25-05-2025
How Haryana plans to cut groundwater deficit by 50%
Gurgaon: Haryana govt on Tuesday announced its latest Integrated Water Resources Action Plan, under which it aims to save around 6 billion litres of water, just over half of the state's projected deficit of 12 billion litres by 2027.
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The plan sets targets for 16 govt departments, which will be responsible for saving water over two fiscal years – 2025-26 and 2026-2027.
Each department has been given a target of the amount of water it needs to save. Of this, over 90% of the target is to be reached by the agriculture and irrigation department, officials told TOI. Key interventions will include rainwater harvesting, reuse of treated water by industries and crackdown on borewells illegally extracting groundwater.
Keshni Anand Arora, chairperson of Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA), said the plan was the govt's "most comprehensive approach to water management", but he acknowledged that "significant challenges remain".
HWRA carried out the study and mapped interventions as well. To overcome the challenges, "We have been taking several steps for Gurgaon and Panipat like districts. For example, we have told them to carry out rooftop rainwater harvesting and ensure zero liquid discharge.
Industries have been directed to use only treated water. Our teams have been carrying out several surveys and have issued closure notices to more than 80 borewells recently in Gurgaon and Faridabad that were found to be operating without permission.
We are also fitting the tubewells with telemeters so that we know the consumption of groundwater," she told TOI.
"The plan mandates 42 interventions that are focused on improving groundwater recharge, farming practices, water harvesting, and wastewater management.
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The initiative will also help build the capacity of local communities to manage water more efficiently. To track the progress of these activities and determine their impact, monitoring protocols based on aquifers, borewells and rivers could be used to compare the outcomes with the current situation," said Dr Manish Kumar, research scientist leading the adaptation & risk analysis group at Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP).
The Haryana government's Integrated Water Resources Action Plan (IWRAP) for 2025–2027 is a bold initiative, but experts have identified several key challenges that could hinder its successful implementation, for instance Haryana currently lacks a robust, real-time water monitoring infrastructure. Implementing and maintaining such systems across the state is resource-intensive.
Excessive and often illegal extraction of groundwater, especially through unregulated borewells, continues to be a major issue.
Enforcement of regulations remains weak in many areas.
"Enforcement is difficult due to widespread non-compliance, lack of local oversight, and political or social resistance. Ensuring seamless coordination between 16 departments and accountability, and timely reporting across departments is complex and prone to bureaucratic delays," said Pradeep Rawat, water policy expert.
Haryana must conserve water.
According to the Central Groundwater Authority, 60% of the state's area was in the 'red' category for excess groundwater exploitation. Data collected every year also shows that the state extracts more groundwater than it replenishes.
Haryana is water stressed as over 1,900 villages are classified as severely groundwater-stressed, with water tables deeper than 30 meters. Another 1,093 villages are moderately stressed (depth between 20–30 meters).
Excessive groundwater extraction, especially for agriculture, has led to aquifer depletion . Water-intensive crops like paddy are widely grown, especially in areas with poor groundwater recharge.
Inefficient irrigation practices further worsen the situation.
Urban settlements are the main guzzlers.
Gurgaon's water demand for domestic uses, at 369.7 million cubic metres (MCM) in 2022-2024, is the highest among all 22 districts of the state.
This is more than double the demand of Faridabad, which ranks second at 150 MCM, according to Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA). At the other end of this spectrum are districts such as Charkhi Dadri, where most settlements are predominantly rural. The district's water need for domestic use is 21.4 MCM, just about 5% of Gurgaon's demand.
Water demand for industrial use is equally skewed.
Industries in Panipat lead this table, consuming an average of 532.8 MCM every 2022-2024 and accounting for 41% of the state's total usage.
Gurgaon follows behind, at 271.5 MCM.
Palwal ranks at the bottom, with negligible demand of 0.001 MCM in 2022-2024.
Asked if these urban-rural disparities were taken into account for the water management plan, the HWRA chairperson said several steps have been introduced specifically for Gurgaon and Panipat.
"For example, we have told the two districts to carry out rooftop rainwater harvesting and ensure zero liquid discharge.
Industries have been directed to use only treated water. Our teams have been carrying out several surveys and have issued closure notices to more than 80 borewells in Gurgaon and Faridabad. We are also fitting tubewells with telemeters so that we know the consumption of groundwater," Arora said.
A growing gap
Experts pointed out that even if the integrated water management plan achieves its target, the state would still not be able to meet its water needs in the future.
A projection by HWRA estimates that domestic water needs are likely to increase from 1,396.6 MCM currently to 1,467.9 MCM by 2027, a hike of 10.5%.
