The Punjab Government’s recent approval of a 14-point action plan to conserve and replenish the state’s fast-depleting groundwater is a timely move — and long overdue. For decades, we’ve watched our aquifers collapse under the combined weight of paddy monoculture, short-term political calculations, and institutional complacency. With 115 out of 153 groundwater blocks over-exploited and depletion accelerating at nearly 0.7 meters annually, this crisis can no longer be managed with silence or symbolism.
In my earlier columns — The Rice That Ate Punjab and When Water Is Costlier Than Rice — I argued that Punjab’s ecological emergency is deeply rooted in policy design. Paddy, supported through MSP and free power, has become the state’s water guzzling addiction. The new action plan gets many things right: it includes proposals for water reuse, canal revitalization, micro-irrigation, and crop diversification. But we’ve seen such plans before. The real test is in implementation.
Among the priorities outlined, the construction of check dams in water-stressed areas is critical. Regions like the Kandi belt suffer high runoff and low recharge, and small storage dams can help capture seasonal flows while curbing monsoon floods, as last year’s disaster underscored. According to publicly available data, roughly 12 low dams have been constructed so far, with 8 more in the pipeline. A 31-mini-dam project announced over a decade ago appears to have faded without serious follow-through. These are reminders that intentions alone don’t conserve water — execution does.
The plan also envisions expanding drip and sprinkler irrigation. This must be scaled with increased subsidies, broader eligibility, and simplified access for farmers. Water-use efficiency isn’t just desirable — it’s non-negotiable.
But even the best-laid plans can falter if structural incentives remain misaligned. So long as MSP and procurement are heavily skewed toward paddy, farmers will have no reason to shift to less thirsty crops like pulses or oilseeds. Crop diversification must be more than a slogan — it must be a state-backed transition with assured markets.
And let us not forget: Punjab’s past is littered with irrigation projects that either collapsed under inefficiency or became vehicles of corruption. The success of this initiative hinges on transparency, district-level monitoring, and accountability. Nothing less will do.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s recognition that Punjab requires region-specific strategies — not one-size-fits-all solutions — is encouraging. But vision must now be matched with urgency and follow-through. Our water crisis is not about the future — it is about now. The groundwater does not lie. It only recedes — and it doesn’t come back on its own.
This 14-point plan must become the beginning of a structural, irreversible shift in how we value, use, and conserve ground water. That alone will determine whether Punjab sustains its land, its people, and its legacy.