Switch thirsty crops, water by drip
Where most water goes to fields, moving from paddy and sugarcane to millets, pulses or maize, and from flood to drip or sprinkler irrigation, saves more than any recharge can add.
Groundwater level in Gandhinagar
111%Over-exploited
This area pumps out more water than rain puts back. That is the 2025 stage of groundwater extraction: water pumped out in a year as a share of what rain and other sources safely put back. Down 2 points since 2017.
643 million m³pumped out each year (2025)
578 million m³can be taken out safely each year
65.2 million m³yearly shortfall drawn from stored water
96%goes to irrigation; the rest to homes and industry
Extraction since 2009
Each point is one CGWB assessment. Over-exploited means more water leaves the ground than comes back, so the water table keeps falling. Hover over or tap a point to see why it moved.
Safe · up to 70%Semi-critical · 70–90%Critical · 90–100%Over-exploited · above 100%
Show the numbers
| Year | Stage | Pumped out | Safe limit | Category | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 165.0% | 676 million m³ | 409 million m³ | Over-exploited | First assessment in this series. |
| 2013 | 145.0% | 602 million m³ | 414 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping down 11% (676 → 602 million m³). Safe limit up 1% (409 → 414 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (645 → 571 million m³). |
| 2017 | 113.5% | 534 million m³ | 470 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping down 11% (602 → 534 million m³). Safe limit up 14% (414 → 470 million m³). Main reason: more water soaked back into the ground, from better rain, canals or recharge structures. CGWB changed its method in 2017 (GEC-97 to GEC-2015), so part of this change comes from the new method. |
| 2020 | 123.4% | 587 million m³ | 476 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping up 10% (534 → 587 million m³). Safe limit up 1% (470 → 476 million m³). Main reason: more water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (511 → 571 million m³). |
| 2022 | 98.7% | 531 million m³ | 538 million m³ | Critical | Pumping down 10% (587 → 531 million m³). Safe limit up 13% (476 → 538 million m³). Main reason: more water soaked back into the ground, from better rain, canals or recharge structures. |
| 2023 | 92.3% | 532 million m³ | 576 million m³ | Critical | Pumping up 0% (531 → 532 million m³). Safe limit up 7% (538 → 576 million m³). Main reason: more water soaked back into the ground, from better rain, canals or recharge structures. |
| 2024 | 102.7% | 611 million m³ | 595 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping up 15% (532 → 611 million m³). Safe limit up 3% (576 → 595 million m³). Main reason: more water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (509 → 589 million m³). |
| 2025 | 111.3% | 643 million m³ | 578 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping up 5% (611 → 643 million m³). Safe limit down 3% (595 → 578 million m³). Main reason: more water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (589 → 620 million m³). |
Million m³: 1 million m³ = 100 crore litres. 2009 and 2013 used the older GEC-97 method.
Loading 20 years of rainfall…
Ponds and lakes in Gandhinagar
1 of 793 water bodies (0%) is not in use: dried up, silted, built over or polluted. Bringing them back is one of the cheapest ways to recharge groundwater.
Loading the map of water bodies in Gandhinagar…
- Ponds146
- Tanks612
- Check dams and percolation tanks35
Source: 1st Census of Water Bodies, Ministry of Jal Shakti (counted in 2018-19, published 2023).
What will fix it here
Most of the water here goes to farming, so using less on fields matters as much as recharge.
Recharge pits and shafts in open land
Parks, campuses, warehouse yards and road sides can take recharge shafts that reach past the clay layer, so runoff that floods streets goes down to the aquifer instead.
Revive village ponds and johads
Desilting old ponds and opening their feeder channels restores natural recharge. A one-hectare pond that soaks in a metre of water over the monsoon puts back about a crore litres.
Rooftop rainwater recharge
Pipe roof water through a silt trap and filter into a recharge pit or an old borewell. Every 100 m² of roof puts back tens of thousands of litres a year, right where the pumping happens.
Check dams and contour trenches
On sloping or rocky land, small dams on seasonal streams and trenches along contours slow water down long enough for it to sink in.
Treat and reuse wastewater
Treated water from a sewage treatment plant can run flushing, gardens, cooling towers and construction, which today often draw on borewells.
Frequently asked questions
What is the groundwater level in Gandhinagar?
In the 2025 Central Ground Water Board assessment, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) pumped out 111% of the groundwater that can be safely taken out each year, which puts it in the "over-exploited" category. That is 2 points lower than in 2017.
Is groundwater in Gandhinagar over-exploited?
Yes. Gandhinagar takes out more groundwater than rain and other sources put back, so the water table keeps falling.
How can groundwater be recharged in Gandhinagar?
Rooftop rainwater harvesting into recharge pits or old borewells, recharge shafts in open land, reviving ponds, check dams, treating and reusing wastewater, and moving farms to drip irrigation and less thirsty crops.
How many ponds and lakes are there in Gandhinagar?
The first Census of Water Bodies counted 793 water bodies in Gandhinagar, including 146 ponds. 1 of them were not in use.
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