New Delhi – Groundwater contamination in the capital has emerged as a serious public health concern, with the latest Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2025 indicating that between 13-15 % of water samples collected in Delhi were contaminated with uranium above the permissible limit of 30 ppb (parts per billion).
The report, released by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, is based on approximately 15,000 amples gathered across India in 2024. It places Delhi as a key hotspot, ranking it among the states with the highest proportion of uranium contamination after Punjab and Haryana.
The contamination is part of a larger trend in northwestern India, with Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and parts of Rajasthan and UP emerging as the main uranium hotspot. The CGWB suggests this is due to a combination of geogenic factors (natural presence of uranium in aquifer rocks) and human-driven activities like groundwater depletion and the excessive use of phosphate fertilizers.
The CGWB report noted that 86 monitored locations in Delhi exceeded the Bureau of Indian Standards BIS drinking water limits on several key parameters, warning that long-term consumption of water contaminated with uranium is linked to kidney disorders and elevated cancer risk.
The study emphasized that while most groundwater in India is safe, rising uranium levels in certain regions necessitate urgent and regular monitoring alongside local mitigation measures to protect drinking water quality and health.