**2.1 Irrational approach towards farming**

Farming has always been the engine of the Indian economy; however, looking at it with full sensitivity and rational mindset, it is known that over the years, India has seen many changes in its cropping pattern and the approaches of irrigation. With the decreasing availability of water in reservoirs like canal, ponds and rivers along with the development of advanced techniques, there has been a vast change in the method of irrigation. The share of canal irrigated area in the total irrigable land has been continuously decreasing since last few decades. At present, the share of land irrigated by ground water has increased to more than half of the total land [5]. This misuse of groundwater resources in the north-western parts of the country is the biggest reason for the water crisis in the country. In addition, heavy water intensive crops such as paddy and sugarcane are cultivated in north-western parts of the country particularly in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Rice is the most important staple grain of the country. It takes 3500 liters of water to grow one Kg of rice [6]. The Punjab is entirely dependent on ground water for rice cultivation. Although in terms of rice productivity, performance of this state is exceptionally good, but it is far behind the states of the Northeast in terms of better use of water. Punjab uses two to three times more water in comparison to Bihar and West Bengal to produce one Kg of rice [7]. Farmers in Punjab have the privilege of cheap electricity and input subsidy. Besides, the government also implements favorable policies to procure farmers' crops. In such a situation, rice cultivation becomes very beneficial for the farmers of Punjab. On the other hand, farmers of the north east states such as Assam, Tripura, Bengal and Bihar do not get such facilities. Similar is the story of sugarcane, which again demands a lot of water. Sugarcane is primarily grown as cash crop that demands 1500–3000 liters of water to produce a kg of sugarcane [8]. Farmers in Maharashtra state cultivate sugarcane on a large scale and use ground water for its irrigation. Farmers take the advantages of having sugar mills of the state which buy their fresh produce. At the same time, where Bihar extends quite favorable environment for sugarcane cultivation, ironically, only 4% of the total sugarcane production of the country is produced.

The methods of irrigation which are commonly adopted in the country are as well not judicious. Despite being numerous demerits of flood irrigation like water wastage, nutrient leaching, and weed growth, majority of farmers in India still prefer it over other water saving methods. A big reason for this natural selection is that more than 80% of the farming community falls under the marginal and small farmers' category. They do not have the money to afford the cost of equipments required to install drips or sprinklers in their fields. Moreover, they own considerably small pieces of farmland which are more suitable for subsistence farming rather than commercial farming.

#### **2.2 Explosive population growth**

When the population reaches an explosive state in any country, it starts growing disproportionately with the resources, and so is the case with ground water. The

population of India in 2019 was reported to be 13.4 billion with an annual growth rate of 1% [9]. Owing to this explosive growth, the biggest impact has been on groundwater in terms of its indiscriminate exploitation. Many states in India have either enacted or are about to enact laws regarding underground water harvesting to deal with the emergent problem. But it is quite unfortunate that even if laws are in force, they themselves have become the victims of ignorance. As a matter of fact, the total requirement of ground water was 252 billion cubic meters [BCM] in 2010 and is projected to be 282 BCM in 2025 and 428 BCM in 2050 [10]. The total domestic and public need for water includes the water requirement of animals, for irrigation, domestic and public use, industry, power generation, inland shipping and ecological purposes. An unruly population growth near urban areas has put a bonus pressure on groundwater resources. Given the growing imbalance between demand and supply, indiscriminate and excessive use of ground water requires urgent attention.
