BENGALURU: To address future water challenges, Minor Irrigation and Groundwater Minister NS Boseraju said the state has written to the central government and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to include a comprehensive chapter on “groundwater” in textbooks as part of the curriculum revisions being undertaken under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The present Class 10 NCERT Social Science textbook Contemporary India-II contains a chapter on “Water Resources”, but the content focuses predominantly on surface water, giving limited attention to groundwater, despite its growing importance in India’s water security, he said.

Groundwater accounts for nearly 97% of liquid freshwater available on Earth and supports around 50% of domestic water use and nearly 25% of agricultural requirements in India.

He warned that rapid urbanisation, climate change, declining surface water availability, and rising water consumption are putting immense pressure on groundwater reserves across the country.

He highlighted that overexploited, critical and semi-critical groundwater zones have increased considerably over the last two decades. Also, groundwater quality is deteriorating due to contamination.

Emphasising the need for “groundwater literacy” among students, Karnataka stated in the letter that awareness and scientific understanding of groundwater systems should begin at the school level to prepare future generations for emerging environmental challenges.