Article on decreasing level of underground water .
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Groundwater is the water that seeps into the ground due to rain and other sources and keeps accumulating underneath. It plays an important role in ensuring food security and agricultural sustainability in the country. The advent of Green Revolution in the 1970s saw a significant increase in the use of ground water, which has so far continued, rather increased, resulting in decrease and decline in water level, wells and other irrigation sources in the long term. Apart from this, ground water is no longer potable due to contamination of water sources.
Figures show that on average, ground water level is declining by one meter every year. Earlier, whereas water was found within 30 meters of ground level, now the situation is such that in many areas water is available only 60 to 70 meter below the ground level.
Despite the continuous decline in ground water level, no proper system of water conservation has been developed in the country. Every year billions of cubic meters of rain water goes waste. According to groundwater experts, given the pace water is being exploited in the country, the level of ground water will go further down in the coming years.
Availability of Water in India
Life cannot be imagined without water, but clean and adequate water is still not accessible to most of the people in India. India receives 90 percent of the water from major or medium rivers. It has 14 major rivers each having catchment area of 20,000 sq. km and above; while there are 44 medium rivers with a coastline between 2000-20,000 sq. kms. Then there are 53 small rivers each with catchment area of 2000 sq. kms.
According to the 2011 census, annual per capita water availability in the country decreased to 1545 cubic meters from 1816 cubic meters as per the 2001 census. At present, this situation is even more worrisome. Scientists believe that by 2050 there will be a 30 percent decrease in the availability of water per person. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the availability of 200 litres of water per person per day in urban areas. On the contrary, 140 litres of water is supplied per person per day in the country.
Water resources in India are predominantly dependent on the monsoon. India receives an average rainfall of 4000 BCM (Billion Cubic Metre) every year from the rain, but most of it is vapourized and goes down the drains. Statistics show that a dearth of storage procedure, lack of adequate infrastructure, inappropriate water management have created a situation where only 18-20% of the water is actually used. The remainder just gets wasted, aggravating the problem of ground water depletion.
Causes of Groundwater Depletion
Increase in Irrigated Area
Our country’s economy primarily rests on agriculture. Agriculture contributes 40 percent to the GDP of the country, and accounts for 60 percent of the total export revenues. Also, 60 percent of the country’s population is engaged in agriculture and related work. One of the major reasons for water crisis in the country is that as the area of irrigated land has increased, the level of groundwater has declined. Currently, India has a gross irrigated crop area of 82.6 million hectares (215.6 million acres), which is the largest in the world. As the population increases, the water storage capacity of ponds decreases. In fact, wells and ponds go dry after the water decreases at the ground level.
Indiscriminate water-tapping
Unbridled tapping of ground water has made the situation even more alarming. Due to the uninterrupted exploitation of ground water by deep wells and tube wells to meet the shortage of water, the level of ground water is continuously decreasing. In fact, whatever amount of water is recharged into the ground, even more of it is extracted.
Extraction only results in further lowering of groundwater level. The water table dips after tubewells and borewells are dug up indiscriminately. As a result, the level of ground water goes down, and small wells, which are not deeply bored, dry up.