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 The Nilgiris
13%Safe
Groundwater use is within safe limits 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. Down 6 points since 2020.
9.2 million m³pumped out each year (2025)
71.7 million m³can be taken out safely each year
Noneno yearly shortfall
71%goes to irrigation; the rest to homes and industry
Extraction since 2020
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 18.6% | 16.4 million m³ | 88.3 million m³ | Safe | First assessment in this series. |
| 2022 | 9.3% | 8.6 million m³ | 93.0 million m³ | Safe | Pumping down 48% (16 → 9 million m³). Safe limit up 5% (88 → 93 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for homes and industry (10 → 2 million m³). A swing this large usually comes partly from revised estimates (a new well count or changed district boundaries), not only from changes on the ground. |
| 2023 | 9.7% | 8.7 million m³ | 89.2 million m³ | Safe | Pumping up 1% (9 → 9 million m³). Safe limit down 4% (93 → 89 million m³). |
| 2024 | 6.8% | 9.0 million m³ | 133 million m³ | Safe | Pumping up 3% (9 → 9 million m³). Safe limit up 49% (89 → 133 million m³). A swing this large usually comes partly from revised estimates (a new well count or changed district boundaries), not only from changes on the ground. |
| 2025 | 12.8% | 9.2 million m³ | 71.7 million m³ | Safe | Pumping up 2% (9 → 9 million m³). Safe limit down 46% (133 → 72 million m³). Main reason: less water soaked back in, from weaker rain, less canal seepage or more paved ground. A swing this large usually comes partly from revised estimates (a new well count or changed district boundaries), not only from changes on the ground. |
Million m³: 1 million m³ = 100 crore litres. 2009 and 2013 used the older GEC-97 method.
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Ponds and lakes in The Nilgiris
1 of 98 water bodies (1%) 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 The Nilgiris…
- Tanks2
- Lakes2
- Reservoirs18
- Check dams and percolation tanks76
Source: 1st Census of Water Bodies, Ministry of Jal Shakti (counted in 2018-19, published 2023).
What will fix it here
Groundwater here is in balance. Keeping it that way means recharging as the area builds up and paves over.
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 The Nilgiris?
In the 2025 Central Ground Water Board assessment, The Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu) pumped out 13% of the groundwater that can be safely taken out each year, which puts it in the "safe" category. That is 6 points lower than in 2020.
Is groundwater in The Nilgiris over-exploited?
No. At 13% of the safe yield, The Nilgiris is safe, though recharge is still needed as demand grows.
How can groundwater be recharged in The Nilgiris?
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 The Nilgiris?
The first Census of Water Bodies counted 98 water bodies in The Nilgiris, including 0 ponds. 1 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%Madurai70%Virudhunagar64%Chengalpattu64%Cuddalore63%Tiruvallur55%Thiruvarur54%Pudukkottai49%Kancheepuram49%Ariyalur48%Tirunelveli41%Thoothukudi28%Sivagangai26%Kanniyakumari14%Ramanathapuram11%Nagapattinam0.0%