The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a high-level expert committee to address the severe groundwater depletion crisis in India after hearing a report submitted by the Central Groundwater Authority and state and union territory governments.
The principal bench of the NGT in New Delhi, comprising Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert members A. Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad, heard the matter suo moto on April 23 based on a media report.
The media report highlighted scientific predictions that groundwater levels in several Indian regions, including the Indo-Gangetic basin and north-western India, may fall to critically low levels soon.
The expert committee constituted by the bench will have representatives from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Geological Survey of India (GSI), Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), and IIT Roorkee. The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) will act as the nodal agency in the committee.
Crucial trends
The data presented to the bench by the Central Ground Water Authority and the state and union territory governments vindicated several critical trends:
* Extensive over-exploitation of groundwater in several states and union territories.
* Not enough enforcement of regulatory guidelines; and
* Unsatisfactory implementation of environmental compensation mechanisms for illegal extraction.
North and south India critical
The report finds that Rajasthan tops the water woe map in the country with 214 over-exploited ground water stressed areas, followed by Punjab with 115 and Tamil Nadu with 106 areas.
Haryana with 88, Uttar Pradesh with 59, Karnataka with 45, Telangana with 32, Madhya Pradesh with 26, Gujarat with 22, Delhi (National Capital Territory) with 14, Andhra Pradesh with 9, Maharashtra with 8, and Jharkhand with 5 over-exploited regions are the other affected states.
Eastern India and north eastern India generally do not have a major problem at hand; and, not even a single over-exploited region was reported from West Bengal.
No enforcement of guidelines
The bench pointed out that despite the Ministry of Jal Shakti issuing guidelines on groundwater on September 24, 2020, and subsequently also passing amendments in 2023, the enforcement of those at the ground level remains insufficient.
The committee will identify gaps in the implementation of groundwater regulations, suggest measures to prevent over-extraction, recommend strategies for groundwater recharge in critical areas, and provide state-specific and general policy recommendations. The bench has directed the committee to submit its report within three months.
The matter will be heard again on August 25, 2026.