



Empower women as managers of vital resources: It could help save India from water bankruptcy
‘Water bankruptcy’ is a term coined to convey a stage after which it is impossible to return to ‘normal’ water levels without major changes. Popularized by a January 2026 United Nations report calling out the reality of an era of “global water bankruptcy,” the term has attracted considerable attention. While globally relevant, the report highlights India as a hotspot for groundwater depletion, given our overdependence on rapidly diminishing aquifers.
Thanks to decades of over-extraction, cities and rural regions in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and the Deccan are seeing borewells dry up as groundwater levels fall below the recovery level. The effects are visible in scarcity all around. Infrastructure alone is no longer enough; the new baseline requires judicious water management.
In March, the government announced that the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), its flagship programme for rural piped potable water supply, would be extended to December 2028, with its outlay enhanced to ₹8.7 trillion. It has signalled a transition from infrastructure creation to service delivery, supported by drinking water governance and an institutional ecosystem for sustainable rural piped potable water supply. Initiatives like the Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) promote community-led groundwater management.
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