Does rainwater harvesting fix Punjab?

It helps locally. It cannot offset a paddy crop that evaporates more water than the monsoon puts back.

Is bottled water the urban answer?

It is a private exit. The aquifer still needs law, pricing and recharge.

Examine the factors responsible for depleting groundwater in India. What are the

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Most Indian irrigation still leans on groundwater, so a falling table is a farm and drinking-water crisis. Free farm power and paddy-wheat in the northwest are the classic drivers, with urban wells and weak licensing close behind. CGWB maps show over-exploited blocks across several States. Atal Bhujal, Jal Shakti Abhiyan, micro-irrigation and aquifer mapping are the main public replies. Without metering and crop change, recharge structures only delay the fall.

Model answer

Introduction

India is not a water-poor country in the monsoon average. It is a groundwater-stressed country in the well. More than sixty per cent of irrigation and a large share of rural drinking water still come from underground. When the water table falls, the poor dig deeper or drink worse. Depletion is a policy harvest, not only a dry cloud.

Body

Factors

Green Revolution paddy and wheat in Punjab, Haryana and parts of western UP, fed by almost-free farm power, turned the tubewell into a pump that never sleeps. Sugarcane in Maharashtra and UP does the same where canals are thin. Urban India drills illegal wells as tankers fail. Industry and brick kilns add point stress. Weak metering and weak State groundwater laws (even after the model Central bill) mean the resource is an open-access commons. Climate: a failed monsoon or a burst of extreme rain that runs off instead of soaking makes recharge worse. Sand mining and lost wetlands cut the sponge. Population and diet raise demand.

CGWB’s assessment maps show over-exploited blocks clustered in the northwest, Rajasthan, parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the east-coast sedimentary belts.

Steps taken

Atal Bhujal Yojana pays for community water-security plans in seven stressed States. Jal Shakti Abhiyan and Catch the Rain push recharge structures. PMKSY and Per Drop More Crop push micro-irrigation. PM-KUSUM can cut diesel but can also cheapen pumping if solar is unmetered — a design tension. Some States delay paddy transplant (Haryana’s Khet-se-Paani logic, Punjab’s calendar). NAQUIM maps aquifers. Mission Amrit Sarovar revives ponds. CGWA notifications try to license industry. Results are uneven: Punjab’s table still falls; some Gujarati and Maharashtrian patches improved with recharge and crop talk.

Mitigation that works is priced power, crop shift, and recharge together. A plastic recharge pit without a paddy policy is a photo.

Flow diagram

flowchart TD
  P[Free power paddy] --> F[Falling table]
  U[Urban wells] --> F
  C[Climate runoff] --> F
  A[Atal Bhujal Jal Shakti] --> R[Recharge crop shift]
  R --> F

Conclusion

Groundwater falls because pumping is cheap, crops are thirsty, and the law is weak. Missions for recharge, micro-irrigation and community plans exist. They will bite only with power reform and less paddy where the aquifer is already red.

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Next question on this syllabus topic (2025 · Q17). View answer →
Does rainwater harvesting fix Punjab?

It helps locally. It cannot offset a paddy crop that evaporates more water than the monsoon puts back.
Is bottled water the urban answer?

It is a private exit. The aquifer still needs law, pricing and recharge.

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Examine the factors responsible for depleting groundwater in India. What are the steps taken by the government to mitigate such depletion of groundwater?