Faulty pattern of cash crop with rapid industrialisation have caused a considerable decline in the groundwater levels in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh posing a serious threat of desertification . According to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), nearly 85 per cent of irrigation in the area depended on groundwater as irrigation facilities from surface water sources were very less.Expresssing concern about the pollution of groundwater by industrial effluents such as nitrate, sulphates and chloride, which have been found to exceed the safe drinking limits in many wells of the area, the CGWB called for urgent measures to check the contamination of groundwater by industrial effluents.