Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report, 2024

Context: The Union Minister of Jal Shakti has released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report, 2024, showing a net improvement in groundwater status with higher recharge and lower long-term extraction compared to 2017.

About Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report, 2024:

Key trends of ground water resources in India:

1. Increase in recharge: Total annual groundwater recharge is 446.90 BCM, showing a long-term rise driven by rainwater harvesting and water conservation structures.
2. Moderate extraction levels: Annual groundwater extraction stands at 245.64 BCM, with the stage of extraction at 60.47%, indicating overall national-level sustainability.
3. Expansion of ‘Safe’ units: 73.4% of assessment units are now categorised as Safe, up from 62.6% in 2017, reflecting improved management practices.
4. Decline in over-exploitation: Over-exploited units have fallen from 17.24% (2017) to 11.13% (2024), indicating partial reversal of groundwater stress.
5. Role of water conservation: Recharge from tanks, ponds and water conservation structures has increased to 25.34 BCM, nearly doubling since 2017.
6. Regional imbalance persists: Over-exploited and critical units remain concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Gujarat.
7. Rainfall dominance: Nearly 61% of recharge comes from rainfall, making groundwater availability highly sensitive to monsoon variability and climate change.

Reasons for groundwater depletion in India:

• Agriculture-driven over-extraction: Groundwater supports ~62% of irrigation, with water-intensive crops (rice, sugarcane) dominating NW and peninsular India, pushing 11.13% units into ‘Over-exploited’ category.
• Highly seasonal rainfall dependence: Nearly 75% of annual rainfall occurs in just four months (June–September), causing sharp temporal mismatch between recharge and year-round withdrawal.
• Hydro-geological constraints: About two-thirds of India lies in hard rock terrains, where groundwater storage is limited to fractured zones, making extraction unsustainable.
• Energy-subsidy distortion: Cheap or free electricity encourages indiscriminate pumping, especially in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu where >25% units are Critical/Over-exploited.
• Urban–industrial pressure: Rising urbanisation and industrial clusters increase non-agricultural extraction, reflected in 245.64 BCM annual groundwater draft (2024).

Initiatives taken to counter depletion:

1. National Aquifer Mapping Programme (NAQUIM & NAQUIM 2.0): Scientific mapping and aquifer-level management planning.
2. Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL): Community-led demand-side management in water-stressed blocks.
3. Master Plan for Artificial Recharge (2020): Proposal for 42 crore structures to harness 185 BCM of monsoon rainfall.
4. Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain: Nationwide focus on rainwater harvesting and water conservation.
5. PMKSY – Groundwater component: Promotes efficient irrigation and conjunctive water use in Safe

Challenges associated with groundwater stress:

• Water security risk: Groundwater supplies 85% of rural and ~50% of urban drinking water, making depletion a direct human security concern.
• Regional inequality: Over-exploitation is concentrated in NW India, western arid regions, and peninsular crystalline belts, creating uneven development outcomes.
• Quality deterioration: 127 assessment units (1.88%) are saline, while arsenic and fluoride hazards coexist in quantity-stressed aquifers.
• Climate vulnerability: Erratic rainfall and declining irrigation return flows caused a marginal fall in recharge from 449.08 BCM (2023) to 446.90 BCM (2024).
• Governance fragmentation: Groundwater is a State subject, resulting in weak regulation, limited pricing signals, and uneven adoption of scientific management norms.