80% Punjab’s area in red zone due to groundwater overuse: Expert
With electric pumps powering 16 lakh tubewells in Punjab, level of groundwater is going down by nearly one metre each year
Water level is going down by nearly one metre every year in Punjab, and nearly 80% of the state’s area is becoming a red zone because of overuse of groundwater.
This was stated by architect Surinder Bahga while sharing information about capacity building training workshops conducted by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and Punjab Energy Development Agency.
A total of 814 people, included local service providers, dealers, distributors, technicians and faculties, took part in 10 such workshops conducted to teach them efficient ways to save water and energy, including operation and maintenance of water pumps, use of energy-efficient lighting and checking star labelling of electrical appliances.
The workshops were held at industrial training institutes in Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Patiala, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Kapurthala, Ludhiana and Barnala in the past one month.
“In Punjab, about 16 lakh tubewells are being operated with electric water pumps. Nearly 80% of Punjab’s area is becoming a red zone because of overdraft of groundwater. On an average water level is going down by nearly one metre per year. So, it was important to create awareness among stakeholders to save electricity and water in Punjab,” said Bahga.
In addition to that, five more workshops were conducted at Technical Training Institutes of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited at Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda and Ludhiana. About 315 participants took part in these workshops.