In 2025, Indore received 266 water quality complaints across the city, while the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG) report in 2019 and 2022 also flagged serious urban water management issues in both Indore and Bhopal. The implications of declining water quality and availability extend across livelihoods, agricultural practices, and water and food security. Water contamination further adds extra expenditure on filtration systems apart from already high health expenditures, adversely affecting vulnerable sections. In some regions, excessive groundwater extraction is causing land subsidence or a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth’s surface. Analyse the causes, patterns, and consequences of groundwater contamination across the country.

Source: Indian Express January 20, 2026 07:15 UTC