PRAYAGRAJ, July 4 -- As per the latest findings of the groundwater department, out of the 122 locations checked for groundwater level in urban and rural areas of the district before the onset of rains, water level at nearly 70% places was found to have decreased as compared to last year while roughly 30% places witnessed a rise in its level. General manager of Jalkal department Kumar Gaurav said that water level had declined in city limits which showed overuse of groundwater in comparison to its commensurate recharging through rainwater harvesting. As per reports, a significant decline in groundwater level was witnessed in most parts of trans Yamuna and Trans Ganga region of the district. For example in the Saraipith area of Dhanupur, a fall of more than 10 metres had been recorded in the trans Ganga region. Last year, the ground water level here was measured at 6.30 metres which declined to 17.03 metres this year before the onset of rains. Groundwater level also witnessed a considerable fall in Shirokhar, Kathara, Bithauli areas located in Dhanupur development block of the district. In Shirokhar, against 4.28 metres of water level recorded in 2024, this year the same was measured at 10.50 metres while at Shiv Intermediate College, Kathara, the level of groundwater measured at 11.25 metres in 2024 declined to 18.26 metres in 2025. Similarly, at Primary School, Bithauli Dhanupur the water level recorded at 8.60 metres declined to 13.75 metres in 2025 while at Primary School, Shravastipur the level of 2.13 metres registered in 2024 declined to 5.76 metres this year. The latest report of the groundwater department shows a comparative groundwater data of 2024 and 2025 for 89 out of 122 places. The date revealed water level had decreased at 61 places while at 28 places the same had witnessed a rise. At 33 such places in the report, no data for 2024 was available. However, proving as a silver lining in the cloud, some areas where groundwater level had improved include Ghoghapur in Naini where the level in 2024 measured at 11.67 metres improved to 6.40 metres this year. Similarly, the report revealed that the groundwater level in Semri located in the Koraon development block of the district, Yamunapar, showed an increase in level from 10.19 metres last year to 7.04 metres this year. The water level of Jalkal headquarters located in Khusrobag has also witnessed a decline in the last one year. Last year the water level here was recorded at 10.15 metres, which this year was measured at 12.93 metres....