The groundwater crisis is acquiring alarming proportions in many parts of the country. Strategies to respond to groundwater overuse and deteriorating water quality must be based on a new approach involving typologising the resource problems and redefining the institutional structure governing groundwater. This approach is based on the notion of groundwater as common property.

Until the 1940s, the irrigation and drinking water needs of India were met by rivers, ponds, lakes, dugwells, and rainwater sources. However, in the middle of the 20th century India continually faced two daunting challenges: providing food for an ever-growing population and decreasing the burden of highly prevalent water-borne diseases, including cholera, dysentery, and typhoid.

Increased use of fresh water supplies in agricultural and non-agricultural activities in the past few decades has caused an alarming rate of groundwater depletion in many regions of the world. This threatens the sustenance of crop production and the ensuing food security.