Punjab's Sangrur District Emerges as National Groundwater Crisis Hotspot
According to the recently released Dynamic Groundwater Resource Assessment for 2025, conducted by the Central Ground Water Board in coordination with state authorities, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's native district of Sangrur has secured a deeply concerning position. The district now ranks as the second worst in the entire country for annual groundwater extraction that far exceeds its extractable resources.
Alarming Extraction Figures from Punjab and Rajasthan
The detailed assessment reveals that Sangrur recorded a staggering groundwater extraction stage of 309.99%. This means the district is drawing out more than three times the water that can be sustainably replenished. It is surpassed only by Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, which tops this distressing national list with an extraction rate of 321.84%.
Adding to Punjab's water woes, the adjoining area of Malerkotla, which was part of Sangrur district until it became Punjab's 23rd district in June 2021, stands third nationally with an extraction stage of 301.93%. Experts point to the region's excessive reliance on water-intensive paddy transplantation as the primary driver behind these critically unsustainable extraction levels.
National Landscape of Groundwater Overexploitation
The data, presented by Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, paints a grim picture for India's aquifers. Nationally, a total of 94 districts across nine states have been categorized as 'overexploited,' where groundwater extraction exceeds 100% of extractable resources.
- Rajasthan accounts for the highest number with 27 overexploited districts.
- Punjab follows closely with 20 districts in this critical category.
- Haryana has 15 overexploited districts.
- Other states include Tamil Nadu (10), Madhya Pradesh (5), while Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Delhi have 4 each.
Punjab Dominates Lists of Most Affected Districts
The state's leadership in groundwater depletion is further emphasized when examining the worst-affected districts. Among the top 10 most overexploited districts in India, Punjab leads with five, followed by Rajasthan with four and Haryana with one. Expanding the view to the top 20 worst-affected districts, Punjab again tops the list with nine districts, ahead of Rajasthan's seven and Haryana's four.
Furthermore, the assessment identified 21 districts as 'critical,' where extraction stands between 90% and 100% of extractable resources. Uttar Pradesh has the most critical districts at seven, followed by two each from Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Rajasthan. Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, and Punjab have one critical district each.
State-Level Extraction Rates Far Exceed National Average
At the state level, the assessment confirms that Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana are the only three states where overall groundwater extraction exceeds 100% of the extractable resources.
- Punjab is at the top with an extraction rate of 156.36%.
- Rajasthan follows at 147.11%.
- Haryana records a rate of 136.75%.
These figures stand in stark contrast to the national annual average extraction rate, which is calculated at 60.63%. The Central Ground Water Board maintains a vast monitoring network to track this crisis, with approximately 27,000 manual and 22,000 automated stations for groundwater level monitoring, and around 20,000 stations dedicated to assessing groundwater quality spread across the country.
