PHAGWARA: During the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Member and environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal raised a written question in the Rajya Sabha regarding the rapidly declining groundwater levels in Punjab. In response, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Raj Bhushan Choudhary, citing a report of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), stated that Punjab has become the most groundwater-stressed state in the country. He informed the House that Punjab is extracting groundwater at a rate far exceeding its natural annual recharge capacity.
According to the CGWB’s National Assessment Report 2024–25, Punjab’s groundwater extraction rate has reached 156 percent, the highest among all Indian states. This is significantly higher than the national average of 60.63 percent. The report estimates Punjab’s annual total groundwater recharge at 18.60 billion cubic meters, while the safely extractable groundwater is only 16.80 billion cubic meters. In contrast, the state is currently extracting around 26.27 billion cubic meters of groundwater annually for irrigation, domestic, and industrial use. Due to the cultivation of water-intensive crops such as paddy and excessive dependence on tube wells, groundwater levels in many areas are declining by more than half a meter every year. Rajasthan ranks second with an extraction rate of 147.11 percent, followed by Haryana at 136.75 percent.
As per the information provided in the Rajya Sabha, under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan 2025, 20 districts of Punjab have been included in the priority list. Over the past four years, more than 61, 500 groundwater recharge and water conservation structures have been constructed in the state. Additionally, it has been recommended to build nearly 1.1 million recharge structures in Punjab, which could help conserve approximately 1, 200 million cubic meters of rainwater annually.
Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal stated, “To save Punjab, saving water is the greatest duty and a collective responsibility.” He warned that if serious measures are not taken even now, the water situation in Punjab could become even more alarming. Therefore, every section of society must come forward unitedly for water conservation.