Lok Sabha Question No. 282 (STARRED), answered on 2026-03-12
Subject: Groundwater Levels in Uttar Pradesh
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Arun Govil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *282

ANSWERED ON 12.03.2026

## GROUNDWATER LEVELS IN UTTAR PRADESH

| †*282.                                                                                              | SHRIARUN GOVIL:                                                                                     |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:                                                | Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:                                                |
| (a) the status of groundwater levels in Meerut and Hapur Districts of Uttar Pradesh, blockwise; and | (a) the status of groundwater levels in Meerut and Hapur Districts of Uttar Pradesh, blockwise; and |
| (b) the efforts made/being made by the Government to improve groundwater level in Meerut Lok Sabha  | (b) the efforts made/being made by the Government to improve groundwater level in Meerut Lok Sabha  |
| Constituency along with the details of improvements achieved therefrom?                             | Constituency along with the details of improvements achieved therefrom?                             |
| ANSWER                                                                                              | ANSWER                                                                                              |
| THE MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI (SHRI C R PATIL)                                                         | THE MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI (SHRI C R PATIL)                                                         |
| (a) to (b) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.                                         | (a) to (b) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.                                         |

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (b) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. *282  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  12.03.2026  IN  LOK  SABHA  REGARDING  'GROUNDWATER LEVELS IN UTTAR PRADESH'

(a) Ground  water  levels  in  the  country  are  regularly  monitored  by  the  Central  Ground  Water  Board (CGWB) under this Ministry and the respective State Governments. The block-wise ground water level data for Hapur and Meerut districts, measured by CGWB during its post monsoon round of monitoring during November/December 2025 is provided in Annexure. Perusal of said data indicates that 50% of the analyzed  wells  in  Hapur  district  and  77.78%  of  the  analyzed  wells  in  Meerut  district  have  recorded groundwater levels in the range of 0 -20 metres below ground level (mbgl).

(b) 'Water'  being  a  State  subject,  the  responsibility  of  addressing  the  ground  water  related  issues  lies primarily with the concerned State Governments. However, the Central Government facilitates the efforts of the State Governments by way of technical and financial assistance through its various schemes and projects. In this direction, several important steps have been taken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and other Central Ministries for improvement of ground water resources of the country, including in Meerut Lok Sabha constituency, comprising of Meerut and parts of Hapur district. Gist of various such schemes/programmes are given below:-

- i. Efforts of the Government for augmenting the water/groundwater resources of the country are mainly channeled through the flagship campaign of Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), an annual mission mode programme for  taking  up  water  harvesting  and  artificial  recharge  activities.  As  per  the available information under JSA, more than 2 cr water conservation and artificial recharge works have been taken up through convergence in the country so far, with 8,221 structures in Meerut & 1,538 in Hapur district, which has played a key role in enhancing the sustainability of ground water resources.
- ii. To  further  strengthen  the  momentum  of  JSA,  Jal  Sanchay  Jan  Bhagidari  (JSJB)  initiative  has been  launched  by  the  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  in  2024  with  a  vision  to  make  rain  water harvesting  a  mass  movement  in  the  country.  By  promoting  community  ownership  and responsibility,  the  initiative  seeks  to  develop  cost-effective,  local  solutions  tailored  to  specific water challenges across different regions. Thus far, more than 44 lakh rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures have been constructed across the country under this initiative with 535 & 325 such structures in Meerut and Hapur districts respectively.
- iii. Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  has  successfully  implemented  Atal  Bhujal  Yojana,  a  one  of  its  kind scheme of  community led participatory  groundwater  management, across 8,203 priority  water stressed Gram Panchayats of seven states, including Uttar Pradesh. 57 Gram Panchayats (GPs) of Kharkhoda and Rajpura Blocks of Meerut District have been covered under the Scheme. Further,

in this scheme implementation area, 376 rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures like check dams, ponds, recharge wells etc. have been constructed and an area of around 6,800 Hectares has been brought under efficient irrigation practices like use of drips, sprinklers etc. As a  result,  34  out  of  57  GPs  have  shown  improvement  in  ground  water  levels  during  periodic assessments conducted from 2023 to 2025.

