{"id":34704,"date":"2025-01-02T18:47:44","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T13:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=34704"},"modified":"2025-07-11T16:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T11:24:09","slug":"annual-ground-water-quality-report-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-01-2025\/annual-ground-water-quality-report-2024","title":{"rendered":"Annual Ground Water Quality Report, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Syllabus: GS2\/ Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The Annual Ground Water Quality Report, 2024, published by the Central Groundwater Board (CGWB)<\/strong> under the Jal Shakti Ministry,<\/strong> highlights significant concerns about groundwater quality in India. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Key Highlights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Groundwater Extraction:<\/strong> The report states that the degree of groundwater extraction across India is 60.4%.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Safe Blocks:<\/strong> Approximately 73%<\/strong> of the analysed blocks fall within the \u2018safe\u2019 category,<\/strong> indicating adequate replenishment of groundwater resources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Nitrate Pollution: <\/strong>There are 440 districts<\/strong> with excessive nitrates in their groundwater as of 2023.\n
        \n
      • Rajasthan (49%), Karnataka (48%), and Tamil Nadu (37%) <\/strong>reported the highest levels of nitrate contamination. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • The report identifies uranium contamination<\/strong>, particularly in Rajasthan and Punjab<\/strong>, where the highest numbers of samples exceeded 100 ppb (parts per billion). <\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Fluoride contamination<\/strong> is a major concern in states such as Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Reasons for groundwater contamination<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Excessive Use of Fertilizers: <\/strong>Over-reliance on nitrogen-based synthetic fertilizers in agriculture leads to nitrate leaching into groundwater.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Industrial Effluents:<\/strong> Discharge of untreated or inadequately treated industrial waste introduces heavy metals and other toxic substances into groundwater.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Geological formations<\/strong> in some regions release naturally occurring contaminants like arsenic, fluoride, and uranium into groundwater.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Excessive extraction<\/strong> lowers water tables, concentrating naturally occurring contaminants like arsenic, uranium, and fluoride.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Government Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • National Aquifer Mapping Programme (NAQUIM)<\/strong> to delineate and characterize the aquifer system in the country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP): <\/strong>Addressing contaminants such as fluoride and arsenic through water treatment plants and alternate water supply solutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Jal Kranti Abhiyan,<\/strong> aimed at consolidating water conservation and management initiatives in the country through a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Atal Bhujal Yojana,<\/strong> was launched to improve groundwater management in priority areas with critical and overexploited blocks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Namami Gange Program:<\/strong> Clean and rejuvenate the Ganga River Basin, including the mitigation of groundwater contamination in adjacent regions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            Policy Recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Regulatory Framework: <\/strong>Implementation of the National Water Policy <\/strong>with an emphasis on water quality monitoring is essential.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Sustainable Agricultural Practices:<\/strong> Implement precision farming techniques to minimise the overuse of fertilizers and irrigation water.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Water Treatment Technologies:<\/strong> Promote low-cost filtration techniques for rural households to address contaminants like nitrates and heavy metals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Groundwater Recharge Initiatives:<\/strong> Accelerate the adoption of rainwater harvesting and managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects to replenish groundwater levels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              Source: TH<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              The Annual Ground Water Quality Report, 2024, published by the Central Groundwater Board (CGWB) under the Jal Shakti Ministry, highlights significant concerns about groundwater quality in India.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34705,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34704\/revisions\/34705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}