TN leads in falling ground water levels

As water used for drinking, irrigation and various other purposes, ground water levels in same parts declining

Eight states among the 30 surveyed by the Government have shown an alarming fall in ground water levels much worse than the national average.

Findings of a survey of 10,121 wells by the Central Ground Water Board under the Ministry of Water Resources reveal that wells in Tamil Ground have suffered the most with a 76% of the surveyed wells experiencing fall in water levels.

The state is followed by Punjab, Kerala and West Bengal respectively in recording the maximum fall in ground water levels.

The findings of the survey were revealed today by Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a written question.

He said that water is used for drinking, irrigation and various other purposes, due to which ground water levels in same parts of the country are declining.

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the Ministry of Water Resources monitors ground water levels on regional basis, four times a year through a network of 15,653 ground water monitoring wells located in the country.

Ground water level monitoring data of Pre-monsoon 2013, compared with decadal mean of Pre-monsoon (2003-2012), indicate that out of 10,121 wells analysed 5,688 wells have shown decline.

Himanshu Thakkar water activist with South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People said that ground water levels have been falling in Punjab and Haryana but the emergence of Bengal as a state with dipping water levels has come as a surprise.

The ground water regime monitoring was started in the year 1969 by Central Ground Water Board.

At present a network of 15,653 observation wells located all over the country is being monitored. Ground water samples are being collected from these observation wells once a year during the month of April/May to obtain background information of ground water quality changes on regional scale.

The database thus generated forms the basis for planning the ground water development and management programme.