Groundwater’s Central Role in India
- Share in water supply:
- 85% of rural drinking water comes from groundwater.
- 65% of irrigation water is groundwater-dependent.
- Why reliance is high:
- Seasonal monsoon variability makes groundwater a more dependable source.
- Poor surface water management and storage infrastructure.
- Perception vs. reality:
- Historically considered nature’s purest reserve, but now a major source of toxic exposure.
Relevance : GS 1(Geography ) , GS 3(Environment and Ecology)
Scale & Nature of Contamination (2024 CGWB Annual Groundwater Quality Report)
- Nitrates:
- Found in >20% of samples (from 440 districts).
- Causes: overuse of chemical fertilizers, leaching from septic tanks.
- Risk: Blue Baby Syndrome (methemoglobinemia), especially fatal for infants.
- Fluoride:
- Excess (>1.5 mg/L) in 9% of samples.
- Health: Skeletal and dental fluorosis (66 million affected; 230 districts across 20 states).
- High-prevalence areas: Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, parts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh.
- Arsenic:
- Gangetic belt states: West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam.
- Exceeds WHO limit (10 μg/L) in many districts; in Bagpat (UP) recorded 40 mg/L (4,000× safe limit).
- Risks: Skin lesions, cancers (skin, bladder, liver, kidney, lungs), gangrene, neurological issues.
- Uranium:
- Found in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan; in Malwa region >WHO limit (30 μg/L).
- Sources: phosphate fertilizers, excessive groundwater pumping.
- Health: Chronic kidney damage, organ toxicity.
- Iron:
- 13% samples above safe limit.
- Health: Gastrointestinal issues, developmental disorders.
- Heavy metals (lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury):
- Sources: industrial effluents, mining.
- Risks: developmental delays, anaemia, immune suppression, neurological damage.
- Pathogens:
- From sewage/septic leaks; outbreaks of cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A & E.
Real-world Groundwater “Death Zones”
- Budhpur, Baghpat (UP) – 13 deaths in 2 weeks from kidney failure; linked to industrial effluent contamination (paper & sugar mills).
- Jalaun (UP) – Petroleum-like fluids in hand pump water due to suspected underground fuel leaks.
- Paikarapur, Bhubaneswar – Faulty sewage treatment plant led to mass illness in hundreds.
Public Health Impacts
- Chronic diseases: skeletal deformities, neurological decline, cancers, kidney/liver failure.
- Acute outbreaks: waterborne diseases in peri-urban & rural belts.
- Children at highest risk: developmental impairment from fluoride, lead, nitrate poisoning.
- Geogenic + anthropogenic interplay: natural presence of arsenic/fluoride worsened by over-extraction & pollution.
Why the Crisis Persists – Structural Gaps
- Weak legal coverage:
- Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 barely covers groundwater contamination.
- CGWB: no statutory enforcement powers.
- Institutional fragmentation:
- CGWB, CPCB, SPCBs, Ministry of Jal Shakti operate in silos.
- Lack of coordinated, science-based interventions.
- Resource constraints:
- SPCBs underfunded, lack trained manpower & lab facilities.
- Regulatory loopholes:
- Industries operate with minimal oversight, low compliance checks.
- Poor monitoring:
- Sparse sampling, no real-time public data, weak health-surveillance integration.
- Over-extraction link:
- Falling water tables concentrate contaminants and trigger geogenic toxin release.
Key Statistics to Note
- Fluoride: 66 million affected; 9% of 15,259 samples exceed WHO limit.
- Nitrate: 56% of districts exceed safe limits; 28% rise in nitrate-toxicity hospital admissions (2018–2023).
- Arsenic: 1 in 100 in affected regions highly cancer-vulnerable.
- Uranium: 66% of sampled sites in Malwa region unsafe for children.
Reform Priorities
- Legislative overhaul:
- Enact National Groundwater Pollution Control Framework with binding enforcement powers.
- Integrated governance:
- Merge efforts of CGWB, CPCB, SPCBs into coordinated national task force.
- Modern monitoring:
- Install real-time sensors, expand sampling network, public data dashboards.
- Polluter accountability:
- Strict effluent standards, mandatory zero-liquid discharge for industries.
- Health response:
- Targeted remediation (defluoridation, arsenic removal plants), nutrition programs, alternate safe water supply.
- Sanitation reform:
- Upgrade rural/peri-urban sewage systems, regulate septic tank maintenance.
- Community engagement:
- Citizen water-testing drives, groundwater literacy campaigns.
Bottom Line
- India’s groundwater crisis has shifted from quantity to quality.
- It is silent, invisible, and often irreversible in damage.
- Without urgent, coordinated action, contamination will translate directly into avoidable deaths, disease burden, and economic loss.
