Groundwater Exploitation in Punjab: A Zone-wise Analysis

The present study was conducted to study the zone wise groundwater table behaviour in Punjab. The Central zone is the problematic zone, which encompasses roughly half of the state’s area and continues to face negative water balance along with declining water levels due to intensive cultivation of paddy-wheat. The state has witnessed a fall in water table at the rate of 43 cm per year during the last 22 years; with a serious fall at the rate of 59 cm per year in Central region. The area of fall in water table has changed drastically. More than 20 m of the fall in water table, was recorded in 10 per cent of the state area from the Central zone. The groundwater balance has decreased in all the zones with negative water balance in Central and South West zone; with an increasing trend over time in Central zone. Increase in the rice area has badly affected the net monsoon recharge as well as the water table depth in all the zones, especially in Central region. The prominent districts of the Central Punjab with serious fall in water levels are Sangrur, Patiala, Jalandhar, Moga and Barnala. Effective harvesting of the monsoon rainfall through construction of artificial recharge structures, watershed management, intensive afforestation and awareness generation can resolve the water scarcity problem in Punjab to a greater extend.