NASA Sheds New Light on India’s Water Crisis

Source: Tribune India

A recent National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) report says that the groundwater throughout India has been disappearing, owing to the rate that water is being pumped out and consumed, which is faster than aquifers can be replenished through rainwater. The report also says that Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, all farming states in the northern region, are especially at risk because of the increasing economic development, a booming population and the dependency on lots of water for irrigation.

The twin satellites of NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) can sense minute changes in the earth’s gravity field and associated mass distribution, including water masses stored above or below the earth’s surface. As the satellites orbit 300 miles above the earth’s surface, their positions change in response to the variations in the gravity pull.

138 blocks, or areas of the northern state of Jolandhar, were put under observation for groundwater exploitation. 105 were found to be over-exploited, leaving only 26 in the “safe” category.

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