E-Paper
Groundwater level in Chandigarh declines by 28% in a decade
The authorities concerned in Chandigarh said the situation is expected to improve with the implementation of the 24X7 water project in the city, which is anticipated to be completed by December this year
The city has witnessed a decline of 28% in groundwater levels over the past decade. The issue was brought up in the Rajya Sabha during last week’s session, where the minister of state for jal shakti, Bishweswar Tudu, presented the data for Chandigarh.
On the other hand, the concerned authorities in Chandigarh said that the situation is expected to improve with the implementation of the 24X7 water project in the city, which is anticipated to be completed by December this year.
As per data tabled in Rajya Sabha, in Chandigarh, an analysis of water-level data from 14 wells indicated that five wells experienced a rise in groundwater levels by 35.7%. Meanwhile, nine wells recorded a decline in groundwater levels by 64.3%. The minister emphasised that while water, being a state subject, falls under the mandate of the states for effective rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge, the central government has taken a number of steps.
The mnister stated that water-level data collected by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) during November 2022 was compared with the decadal mean of groundwater level data from November (2012-2021).
He said in the comparison of groundwater extraction levels between the assessment years 2017 and 2022 in Chandigarh, the groundwater extraction was 89% in the assessment year 2017, which improved to 80.99% in the assessment year 2022.
Professor Alok Srivastava from the department of chemistry at Panjab University, who has been working on water-related issues for the last two decades, noted that the watertable level has decreased by 12 meters from 2018 to 2022, which is alarming. The authorities concerned should seriously consider devising a plan for recharging the wells, he said.
The minister pointed out that the decline in groundwater levels in certain parts of the country is a result of continuous withdrawal due to increased demand for fresh water for various purposes, along with the unpredictable rainfall patterns, growing population, industrialisation, urbanisation, and increased concretisation in urban areas.
A senior officer from the municipal corporation stated that work on Chandigarh’s ambitious 24x7 water supply project has already commenced. In the first phase, 24X7 water supply is expected to be available by December this year. Tubewells will no longer be in use, and rainwater harvesting will also be employed to recharge groundwater, the officer added.
