The groundwater reserves are depleting at an alarming rate in Punjab besides a serious decline in the quality of water at many places due to overuse of the available resources, says a study. Out of a total of 137 blocks covered under the study, only 25 have been found safe with 103 of them being overexploited, five being critical and four in a semi-critical state, says a study conducted by the Water Resources and Environment Directorate, Punjab Irrigation Department. With a drastic fall in water table from 8 cm per year to 95 cm per annum in the State, there is an urgent need to recharge water in the overexploited areas besides developing available shallow water in safe blocks to avoid waterlogging, it said. Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur and Moga are the worst-hit districts, where experts foresee acute shortage of water with every passing season. The districts suffering from poor water quality with high levels of salinity and fluoride content include Bathinda, Sangrur, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, the study said and attributed the phenomenon to overexploitation of the available water resources by way of irrigation, increased industrial activities and power generation. The water-guzzling paddy crop and spurt in the use of heavy-duty tubewells in the state have also been identified as the factors deepening the crisis. Noting that the present groundwater level is unable to meet the demands of future development in the state, the study suggests an urgent shift from water-guzzling crops to water-friendly ones and rain water harvesting as the tools to avert the impending crisis.