Hyderabad’s groundwater crisis rivals Rajasthan’s driest districts

Hyderabad: Is Hyderabad heading towards a water crisis similar to that faced by Rajasthan’s arid districts? The Dynamic Groundwater Resource Assessment Report 2025, released by the Union ministry of jal shakti, has revealed severe stress on the city’s underground water reserves.

According to the assessment, 15 of Hyderabad district’s 16 mandals have been classified as either critical or over-exploited in terms of groundwater availability. The findings place Hyderabad alongside some of Rajasthan’s most groundwater-stressed districts, including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Barmer and Jaisalmer.

What has particularly alarmed experts is Hyderabad’s comparison with Barmer, one of Rajasthan’s driest districts. While Barmer has 14 mandals in the critical and over-exploited categories, Hyderabad has 15. The city is also comparable to Punjab’s groundwater ‘dark zone’ districts such as Jalandhar and Ludhiana. Hyderabad has 50% of its mandals in the over-exploited category and another 43% in the critical category, underscoring the scale of groundwater depletion.

The critical and over-exploited mandals in Hyderabad include Secunderabad, Khairatabad, Ameerpet, Himayatnagar, Musheerabad, Nampally, Shaikpet and Saidabad. In neighbouring Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts, around 10 mandals fall under the same categories. The situation is equally worrying in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, adjacent to Greater Hyderabad region, where five mandals have been classified as critical or over-exploited.

Experts attribute the worsening situation to rampant groundwater extraction through borewells and the absence of an effective recharge culture. As dependence on groundwater continues to rise, water tables have fallen sharply, leaving many borewells dry, yielding little or no water, they said.

“While Rajasthan’s groundwater depletion is largely driven by agricultural demand, Hyderabad’s crisis is fuelled by large scale domestic consumption, heavy concretisation and construction activity. Residents are drawing groundwater at an unsustainable rate. The gravity of the situation can be understood from the fact that borewells drilled to depths of 1,200 to 1,500 feet are failing to yield water. In many places, all that remains beneath is hard rock. This reflects the extent of groundwater exploitation in Hyderabad,” B Venkateswara Rao, retired professor, Centre for Water Resources, JNTUH.

Experts also note that Hyderabad has historically lacked a robust groundwater recharge system. Despite receiving substantial annual rainfall, almost 900 mm to 1,000 mm annually, much of the rainwater is lost through stormwater drains instead of replenishing underground aquifers.

“Residents must play a greater role in reversing this trend. Apartments must adopt recharge mechanisms linked to borewells, enabling the water drawn from the ground to be returned to aquifers. The responsibility for groundwater conservation cannot rest with the govt alone. Citizens must become active participants in groundwater recharge if Hyderabad is to avoid a deeper water crisis in the years ahead,” said KM Lakshmana Rao, an expert in disaster management.