Overview
- Officials said Monday the 2026 Central Ground Water Board assessment showed Punjab’s stage of groundwater extraction fell from about 164% in 2022 to 152.22% and annual extraction declined from roughly 28.02 billion cubic metres to 26.32 billion cubic metres.
- The state credits large canal-restoration drives for the shift, reporting activation of 14,100 watercourses, restoration of more than 400 km of defunct canals and lining or concreting over 1,000 km of canal network to push canal-water use higher.
- Government figures cited by state spokespeople put canal-water recharge at 5.5 billion cubic metres this year, up from 4.5 billion cubic metres last year, and say canal-water utilisation has risen to about 80–82% from roughly 21–26% in earlier years.
- At the local level 109 of 153 groundwater assessment blocks showed improvement in 2026, with four blocks — Arniwala Sheikh Subanpur, Makhu, Hajipur and Narot Jaimal Singh — reclassified into the Safe category after marked falls in extraction percentages.
- Officials and media note the gains are partial because nearly 24.95 billion cubic metres of the 26.32 billion cubic metres extracted annually still goes to agriculture, so continued monitoring, independent verification and sustained changes in irrigation practice will be needed to secure long-term recovery.