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

Model Answer:

India is the world’s largest user of groundwater, with the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) reporting that agriculture accounts for nearly 87% of total extraction, driving severe aquifer stress.

1. Factors Responsible for Groundwater Depletion

1. Cropping Pattern Skew: Minimum Support Price (MSP) and procurement biases heavily favor water-guzzling crops (paddy, sugarcane) in semi-arid zones.
2. Power Subsidies: Free or highly subsidized agricultural electricity incentivizes relentless, unregulated deep-aquifer pumping.
3. Inefficient Irrigation: Over-reliance on traditional flood irrigation causes massive surface evaporation and reduces water use efficiency.
4. Climatic Extremes: Erratic monsoon patterns, shorter rainy days, and recurrent droughts severely curtail natural aquifer recharge periods.
5. Urban Concretization: Rapid infrastructure expansion reduces permeable soil surfaces, directly restricting rainwater percolation and underground flow.
6. Inadequate Pricing Mechanism: Water is largely treated as a free, open-access resource, leading to the “tragedy of the commons.”

2. Government Interventions for Mitigation

1. Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY): Facilitates community-led, sustainable groundwater management across seven heavily over-exploited states.
2. Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA): Drives mass-scale rainwater harvesting, watershed development, and afforestation (Catch the Rain campaign).
3. Micro-Irrigation Push: The PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) subsidizes precision agriculture (drip/sprinkler systems) via its “Per Drop More Crop” component.
4. Statutory Frameworks: Circulation of the Model Groundwater (Sustainable Management) Act, 2017, empowering states to regulate extraction and map aquifers (NAQUIM).
5. Crop Diversification: Providing direct financial incentives to transition from water-intensive staples to drought-resistant alternatives (National Millet Mission/Shree Anna).
6. State-Level Decentralization: Eco-restoration and revival of traditional surface water bodies (Mission Kakatiya in Telangana; Mukhyamantri Jal Swavalamban in Rajasthan).

Transitioning from an extraction-led agricultural model to a “recharge-first” approach via comprehensive aquifer mapping, circular water economies, and climate-smart agriculture is imperative for long-term food security.