The extent of groundwater over-exploitation, state by state

  1. According to Jal Shakti Ministry, groundwater resources are over-exploited in 1,186 out of 6,881 “assessment units” (blocks, talukas, watersheds etc) in India.
  2. Punjab has the highest extent of over-exploitation (79% of its blocks), followed Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh
  3. In the eight North-eastern states none of the assessment units (districts and blocks) is over-exploited.
  4. Overexploited means 100% of groundwater has been drawn, with little chance of recharge.