“If you really want to see Panihars, you should visit Chhatradi” says the shy Aditya. He is 15 years old and studies in class X. We are standing on a busy and dusty bridge across a tributary of Ravi in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. Beside us is the legendary Fulmutala spring fountain (Panihar). Hundreds of people come here every evening to collect cool and clear drinking water. Most have piped water supply in their homes but insist that waters of Fulmutala are peerless. Spring Fountains are a way of life in the Ravi Basin. And yet, very little is said about these beautiful places bringing together groundwater, rivers, ecology and culture.
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Yamuna Manthan 0426: Will Govts Ensure Survival of Chambal River Sanctuary?
(Feature Image: Index map of Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal River Interlinking Project. Souce: NWDA)
Two critical developments over the past month have once again highlighted the scale of threats undermining the ecological integrity of the Chambal, the largest tributary of the Yamuna. The rich aquatic life in the Chambal Sanctuary has already been adversely affected by the gradual decline in river flows and unabated illegal sand mining.
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DRP 6 April 2026: CAG Report on DJB indicates fundamental issues
(Feature Image: Sewer line cleaning work by DJB in North West Delhi’s Sanjay Colony. Credit: Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)
The Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Audit of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for 2017-2022 highlights the fundamental issues facing Urban Water Sector in India. Unfortunately, CAG stops short of reaching the conclusion that lack of National Urban Water Policy and lack of accountable governance are the fundamental issues also plaguing DJB like other Urban Water Bodies in India.
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Urban Groundwater: NGT’s Struggle to Improve Governance in 2025
(Feature Image: Entry gate of NGT’s principal bench in New Delhi: Source: Bar & Bench)
This overview looks at how the judiciary particularly; the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has tried to address the urban groundwater depletion and governance crisis during 2025. Cases from Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad and other cities indicate a common problem of weak regulation, poor coordination among concerned agencies and slow enforcement of court orders, allowing illegal groundwater extraction to continue. Many cases have been going on for years without clear results.
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Groundwater in India: Judiciary Failing to Resolve Governance Crisis in 2025?
(Feature Image: Illustration on deepening groundwater levels in India by Binay, Source: IWP)
This overview tracks the major judicial interventions concerning groundwater conservation and management in India during 2025, highlighting persistent failure to address the gaps in governance. The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) have been criticized for no real action, inadequate data, weak transparency and poor enforcement. The inefficiency of state-level groundwater authorities reflects a deeper systemic failure.
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Groundwater: Govts Actions to Recharge, Regulate in 2025 in India
(Feature Image: Principal Aquifer Map of India. Credit: CGWB’s Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2025, Figure 02, Page 09)
This overview highlights the top ten measures undertaken by various governments to protect groundwater in India in 2025. At the central level, the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) has a master plan for artificial recharge, targeting the construction of 1.42 crore structures. As per MoJS, 21 states and UTs have adopted Model Groundwater Management Bill 2020. The MoJS is also piloting pressurized irrigation systems and water accounting technologies to improve efficiency, especially in agriculture, which consumes 87% of extracted groundwater.
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DRP 300326: Sad state of migratory Riverine fish in India
(Feature Image: Cover page of CMS summary report on Global Assessment of Migratory Freshwater Fishes)
The key CMS (Conservation of Migratory fish Species) report this week once again highlights the sad state of migratory Riverine fish, fisheries and fisherfolks in India. Shockingly, even when thousands or tens of thousands of fisherfolks lose their livelihoods due to projects on rivers, there is not even assessment of impacts of such projects on fish, fisheries and fisherfolks, leave aside consideration of compensation or rehabilitation for them. The Sardar Sarovar Project on Narmada River in Gujarat, one of the most celebrated dams of India, as an apt example of this situation. Farakka Dam is another such example.
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Ravi ka Kinara Kaisa hai? River Ravi through its people
Flowing under many names: Vedic Parushni, Puranic Iravati, Greek Hydraotes, River Ravi is arguably the most storied of the five rivers meeting the Indus.
Ravi’s flow from the glacial heights of Himalayas to the fertile plains of Punjab has been embellished in songs and stories for centuries. Heth Vage Ravi Dariya or “Below flows the River Ravi” is a ubiquitous phrase in songs and poems.[1] On the banks of Ranjit Sagar Dam on Ravi, Manbhavan Singh Kahlon, himself a poet-activist muses, “We Punjabis have always written poetry around our rivers. Perhaps even too much, I sometimes think. But most of Ravi’s poetry has been left back in Pakistan.” Pakistan, on the other hand, thinks most of Ravi’s water has been left back in India.
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Groundwater: GW management in Agriculture in 2025
(Feature Image: Scientists call for climate‑resilient model of irrigation and food production. Credit: Nagara Gopal/The Hindu)
The reports on groundwater management in Agriculture in India in 2025, focusing on effective solutions compiled here underline the urgency to address this issue. Water-saving techniques like System of Rice Intensification (SRI), direct seeding and alternate wetting show potential but face low adoption due to non-sincere efforts from the government, reduced farm profits, while solar-powered pumps risk accelerating over-extraction, not help GW management.
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Groundwater: Rising Depletion and Contamination in 2025 in India
(Feature Image: Spatial Distribution of Uranium in Groundwater – Pre & Post Monsoon, 2024. Credit: CGWB’s Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2025, Figure 26, Page 49)
This annual overview compiling reports on groundwater situation in India highlights that the contamination and depletion are rising through 2025. Most of the reports are based on Central Ground Water Board’s (CGWB’s) Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2025. In NW states like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, groundwater use far exceeds recharge, driven largely by water-intensive crops and subsidized electricity. Punjab extracts over 150% of its annual recharge, with most districts now classified as overexploited. Even above-normal rainfall in Rajasthan has failed to restore aquifers, pointing to failures in recharge & water management.
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