- iv. Mission  Amrit  Sarovar  was  also  launched  by  the  Government  of  India,  which aimed  at developing  and  rejuvenating  at  least  75  water  bodies  in  each  district  of  the  country  for  the purpose of increasing water storage and boosting ground water recharge. As an outcome nearly 69,000 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed/rejuvenated in the country with 152 in Meerut & 111 in Hapur district.
- v. Central Ground water Board under its National Aquifer Mapping & Management (NAQUIM) Programme, has covered the entire mappable area of 25 lakh sq. kms of the country and district level aquifer maps along with appropriate aquifer management plans have been shared with all State and District administrations, including Meerut &  Hapur for taking further field implementation.
- vi. CGWB has also prepared the Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 for the entire country, including Meerut and Hapur districts and shared with States/UTs, for serving as a technical guidebook for construction of rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures.
- vii. Additionally,  several  schemes  focusing  on  water  conservation  and enhancing  water  use efficiency in agriculture are being implemented in these areas by M/o Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, like Per Drop More Crop (PDMC), which focuses on promoting micro-irrigation and Crop  Diversification  Programme  (CDP),  which  encourages  farmers  to  shift  to  less  water intensive crops like millets, pulses etc.

Apart from delivering physical infrastructure for water harvesting and recharge, impact of the above initiatives can also be felt in terms of steadily improving ground water situation in the country, including in Meerut and Hapur Districts. Such improvement is best captured through the Dynamic Ground Water Resource  Assessment  exercise,  being  annually  conducted  by  CGWB  in  coordination  with  the  State Governments.

The comparative analysis of ground water resources data indicates that the Stage of Ground Water Extraction (SoE), which is the ratio of total annual ground water extraction for all uses to total extractable ground  water,  has  improved  from  107.34%  (Over-Exploited)  in  2017  to  93.93%  (Critical)  in  2025  for Hapur District. Similarly, SoE for Meerut district has improved from 84.01% to 78.89% during the same period.

***

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  *282 TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  12.03.2026  REGARDING  'GROUNDWATER  LEVELS  IN UTTAR PRADESH'

Block-wise Depth to water level recorded during Post-Monsoon 2025 in Hapur District

| District   | Block           |   No of wells monitored | Water level range recorded in meters below ground level (mbgl)        |
|------------|-----------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Hapur      | Garh Mukteshwar |                       1 | between 10 -20 meters                                                 |
|            | Hapur           |                       1 | between 20 -40 meters                                                 |
|            | Total           |                       2 | 1 well between 10 -20 meters (50%) 1 well between 20 -40 meters (50%) |

## Block-wise Depth to Water Level recorded during Post-Monsoon, 2025 in Merrut District

| District   | Block         |   No of wells monitored | Water level range recorded in meters below ground level (mbgl)                                                                                   |
|------------|---------------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Meerut     | Hastinapur    |                       1 | between 10 -20 meters                                                                                                                            |
|            | Janikhurd     |                       2 | between 0 -2 meters & between 5 -10 meters                                                                                                       |
|            | Kharkhoda     |                       1 | between 20 -40 meters                                                                                                                            |
|            | Mawana Kalan  |                       2 | between 5 -10 meters & between 10 -20 meters                                                                                                     |
|            | Meerut        |                       1 | between 20 -40 meters                                                                                                                            |
|            | Parikshitgarh |                       1 | between 10 -20 meters                                                                                                                            |
|            | Sardhana      |                       1 | between 5 -10 meters                                                                                                                             |
|            | Total         |                       9 | 1 well between 0 -2 meters (11.1%) 3 well between 5 -10 meters (33.3%) 3 well between 10 -20 meters (33.3%) 2 well between 10 -20 meters (22.2%) |

*****