Jaipur, Feb. 1 -- In at least 253 wells in Rajasthan, the water level has dropped to 40 metres below ground level (mbgl), the Jal Shakti ministry stated in the ongoing Parliament session. Responding to a question by the Jhalawar Member of Parliament Dushyant Singh, the ministry provided the detailed data on the current status of the groundwater level in Rajasthan's 1,118 wells. The ministry stated that the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) monitors groundwater levels nationwide four times a year, and the latest analysis compares the water levels recorded in post-monsoon 2024 with the decadal mean of water levels from 2019 to 2023. According to the data, as many as 253 wells in Rajasthan reported a decline of 40 mbgl while 178 wells had the level between less than 20 mbgl to 40 mbgl followed by 160 wells with the level between below 10 mbgl to 20 mbgl. Another 154 wells reported the water level between below 5 mbgl to ten mbgl followed by 225 wells with the water level between less than two mbgl to five mbgl, and 148 wells with the level declining by up to two mbgl. The most worrying situation was seen in Jaipur (Rural) where the water level in 34 out of the total 72 wells have declined to 40 mbgl followed by 32 out of total 80 wells in Jodhpur (Rural), 28 out of 38 wells in Sikar, 21 out of 24 wells in Jhunjhunu, and 15 out of 34 wells in Barmer, showed the data. A significant decline (below 40 mbgl) was also seen in Jaisalmer's 13 wells, Bikaner's 12 wells, Nagaur and Didwana's 10 wells each. In Jaisalmer's 26 wells, the water level also dropped between below 20 mbgl to 40 mbgl followed by 17 in Hanumangarh, 14 in Jodhpur (Rural), 12 in Churu, and 10 in Bikaner. According to a further classification of the long-term fluctuation data, approximately 37.5% of the total 309 wells in the state have experienced a fall in groundwater levels. This significant decline in water levels reflects the growing water scarcity concerns in the region, which relies heavily on groundwater for agricultural and domestic use. A further classification of the data also showed that 163 out of these 309 wells had witnessed at least less than two metres decline in groundwater level while 61 wells had two to four metres decline and 85 had more than four metres decline. The data also indicated that the crisis was majorly noticed in Shekhawati, Mewat, and Marwar region. All the ten wells (100%) in Jhunjhunu witnessed a fall in the water level between 2019 to 2024, showed the data followed by 22 out of 25 wells (88%) in Sikar, seven out of eight wells (87.5%) in Kotputli-Behror, seven out of nine wells (77.8%) each in Khairthal-Tijara, Didwana-Kuchaman, and Phalodi. With an objective to better the groundwater management of these regions, the Rajasthan government has already laid the foundation stone of a project under the ambitious Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) that will cover 13 districts of the state while a DPR for sharing the Yamuna water with Haryana is also being prepared, said an official. However, an increase in the state's other 515 wells was also seen in the corresponding five years - of which 263 wells recorded less than 2 metres rise, 120 had two to four metres rise, and the remaining 132 had more than four metres rise, as per the data. Aiming to ensure a sustainable groundwater management, the ministry said, "Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme, in 80 water stressed districts across 7 states has been launched in coordination with the Rajasthan government."...