Falling groundwater level a concern for Bhopal, Indore

Bhopal: The falling groundwater level across Madhya Pradesh has become a matter of grave concern with the State Groundwater Board and Central Water Commission reporting a 300 per cent growth in number of endangered blocks in the state. The report has attributed the alarming depletion in groundwater to low recharge rates and an increased pace of extraction.

The situation is alarming in several blocks of Bhopal and Indore districts, with some of the areas being identified as ‘critical’.

According to the report of the State Ground Water Board and Central Water Commission, the fast drying duck-wells are a major challenge. The commission compiles the data once in two years in which different blocks of various districts are categorised as safe, semi-critical, critical and over-exploited blocks on the basis of precipitation, usage and ground water recharge status.

While Phanda block of Bhopal has been identified as semi-critical, over exploitation of water has been found in 22 blocks with majority of them being in Malwa region. This includes three in Indore, two in Dewas, two in Agar, one in Barwani, three in Dhar, two in Mandsaur, four in Ratlam, two in Shajapur and three in Ujjain.

Mohan Nagar, a water conservation expert, said: “Deforestation in hilly areas is one of the main reason behind depletion of groundwater level. Excessive use of fertilizers in farms also reduces water holding capacity”.

The latest study of 2017 covers 313 blocks in 51 districts and has found that 240 blocks have ‘safe’ groundwater level, an increase of 5 per cent as compared to 2013. In 2013, there were 228 safe blocks, which increased to 229 in 2015. The fluctuation in water level shows both rise and ebb in different clusters of the state.

Experts say that varied topography and geological features of the state have added to the problem. “Blocks falling in the semi critical areas, showed a tendency of a balanced use of the rainfall, while the over exploited blocks failed to show sufficient efforts to come out of the red zone,” said an officer of the state ground water board.

While critical block count has increased to 7 in 2107 from 2 blocks in 2013, the over exploited blocks has gone down to 22 from 25 in 2013. The semi critical pockets most likely fall in the central and south eastern part of the state which receives substantial rainfall and has better seepage soil which leads to greater water recharge. The area of Sheopur, Morena, Bhind, Gwalior and Datia located on Morena and Shivpuri plateau are suffering due to inconsistent rain pattern, the report states. “The rocky and mountainous terrain and the rapid concretization of the lithosphere leads to increased surface run-off, thereby disturbing the process of seepage and groundwater replenishment” said the officer.

(Inputs by Nitesh Singh & Chandra Prakash)