The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) released two important reports last week. While the Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2024 reveals rise in nitrate fluoride, arsenic and uranium contamination of groundwater resource in India, the Dynamic Groundwater Resource Assessment Report 2024 claims substantial rise in annual groundwater recharge and decline in extraction of the resource.
Broadly the reports have raised both concerns over rising contamination and questions over groundwater recharge improvement claims of CGWB. In fact, the findings of the first report on the increase in contamination seem contradicted by the improvement claimed in the second report. As SANDRP has raised the issue earlier, in the face of increasing groundwater use, depleting levels, worsening quality of groundwater and our increasing over dependence on groundwater, the claims of improvement are counter intuitive and misleading.
Secondly, the report on quality shows the failure of govt’s to arrest the deterioration. The concerns over increasing deterioration of groundwater quality should be of greater concern as once the quality deteriorates, it is very difficult, if not impossible to reverse it even in short and medium terms. It is particularly noteworthy that this news comes in the golden jubilee year of Water Pollution Act in India, showing how badly the Act and institutions set up in its aftermath have failed.
Read on SANDRP – South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People