Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) flags 2,833 illegal groundwater extraction cases across India.
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DIMAPUR — The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has identified 2,833 cases of groundwater extraction without valid No Objection Certificates (NOC) or in excess of quantum approved in NOC up to February 15, 2026.
Out of these, 2,370 cases pertained to the industrial sector, 385 cases to the infrastructure sector and 78 cases to the mining sector, according to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India.
Nagaland has also reported one case of illegal groundwater extraction/environmental compensation (EC), pertaining to the industrial sector.
In Assam, the CGWA identified a total of 159 cases of illegal groundwater extraction/environmental compensation (EC).
Of these, 146 cases were reported in the industrial sector, while 13 cases pertained to the infrastructure sector.
Manipur reported two cases, both in the industrial sector, while Meghalaya recorded seven cases, including five in the industrial sector and two in the infrastructure sector. Tripura reported nine cases, of which eight were in the industrial sector and one in the infrastructure sector.
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As per the Ministry, ground water level monitoring is conducted on a regular basis by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the Ministry and respective state governments.
Assessment of Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country is being carried out annually since 2022 by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in coordination with the state governments.
Under this exercise, categorisation of various Assessment Units (AUs) of the country (which are generally Blocks/Tehsils/Taluks/Mandals etc.) into ‘Over-Exploited,’ ‘Critical,’ ‘Semi-critical’ and ‘Safe’ units is done based on their Stage of Ground water Extraction (SoE).
In cases of groundwater extraction without valid NOC or in excess of quantum approved in NOC, enforcement action is taken in accordance with the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Guidelines dated September 24, 2020.
As per the available information, as on February 15, 2026, a total environmental compensation (EC) of INR 2017.97 crore and penalty of INR 121.06 crore from 10,049 cases have been imposed by CGWA on various projects.