National Green Tribunal: In a suo motu cognizance of the ‘low’ groundwater level in India on basis of a news article, the two members comprising of Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson and Dr. A. Senthil Vel, Expert Member issued notice to the Central Ground Water Authority, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the various State Departments of Water Resources.
In the matter at hand, the NGT took cognizance of a news item published in Hindustan Times dated 26-10-2023 titled “UN predicts groundwater level in India will reduce to ‘low’ by 2025”. The news item covered that some areas in Indo-Gangetic basin in India have already passed the groundwater depletion tipping point and the entire northwestern region is predicted to experience critically low groundwater availability by 2025, according to a news report by the United Nations. The report also mentioned that India is the world’s largest user of groundwater surpassing United State and China combined. The northwestern region of India serves as the bread-basket for the nation’s growing 1.4 billion people, however, 78 per cent of wells in Punjab are considered overexploited and the northwestern region as a whole is predicted to experience critically low groundwater availability by 2025.
The Tribunal said that the news item raised a very serious concern relating to depleting ground water level. The Tribunal added that a substantial issue relating to compliance with environmental laws is involved. The Tribunal noted that the report on behalf of the Central Ground Water Authority, New Delhi disclosed that all the measures outlined in the UN University report have been taken by the Government to improve the situation of ground water in the country. However, the Tribunal said that the Annual Report of 2022 published by the Central Ground Water Board depicted a very different picture than the one which has been presented in the report filed before the Tribunal.
Therefore, considering the seriousness of the issue, the Tribunal issued notice to various authorities including the Central Ground Water Authority; Ministry of Jal Shakti; Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Department of Water Resources of the State of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura and West Bengal.
The matter was further listed for hearing on 09-02-2024.
[In re: News item appearing in Hindustan Times dated 26-10-2023 titled “UN predicts groundwater level in India will reduce to ‘low’ by 2025”, 2023 SCC OnLine NGT 475, Order Dated: 24-11-2023]
