Punjab's Thirsty Fields: Unpacking the Environmental, Economic, and Social Crisis of Groundwater Depletion

Main Explanatory: Unpacking the Crisis

What is the current state of groundwater depletion in Punjab?

Punjab faces the most severe groundwater over-exploitation among Indian states, with its groundwater extraction rate recorded at 152% in the 2025-26 Dynamic Groundwater Assessment (The Hindu, September 23, 2026). This figure indicates that the state is withdrawing 52% more groundwater than is naturally replenished annually. The assessment further categorises 72% of Punjab's 153 administrative blocks as being in the 'red zone' or 'over-exploited', signifying a critical level of depletion (The Hindu, September 23, 2026). While interventions have led to a reduction of five 'over-exploited' blocks over the last two assessment cycles, the overall scale of the crisis remains overwhelming. The primary driver of this extensive extraction is irrigation for the dominant rice-wheat cropping system, which consumes approximately 25 billion cubic metres of groundwater each year (The Hindu, September 23, 2026). The observable impact of this over-extraction is evident in the declining water table; data from 2022 to 2025 show a two percentage point increase in observation wells where water levels have fallen below 40 metres in the post-monsoon period (The Hindu, September 23, 2026).

How did agricultural policies contribute to the crisis?

The genesis of Punjab's groundwater crisis lies in the agricultural policies implemented during and after the Green Revolution, which began in the mid-1960s to enhance national food security. This strategy fostered a concentrated rice-wheat cropping system by offering assured procurement prices for these crops, providing subsidised electricity for irrigation, and ensuring easy access to groundwater (The Hindu, September 23, 2026). These incentives made the cultivation of high-yield varieties, coupled with intensive irrigation, fertiliser use, and mechanisation, significantly less risky and more profitable than alternative crops. Consequently, farmers in the region developed a strong reluctance to diversify into other crops due to inherent uncertainties in storage options, market prices, processing infrastructure, and supply chains, issues that have largely remained unaddressed (The Hindu, September 23, 2026). This policy-driven focus on a water-intensive cropping pattern, without adequate consideration for long-term water sustainability, has directly led to the current state of over-exploitation.