Significant drop in groundwater levels in 2 districts

PUNE: Pune is among the 23 districts in the state that is likely to face water crisis in the days to come due to fast depleting groundwater levels, says a recent post-monsoon groundwater survey undertaken by the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA).
A deficient monsoon has adversely impacted the groundwater levels in the state with an almost 100 per cent increase in the number of administrative blocks that are likely to face water crisis this summer.
Last year, the water levels dipped in some 100 blocks; the number of such blocks has swelled to 194 till October this year, says the GSDA report.
Villages where the water table has gone down by more than one metre have increased from 2,431 last year to 5,976. Officials have now decided to implement the Groundwater Act Implementation Rules in blocks which could face drinking water scarcity in the coming months. Temporary closure of wells near drinking water sources and prohibiting extraction from such wells could be some of the measures.
The GSDA has compared groundwater levels in the state this October this year with the levels in the same month last year. As many as 865 villages have registered groundwater depletion of more than three metres this October, which is much higher when compared with last five years' average October levels. In October 2013, the number of villages in this category was 384.
Water levels have gone down by 2 to 3 metres in as many as 1,483 villages this October. In 2013, the number of villages in this category was 610. A depletion of 1 to 2 metres was recorded in 3,628 villages in October 2014 as compared to 1,437 villages in the same period last year.
District-wise, there are four blocks in Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts where the groundwater level depletion has been more than one metre in October 2014. There are 34 such blocks in Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar and Nandurbar; 24 in Pune, Solapur, Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara and 71 blocks in Aurangabad, Beed, Jalna, Parbhani, Nanded, Osmanabad, Latur and Hingoli districts.
Suresh Khandale, additional director of GSDA, told TOI that talukas and villages which have recorded 20% and more rainfall deficit and one metre and above water table depletion are the regions where drinking water scarcity can be experienced in the coming days. "This means that as many as 144 blocks and 5,153 villages could face drinking water scarcity in the coming days, mainly because of groundwater depletion and rainfall deficit," Khandale said.
There are 31 blocks and 601 villages where rainfall deficit this year has been in the range of 0-20% and have still reported more than one metre water table depletion. Surprisingly, there are 19 blocks and 222 villages where there was no rainfall deficit this year. But these regions still reported more than one metre water table depletion. "This means that groundwater extraction in these parts has been haphazard and water management is urgently required here along with community participation," Khandale said.
The additional director of GSDA said that blocks that reported 20% and above rainfall deficit this year along with more than one metre water depletion will require groundwater recharge shafts to recharge aquifers directly. "It is natural for blocks with 20% and above rainfall deficit to report water table depletion. However, it is unnatural that blocks which did not record rainfall deficit this year should experience depletion. It is in these parts that we intend to implement the Groundwater Act Implementation Rules formed under the Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Act, 2009. This Act will be implemented from this year," said Khandale.