts, half-yearly bulletins and annual report. Apart from demonstrative construction of Arsenic and Fluoride safe wells in affected pockets, these innovative techniques are also shared with state governments for replication by CGWB. Additionally, awareness on ground water quality at grassroots level is being generated through frequent training and public interaction programmes.

Water quality is one of the priority area under the JJM and several measures for identifying and segregating contaminated sources have been taken under the Scheme.

(c) & (d) The Government is also implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal, in partnership with states, for providing contamination free potable tap water to every rural household of the country, including Punjab. As per the data available on JJM dashboard all 34.26 lakh rural households of Punjab have been covered under the Scheme.

The Central Government is implementing the Namami Gange Programme (Central Sector Scheme) and National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) (Centrally Sponsored Scheme) for abatement of pollution in all the major rivers of the country.

In view of the substantial achievements and continuing status of the above schemes, there are no other proposals for any new drinking water and river rejuvenation schemes. ***** 2