Hyderabad stares at a parched future as groundwater levels dip alarmingly

HYDERABAD: The city could be staring at parched days ahead owing to a sharp drop in groundwater levels across localities. An official data shared by ground water department (GWD) stated that despite a healthy monsoon season in 2000, areas such as Ameerpet, Khairatabad, Charminar, Asifnagar and Saidabad have seen a drop between one and three metres in its water table, between January and March. This is significantly more than last year.
The report found that the water levels had plummeted the most in the bustling pocket of Ameerpet, Old City and Asifnagar. “In Ameerpet, the water table has gone 3.44 metres below ground level. In Asifnagar, the water table dipped by 3.11 metres,” stated the GWD report, raising an alarm over the groundwater situation across Hyderabad.

Incidentally, areas such as Marredpally that usually have the lowest water levels every year, have only seen a marginal drop of 0.65 metres this time, the report added.
The GWD, Hyderabad measured groundwater table across 20 different areas in Hyderabad to compile the report.
Officials attributed this drop to excessive construction activity across the city. “The drop in ground water table started from January and will continue up to June due to over-extraction. Almost every area in the city is bustling with hectic construction activity and indiscriminate digging of borewells to draw groundwater,” said a senior GWD official.
While admitting to over-extraction being a concern, geographer and executive director of Hyderabad Urban Lab Anant Maringanti said that authorities have to take responsibility to curb it.
“To put a check on the high-extraction of groundwater, both revenue and GWD authorities have to develop a systemic and participatory method to track the indiscriminate digging of borewells in the city. And for this, they have to use technology extensively, instead of manual methods,” he said.