Panaji: Despite Goa being categorised as ‘safe’ with only 21.4% of its groundwater resources extracted, groundwater levels are showing a declining trend across the state’s North Goa coastal belt, according to water resources department (WRD) monitoring data collected over the past five years.All 12 coastal groundwater monitoring stations in the Bardez and Pernem belts, where pre- and post-monsoon water levels are recorded annually, have reported depletion trends.Stations at Dandowaddo, Morodwaddo and Isciraowaddo in Candolim, along with two stations at Tivaiwaddo and one at Khobrowaddo in Calangute, have recorded declining groundwater levels and reduced sand dune aquifer recharge since 2022.Similar patterns were recorded at stations in Anjuna, Vagator, Morjim, Mandrem, Arambol and Keri.In contrast, groundwater monitoring stations in South Goa have shown an improving trend. Of the nine stations monitored, all except one at Vasuwaddo in Benaulim recorded groundwater recharge. Two stations each in Cavelossim, Colva and Majorda, and one each in Betalbatim and Arrosim, reported improving groundwater levels.Residents of Calangute and surrounding areas have for years complained that their wells have become unusable. They attribute this to unplanned development driven by tourism, which has increased groundwater extraction and caused some wells to turn saline.Similar pressure on groundwater resources is being witnessed along Pernem’s coastal belt amid increasing construction activity.The WRD’s Dynamic Groundwater Resources of Goa, 2023, had earlier warned that despite Goa’s groundwater being categorised as ‘safe’, pressure on the resource was increasing. The assessment found that groundwater extraction rose by 65% between 2011 and 2023. Bardez recorded the highest groundwater extraction in proportion to resource availability.“This is probably due to an increase in the number of abstraction structures (manmade or natural systems like borewells used to extract groundwater) in the last decade or so,” the report had said.The increase in groundwater extraction has been particularly evident along Bardez’s coastal belt, driven by the steady growth of tourism activities.
