Around 22% groundwater has either dried up or in critical category: Jal Shakti Minister

New Delhi: Almost 22 per cent of the groundwater in the country has either dried up or is in the critical category, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Friday.

The government has also started the work of mapping aquifer and by next March, it will cover mapping of all the critical districts in the country, he said at an event

According to the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) report released by the Niti Aayog in 2018, 21 major cities (Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and others) are racing to reach zero groundwater levels by 2020, affecting access for 100 million people.