The untimely rains occurred during May in different parts of the State may have played spoilsport with the standing mango and other crops to some extent, but they helped check groundwater table depletion as the level improved marginally, by 0.04 meters or 4 cm, compared to the previous month (April).
However, the average groundwater level in May this year has fallen by 2.35 meters (7.83 feet) compared to the same month last year. The groundwater table during the 2015-16 water year, from June 2015 to May 2016, kept depleting all through with some improvement recorded only during August and September in 2015 and in May 2016.
Deficit rainfall
The highest fall in water table in the State during the 2015-16 water year has been recorded in Bomraspet mandal of Mahabubnagar district where it went down by a whopping 21.37 meters (71.23 feet).
“The overall depletion in ground water level by 3.06 meters between June 2015 and May 2016 can be attributed to over 25 per cent deficit rainfall during 2014-15 and about 20 per cent during 2015-16, though the deficit was much higher in some districts,” officials of the Groundwater Department stated.
As a result of the two deficit rainfall year, the groundwater table dipped by 2.35 meters during the 2015-16 water year, he stated.
However, the silver lining has been the groundwater table in Hyderabad, where the official said, it has improved by 1.81 meters (6.03 feet) compared to May last year. Compared to June 2015, it has shown a marginal depletion of over one-foot (0.35 meters), according to the statistics released by the officials.
Scenario in districts
“The average fall in groundwater table during the water year has been observed in the range of 0.54 meters (nearly 2 feet in Warangal district) and 5.47 meters (18.23 feet in Medak district) in the remaining nine districts of the State,” the officials said adding that the depletion was also recorded high in Nizamabad (5.08 m), Mahabubnagar (3.97 m), Ranga Reddy (3.24 m) and Nalgonda (3.1 m).
The groundwater level data recorded through piezometer network in the State indicates that average depth of water level is more than 20 meters in 127 out of 459 mandals.
Similarly, it is found between 15 meters and 20 meters in 78 mandals and between 10 meters and 15 meters in another 110 mandals. It is available up to 10 meters depth in the remaining mandals.
The other areas which recorded sharp fall in the water table during the 2015-16 water year are: Jharasangam (19.72 m) and Andole (18.91 m) in Medak district, Peddavoora (17.99 m) and Mungala (17.59 m) in Nalgonda district, Mahabubnagar (18.71 m) and Lingala (16.89 m) in Mahabubnagar and Kammarpalle (16.86 m) in Nizamabad.
