Maharashtra’s groundwater crisis has widened to 223 of the state’s 353 talukas, according to assessments by the Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency (GSDA), creating a water-security problem that extends beyond drinking water and irrigation to the state’s next agricultural cycle. The October assessment recorded the highest number of affected talukas since 2018, while satellite data showed that root-zone soil moisture had also fallen below a 10-year average in parts of Maharashtra and several other states.
The scale of the groundwater decline is significant because it shows that the state’s drought stress is not confined to a few pockets or to visible surface-water shortages. The GSDA classified 42 talukas as being in the severe category and 26 in the extreme category. Another 70 were categorised as moderate and 85 as mild. Only 130 talukas remained in the normal category.
In 2018, by comparison, 134 talukas had been classified as affected, including seven in the severe category. The latest assessment therefore points to both a larger geographical spread and a sharper concentration of severe conditions. Maharashtra has also declared a drought, adding administrative urgency to the groundwater findings.
The most serious concentrations are in Marathwada. Dharashiv, classified in the extreme category, has seven of its eight talukas facing a groundwater crisis. All 10 talukas in Latur are in the severe category, while all 11 talukas in Beed are reporting what the assessment describes as a groundwater drought. The term refers to a prolonged period of below-average water availability in underground aquifers, boreholes and wells.
The stress is not limited to Marathwada. All 11 talukas in Solapur are reporting groundwater levels below the long-term average. Satara has 11 affected talukas, Sangli has 12 and Ahilyanagar has 14. Pune district is relatively less affected, with one taluka facing the groundwater drought, according to the assessment.
The distribution matters because the affected regions include areas where agriculture depends heavily on rainfall and groundwater. Dr Kailas Dakhore, an agrometeorologist from Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agricultural University, said low soil moisture could affect rabi sowing because the soil may not retain sufficient residual moisture for crops to grow. He attributed the groundwater decline to insufficient rainfall and inadequate recharge of underground sources.
The groundwater and soil-moisture findings describe two linked but distinct pressures. Groundwater levels indicate the condition of underground aquifers, boreholes and wells. Root-zone soil moisture refers to water available in the part of the soil where plant roots develop. A decline in both reduces the buffer available to farms after the monsoon, particularly in rain-fed and semi-arid areas.
Satellite data cited in the report showed that root-zone soil moisture had fallen below its 10-year average in parts of Maharashtra, as well as in regions of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh and northern Bihar. The available assessment does not establish that all these regions face identical groundwater conditions, but it indicates that the soil-moisture concern extends across a wider belt of rain-dependent agriculture.
The timing of the assessment is also important. The GSDA completed its groundwater assessment by September 30, earlier than usual, to obtain October data and track depletion. Officials undertook the earlier exercise particularly because Maharashtra had declared a drought. This brings the groundwater condition into the period immediately after the monsoon, when authorities must assess how much water has entered aquifers and how much remains available for the months ahead.
The evidence also complicates a simple rainfall-based explanation. Hydrogeologist Upendra Dhonde said groundwater conditions are influenced not only by rainfall but also by irrigation support and the extent of extraction. An area can receive relatively better rainfall and still experience falling groundwater levels if withdrawals are excessive. This distinction is central to understanding why groundwater stress can spread unevenly across districts and talukas.
Groundwater is not replenished automatically whenever rain falls. Dhonde said scattered showers expected in the months ahead may bring 20 to 30 millimetres of rain over periods ranging from 15 minutes to an hour. With high temperatures, much of that water may evaporate, while natural recharge may remain confined to the topsoil instead of reaching deeper aquifers. The implication is that rainfall totals alone do not describe the amount of water that becomes available underground.
This is where the state’s water-management challenge moves from measurement to institutional response. Dhonde said officials must plan for the next eight months to capture scattered showers, particularly during March and April. He proposed identifying suitable locations within each catchment to capture runoff and direct it into deeper aquifers. The suggestion places local catchment-level planning, rather than only district-wide rainfall assessment, at the centre of recharge efforts.
Such an approach requires coordination between groundwater authorities, agricultural agencies and local administrations. The GSDA provides the assessment of groundwater conditions, while agricultural authorities must interpret what low soil moisture means for sowing and crop growth. Irrigation support and groundwater extraction also shape the outcome. The supplied assessment does not detail a state-wide funding plan, a taluka-wise recharge programme or specific implementation deadlines, so the administrative pathway beyond the assessment remains unclear.
The numbers underline the change in scale. The affected total has risen from 134 talukas in 2018 to 223 this year, an increase of 89 talukas. The severe category has expanded from seven talukas in 2018 to 42 now, while 26 talukas are classified as extreme. These figures do not by themselves measure the depth of depletion in each aquifer, but they show that the geographical footprint of below-normal groundwater is substantially larger than in the earlier comparison.
The classification also shows why aggregate state-level water figures can conceal local risk. Pune is largely unscathed in the assessment, while every taluka in Latur, Beed and Solapur is affected in different ways. District-level and taluka-level conditions therefore matter for decisions on sowing, irrigation support and recharge planning. A state may not face uniform groundwater stress, but a large number of distressed talukas can still create a broad agricultural and governance challenge.
The immediate concern is the rabi season. Dakhore said insufficient residual moisture could affect sowing, especially in rain-fed and semi-arid areas where groundwater acts as a secondary source of irrigation. If underground sources are already under stress, farms have less capacity to compensate for weak soil moisture through well or borewell irrigation. The assessment does not provide crop-wise sowing projections or estimates of likely agricultural losses, so the scale of the seasonal impact remains to be established.
The wider urban and regional question is how cities and towns connected to these rural catchments manage water when aquifers are depleted. The supplied evidence focuses on talukas and agriculture rather than municipal supply systems, and it does not establish direct impacts on urban water services. It does, however, show that groundwater is part of a connected regional system involving rainfall, irrigation, extraction, soil moisture and local recharge. Decisions made in one part of a catchment can affect water availability elsewhere.
The assessment therefore confirms a broad groundwater warning but leaves several operational questions open: how much water is available in individual aquifers, which extraction patterns are driving the sharpest declines, where recharge structures will be built, and how authorities will support farmers if rabi sowing is disrupted. The next phase of the state’s response will depend on whether the GSDA findings are converted into catchment-level recharge planning and timely agricultural support before the next critical months.
