Water Crisis in Haryana Current Status and Management Strategies

Abstract

Indiscriminate withdrawal of groundwater leads to a significant alteration in water availability for different water-consuming sectors such as irrigation, industrial and domestic purposes. The groundwater level in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh, and isolated patches in Fatehabad and Sirsa districts of Haryana is approaching more than 40 meters below the ground level and has been falling more than one meter every year since 2013 and now water table has reached to 20.67 meters in May, 2020. The annual groundwater consumption is more than the annual groundwater recharge rate in Haryana and adjoining regions viz. Punjab. The water deficit level i.e. difference in net annual groundwater availability to net annual groundwater draft is increased by 311% from 2004 to 2017. The State average decline in the water table is about 10.65 m from 1974 to 2019. Vigorous imbalance of water pumping and amount of natural recharge in several aquifers of Haryana along with over-reliance on groundwater for consumptive uses categories these aquifers as overexploited (55-78), semi-critical (5-21) and critical (3-21). Further, the monsoon rainfall has failed by six times in Haryana during the last ten years. If situation remains the same then potentially it can affect the social balance, food security and economic growth as aquifer depletion is mainly concentrated in a densely populated area and highly agriculture-based productive regions. Different water management techniques like in-situ conservation practices, artificial recharge, crop diversification with remunerative prices and; reclamation and recycling of waste water along with alternative efficient irrigation system (drip and sprinkler) can be employed to arrest the declining rate of groundwater. Further, industries also have a huge water demand that must be addressed to halt groundwater depletion.