Groundwater Insights from Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee from the Dept. of Geology & Geophysics
The KGP Chronicle (January 8, 2021)
Groundwater Insights from Hydrogeoscience Expert Prof. Abhijit Mukherjee
Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics and School of Environmental Science and Engineering, IIT Kharagpur and globally renowned expert in groundwater shares insights on his decadal work exploring suitable and sustainable drinking water sources in different parts of India and other parts of the world. Prof. Mukherjee has recently been awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and named in a special publication of 50 under 50 by the Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.
1. Please share your observations about changes in the groundwater scenario in India over the last three decades.
Much of the Indian states are undergoing severe groundwater storage depletion primarily due to ever-increasing population, cultivation of water-intensive crops (e.g. high yield boro rice), cropping pattern changes (e.g. food crop replacement by cash crop). Parts of the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and West Bengal have all recorded >4 m groundwater decline during the last decade. (Read More)