Climate & Energy

Punjab faces a severe groundwater crisis, with recent assessments indicating that 76.47% of the state's groundwater blocks are over-exploited, the highest percentage among all Indian states. Indian Express The Dynamic Groundwater Resource Assessment for 2025-26 reveals that while the number of over-exploited blocks has slightly decreased from 115 to 110, the overall exploitation level stands at 152.22%. The state recharges approximately 19.14 billion cubic meters (BCM) annually, yet extracts 26.32 BCM, leaving only 20 blocks classified as safe. A study published in Economic and Political Weekly by Sandeep Kaur highlights how this environmental stress is intensifying agrarian inequality. Large farmers with capital to deepen wells and install high-capacity pumps continue to extract water, often benefiting from free farm electricity subsidies, while small and marginal farmers face dry wells and are forced into informal water markets. This dynamic creates a stark divide where larger landholders maintain productivity despite lower per-unit groundwater efficiency, whereas smaller cultivators struggle with rising costs and resource scarcity. The crisis is driven by intensive wheat-paddy cultivation cycles and low reliance on canal irrigation, which accounts for minimal recharge contributions compared to tubewell extraction. Although the Punjab government, under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, aims to expand canal-based irrigation by 2026 to reduce pressure on aquifers, experts warn that infrastructure expansion alone is insufficient. Sustainable management requires crop diversification, improved irrigation efficiency, and regulatory controls on groundwater withdrawals to address both the ecological deficit and the resulting socioeconomic disparities