New Hyderabad Municipal Corporations Confront Severe Groundwater Depletion Crisis
Hyderabad: A critical groundwater depletion crisis is emerging in Hyderabad, but it is not the established Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) at the center. Instead, the newly formed Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC) and Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) are staring at worrying declines in water tables, even before the intense summer heat sets in.
Alarming Data Reveals Steep Declines
According to the latest groundwater data from the Telangana Core Urban Region, numerous pockets within these new municipal boundaries have recorded precipitous drops. In the MMC jurisdiction, areas including Malkajgiri, Medipally, Alwal, Shamirpet, Uppal, and Medchal show steep declines. Similarly, under CMC, localities such as Kukatpally, Quthbullapur, and Rajendranagar have witnessed significant depletion.
For instance, the average depth to water level (DTWL) in Malkajgiri stood at 14 meters as of January, while Medipally recorded 13.87 meters. In other critical zones like Kukatpally and Patancheru, groundwater levels were found to be in the range of 11 to 13 meters below ground level, indicating severe stress on aquifers.
Primary Causes: Over-Extraction and Construction Surge
Groundwater department officials have attributed this alarming situation to two primary factors: excessive extraction of groundwater and an unprecedented surge in construction activity across the eastern and western corridors of the city.
A senior official from the groundwater department explained, "Lakhs of borewells have proliferated in the western and eastern parts of the city. The sharp rise in built-up areas has drastically reduced open land, severely hampering natural groundwater recharge processes. Urban expansion has far outpaced the groundwater recharge capacity. Furthermore, most new apartment complexes lack functional recharge pits, and stormwater is routinely diverted into drains instead of being allowed to percolate into the ground."
A stark example of over-exploitation is found in Hayathnagar, where residents extracted over 400 hectare-metres (ha m) of groundwater against an annual extractable resource of just 326 ha m.
Failure of Regulatory Framework and Expert Warnings
Experts have also highlighted the ineffective implementation of the Water, Land and Trees Act (WALTA), 2002. This legislation mandates rainwater harvesting structures and regulates borewell drilling, but compliance is poor. Most residential and commercial buildings either completely lack recharge pits or maintain them inadequately, rendering them ineffective.
Properly designed rainwater harvesting pits and injection borewells are deemed essential to revive the city's depleted aquifers, yet these measures are largely neglected.
B Venkateswara Rao, a water resources expert from JNTUH, provided critical insight: "While development activity has largely stabilized in the core city areas, the western and eastern corridors are experiencing an unprecedented construction boom. The western corridor, in particular, is a crucial groundwater recharge zone for the entire city. Unchecked urbanization in this belt is altering natural hydrological patterns. The western side lies on the upstream side of the watershed, and groundwater naturally flows from these elevated recharge areas toward the core city. Disrupting this flow has city-wide implications."
Seasonal Improvement Offers Limited Relief
Despite the grim scenario, groundwater department officials noted a seasonal improvement compared to peak summer levels. The groundwater levels recorded in January showed a net rise of 4.34 meters compared to pre-monsoon levels in May 2025. A rise of over 2 meters was observed in 12 mandals, indicating some recharge from seasonal rains.
However, this temporary respite does not offset the long-term trend of depletion driven by unsustainable extraction and rampant construction, posing a severe challenge for the new municipal corporations' water security and urban planning efforts.
