Beneath the Punjab’s lush green fields, a reservoir is running dry – and nobody is counting the drops. For decades, the subterranean aquifers of Punjab have been the unsung lifeline of our agrarian economy. Today, however, a macabre dance of policy paralysis, technological shift, and institutional neglect is draining these hidden reserves at a breakneck pace, leaving behind a toxic legacy of salinity and scarcity.

The sheer scale of this extraction is staggering. Pakistan is the third-largest user of groundwater for irrigation globally, with a whopping 73% of our agricultural footprint relying directly or indirectly on it. Out of the 68 billion cubic meters (bm3) of groundwater extracted nationally, a lion’s share-60 bm3-is sucked out of the earth, and Punjab alone accounts for 90% of this gargantuan depletion. To put it bluntly, we are extracting water at a rate 142% higher than what nature can replenish.

In 1960, Punjab had a mere 4,500 tubewells; today, that number has exploded to over 1.5 million.

In 1960, Punjab had a mere 4,500 tubewells; today, that number has exploded to over 1.5 million.

The latest data from the Water Resources Zone (WRZ) of the Punjab Irrigation Department (PID) paints a gruesome picture. The groundwater table is plummeting at an alarming rate of 0.5 to 1.0 meters per annum. The pre- and post-monsoon piezometer readings from boreholes reveal that districts like Pakpattan, Okara, and Multan are witnessing annual declines of 1.81ft, 1.72ft, and 1.52ft respectively. In volumetric terms, Okara and Rahim Yar Khan alone are bleeding approximately 4.15 and 4.08 million acre-feet (MAF) of groundwater each year. Cumulatively, Punjab’s groundwater withdrawals have surpassed a staggering 53 MAF-narrowly........

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