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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI
DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2644
ANSWERED ON 16/03/2026
LADAKH WATER STRESS
2644. Smt. Ranjeet Ranjan:
Shri Shaktisinh Gohil:
Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:
(a) year-wise data since 2021 on the number of villages in the Union Territory of Ladakh reporting
drinking water shortages and irrigation stress, along with estimated annual water deficit in cubic
metres;
(b) the status of glacial retreat assessments for Ladakh's river basins conducted by Government
including year-wise data since 2021 on glacial area loss, change in snow cover and spring discharge
levels;
(c) the projected water availability for Ladakh used in official planning documents for 2025 and 2030;
and
(d) the funds allocated and utilised for water conservation and recharge measures in Ladakh since
2022?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI V. SOMANNA)
(a) Since August 2019, Government of India is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar
Jal, in partnership with States/ UTs including UT of Ladakh, to make provision of safe and adequate
tap water connection to every rural household of the country. As reported by UT of Ladakh on JJM
IMIS, out of the 240 villages, 201 villages have been reported as Har Ghar Jal and works are in
progress in remaining villages.
As reported by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), the dynamic ground water resources of
country are assessed every year from 2022 jointly by CGWB and State/UT Governments. As per the
2025 assessment for the UT of Ladakh, the Total Annual Ground Water Recharge is 0.07 Billion
Cubic Meter (BCM) and the Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource is 0.06 BCM. The Total
Annual Ground Water Extraction has been estimated as 0.02 BCM. The Stage of Ground Water
Extraction, which is a measure of Annual Ground Water Extraction for all uses (irrigation, industrial
and domestic uses) over Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource is 30.93%. As per the latest
assessment (2025), out of total 18 assessment units in the UT of Ladakh, only one(01) unit (5.56 %)
has been characterized as ‘Semi Critical’ and rest all i.e. 17 units (94.44 %) are in ‘Safe’ category.
Page 1 of 2(b) Union Territory Administration of Ladakh has informed that no such study has been conducted
regarding status of glacial retreat assessments for Ladakh's river basins including year-wise data since
2021 on glacial area loss, change in snow cover and spring discharge levels.
(c) As per CGWB, the year wise ground water resources availability i.e. Annual Extractable
Groundwater Resource for the districts of Ladakh since 2022 is given in Table below.
Annual Annual Annual Annual
Extractable Extractable Extractable Extractable
S. Ground Water Ground Water Ground Water Ground Water
District
No. Resource Resource Resource Resource
(MCM) 2022 (MCM) 2023 (MCM) 2024 (MCM) 2025
1 Kargil 24.54 28.49 14.04 14.05
2 Leh 48.65 51.48 46.63 46.63
Total (MCM) 73.19 79.97 60.67 60.68
MCM: Million Cubic Meters
(d) UT of Ladakh has informed that Rs. 2162.51 lakhs have been allocated since 2022 out of which
Rs. 1471.36 lakhs utilized for water conservation and recharge measure.
Further, CGWB is implementing the Ground Water Management and Regulation (GWMR), a Central
Sector Scheme under which activities related to quality monitoring, exploration, assessment and
management of ground water resources are carried out across the country. These efforts aim to
support the sustainable management and improvement of groundwater levels nationwide.
Under the GWMR scheme, funds are not allocated to the State/ UTs, as the activities are directly
implemented by CGWB. CGWB provides technical support to the State Governments on
groundwater related issues. No specific budget has been allocated to Leh & Ladakh.
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