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 Madurai
70%Semi-critical
Groundwater is under pressure here. 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. Up 1 points since 2017.
499 million m³pumped out each year (2025)
708 million m³can be taken out safely each year
Noneno yearly shortfall
84%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 | 80.0% | 533 million m³ | 663 million m³ | Semi-critical | First assessment in this series. |
| 2013 | 67.0% | 431 million m³ | 638 million m³ | Safe | Pumping down 19% (533 → 431 million m³). Safe limit down 4% (663 → 638 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (474 → 390 million m³). |
| 2017 | 69.7% | – | – | Safe | CGWB changed its method in 2017 (GEC-97 to GEC-2015), so part of this change comes from the new method. |
| 2020 | 69.2% | 421 million m³ | 608 million m³ | Safe | Little change since 2017 (-0.5 points). |
| 2022 | 72.0% | 485 million m³ | 674 million m³ | Semi-critical | Pumping up 15% (421 → 485 million m³). Safe limit up 11% (608 → 674 million m³). |
| 2023 | 65.4% | 459 million m³ | 702 million m³ | Safe | Pumping down 5% (485 → 459 million m³). Safe limit up 4% (674 → 702 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (418 → 389 million m³). |
| 2024 | 67.0% | 491 million m³ | 734 million m³ | Safe | Pumping up 7% (459 → 491 million m³). Safe limit up 4% (702 → 734 million m³). |
| 2025 | 70.5% | 499 million m³ | 708 million m³ | Semi-critical | Pumping up 2% (491 → 499 million m³). Safe limit down 4% (734 → 708 million m³). Main reason: less water soaked back in, from weaker rain, less canal seepage or more paved ground. |
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 Madurai
1,376 of 2,295 water bodies (60%) are 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 Madurai…
- Ponds693
- Tanks914
- Lakes38
- Reservoirs2
- Check dams and percolation tanks8
- Others640
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.
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.
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.
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 Madurai?
In the 2025 Central Ground Water Board assessment, Madurai (Tamil Nadu) pumped out 70% of the groundwater that can be safely taken out each year, which puts it in the "semi-critical" category. That is 1 points higher than in 2017.
Is groundwater in Madurai over-exploited?
No. At 70% of the safe yield, Madurai is semi-critical, though recharge is still needed as demand grows.
How can groundwater be recharged in Madurai?
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 Madurai?
The first Census of Water Bodies counted 2,295 water bodies in Madurai, including 693 ponds. 1,376 of them were not in use.
Other districts in Tamil Nadu
Salem148%Tirupathur143%Vellore122%Chennai122%Dindigul117%Mayiladuthurai117%Namakkal116%Perambalur106%Karur103%Thanjavur101%Krishnagiri92%Coimbatore92%Dharmapuri90%Tiruvannamalai86%Tiruppur86%Villupuram85%Tiruchirappalli85%Ranipet85%Theni84%Kallakurichchi81%Erode77%Tenkasi76%Virudhunagar64%Chengalpattu64%Cuddalore63%Tiruvallur55%Thiruvarur54%Pudukkottai49%Kancheepuram49%Ariyalur48%Tirunelveli41%Thoothukudi28%Sivagangai26%Kanniyakumari14%The Nilgiris13%Ramanathapuram11%Nagapattinam0.0%