Groundwater levels in Telangana rising significantly

HYDERABAD: Several districts in Telangana saw a significant rise in the levels of groundwater mainly due to the heavy rains that covered almost the whole state in monsoon. The state received almost 53 per cent more rainfall in the year 2020-21 against the 816 millimetres (mm) of normal rainfall.

Of the 33 districts in the state, almost 24 of them have recorded groundwater levels around 5 metres (m) below ground level (bgl), while eight districts recorded between 5m to 10m bgl. The Groundwater Department of the Government of Telangana recorded a rise of 3.7m in the groundwater table during October when comparison to the same period last year, with Kumram Bheem Asifabad registering minimum rise of 0.01m and Mahbubnagar registering a 10.85m rise.

On calculating the decadal average of the month of October (2010-19), it was seen that 543 mandals (92 per cent) of the total 589 mandals have recorded a rise in the range of 0.05m to 21.96m.