Punjab's Groundwater Extraction Hits 152%, 72% of Blocks in Red Zone

Punjab continues to draw far more groundwater than it recharges, with the 2025-26 Dynamic Groundwater Assessment putting the State's extraction rate at 152%. Although interventions have cut the number of over-exploited blocks by five across the last two assessments, 72% of Punjab's 153 blocks remain in the red zone — the largest such share among States.

Irrigation for rice and wheat is the principal consumer, accounting for nearly 25 billion cubic metres a year in the latest estimate. Observation-well data show that the share of wells with water below 40 metres in the post-monsoon period rose by two percentage points between 2022 and 2025.

The problem has roots in a strategy once aimed at food security. Assured procurement, subsidised electricity and easy access to groundwater made a concentrated rice-wheat cropping system less risky than alternatives, with high-yield varieties, intensive irrigation, fertiliser use and mechanisation becoming the norm. Farmers' reluctance to shift to other crops, driven by uncertainty over storage, prices, processing infrastructure and supply chains, has remained largely unaddressed.

As the water table falls, the burden is distributed unevenly. A recent study in the Economic and Political Weekly found that while farmers with marginal landholdings use water more efficiently, wealthier farmers are better placed to reach lower water tables and draw larger volumes. Those who cannot afford the necessary tube wells are forced to buy water, transferring wealth to larger landowners and creating unregulated dependencies. A separate study by two members of the same team, published in Discover Sustainability, reported that in Sangrur and Barnala, larger farms earned higher returns but recorded lower groundwater productivity for paddy than smaller farms. Depletion thus raises the capital needed for irrigation, systematically favouring farmers with better access to finance.

State governments have tried to ease demand pressure in several ways, but the scale of extraction continues to outpace the efficiency gains. Alongside these efforts, the State faces the task of protecting farmers' incomes and irrigation access while making additional extraction costly. The 'Pani Bachao, Paisa Kamao' scheme, which pays farmers for every unused kilowatt-hour of pumping below a threshold, is seen as promising despite low enrolment. A broader approach would use part of the electricity subsidy bill to directly support smallholders, help collectivise irrigation infrastructure, or aid a shift to other crops. When benefits reach the cultivator, including tenants, rather than landowners or pump owners, welfare can subsidise access to water instead of groundwater extraction.