Role of public policy in sustaining groundwater: Impact of ‘The Punjab Preservation of Sub Soil Water Act, 2009’

Employing the Difference-in-Difference technique to the time series of groundwater level, this study assesses the impact of ‘The Punjab Preservation of Sub Soil Water Act, 2009’ on the groundwater extraction in Punjab. Over the past two decades, the groundwater level in the state has fallen by 0.43 metres per annum. Our results indicate that even after the implementation of the Act, the groundwater depth in the state has kept on falling, more so in the high rice-growing districts. After the policy change, the groundwater depth in the high rice-growing districts was 1.48 meters lower than in low rice-growing districts.