Uttam Calls for Stronger Groundwater Monitoring

metro india news  I hyderabad

Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday directed officials to strengthen groundwater governance across Telangana with stricter regulation in over exploited areas, improved rainwater harvesting systems and stronger coordination among departments to protect groundwater resources and ensure long term water sustainability.

Chairing a high level review meeting on the functioning of the Ground Water Department, the Minister reviewed the rapidly changing groundwater scenario in the state along with issues related to recharge management, industrial pressures, regulatory enforcement and sustainable extraction practices. The meeting was attended by Irrigation Secretary E. Sridhar, senior departmental officials and hydrology experts.

One of the major decisions taken during the review was to direct all District Collectors to convene district level groundwater committees regularly to strengthen institutional monitoring and review extraction and recharge patterns at the local level.

Officials informed the Minister that groundwater recharge in Telangana showed considerable improvement during 2025. Annual recharge was estimated at 19.61 lakh hectare metres as against 18.44 lakh hectare metres in 2024, recording an increase of nearly 1.17 lakh hectare metres. 

However, groundwater extraction also rose significantly during the same period from 8.45 lakh hectare metres to 9.18 lakh hectare metres, raising concerns over sustainability. The Minister instructed officials to formally communicate the list of over exploited villages identified in the latest groundwater assessment to district administrations and ensure restrictions on further borewell drilling and additional groundwater extraction in such areas. Officials informed the meeting that groundwater stress was concentrated in 16 districts, with Hyderabad alone reporting eight mandals under the over exploited category.

The review also discussed the need for mandatory consultation with the Ground Water Department before approving sand mining operations to prevent adverse impacts on aquifers and groundwater flow systems.

At present, the state monitors groundwater conditions through a vast network comprising 1,771 piezometers, 352 observation wells, 921 command area observation wells and 64 stream flow checkpoints.