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Recent findings from the Central Ground Water Board’s Annual Report 2025 are nothing short of alarming. Punjab has emerged as the worst-affected state in India, with uranium levels exceeding the permissible limit of 30 ppb in 62.5% of post-monsoon water samples, up sharply from 32.6% in 2024—a staggering 91.7% year-on-year spike.

Written By:  AS MITTAL | THE NEWS DOSE.COM

New Delhi/Chandigarh,Updated At:8.18AM Jan 03,2026IST

Guru Nanak Dev’s ji timeless words—“Pavan Guru, Pani Pita, Mata Dharat Mahat”—frame air as our teacher, water as father, and earth as the great mother. The national song, Vande Mataram, too, celebrates India as a land of gushing streams and lush fields. Yet the nation marks the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, which sings of abundance, while the ground beneath our feet tells a far grimmer story. Our soil—once the bedrock of food security and rural prosperity—is exhausted, contaminated, and dangerously out of balance. Nowhere is this reckoning sharper than in Punjab, the epicentre of India’s first Green Revolution.

In the race to build roads, factories, and livelihoods, they are necessities. Still, we forgot a simple truth: development that harms air (Delhi and northern states brimming with the worst Air Quality Index), water, and soil ultimately harms people, animals, birds, and micro-creatures. Climate change and pollution are no longer abstract warnings; they are lived realities—measured in poisoned groundwater, declining farm productivity, and rising disease burdens. The right to a clean environment, repeatedly affirmed as integral to the Right to Life, is being tested by our own policy inertia.

Punjab’s Recent Evidence is Alarming

Recent findings from the Central Ground Water Board’s Annual Report 2025 are nothing short of alarming. Punjab has emerged as the worst-affected state in India, with uranium levels exceeding the permissible limit of 30 ppb in 62.5% of post-monsoon water samples, up sharply from 32.6% in 2024—a staggering 91.7% year-on-year spike. Sixteen of the state’s 23 districts fall in contaminated zones, with Sangrur and Bathinda reporting uranium levels above 200 ppb.

This is not merely an environmental concern—it is a public health emergency. Elevated uranium is linked to kidney disease and cancer; excess nitrates and fluoride raise risks of Blue Baby Syndrome and bone disorders; salinity and residual sodium carbonate are turning fertile land increasingly unproductive. Zameen bhi beemar, pani bhi zahreela, aur insaan bhi—the crisis is systemic.

Compounding this is the overuse of chemical inputs. Punjab’s fertiliser consumption stands at 247.61 kg per hectare, nearly double the national average. Pesticide use of 77 kg per hectare places the state among India’s highest users. What once delivered bumper harvests now erodes soil organic carbon, destroys microbial life, contaminates food chains, and inflates the fertiliser subsidy bill beyond ₹2 lakh crore annually—without commensurate gains in productivity. A nation dreaming of Viksit Bharat cannot afford to build prosperity on unhealthy soil and poisoned water.

The human toll is equally alarming. In districts like Bathinda, Mansa, and Ludhiana, up to 60% of soil samples reportedly carry toxic pesticide residues—some involving chemicals long flagged as hazardous. These residues don’t stay put. They move through water and food chains, accumulate in bodies, compromise immunity, and burden future generations with genetic and metabolic risks. Farmers and rural communities—those closest to the land—bear the brunt.

Regulatory Blind Spots

India’s pesticide governance remains trapped in a different era. The regulatory backbone—the Insecticides Act of 1968 and Rules of 1971—is woefully outdated. The proposed Pesticide Management Bill 2020, though well-intentioned, leaves critical gaps: inadequate protection for farmers, weak labelling standards, limited grievance redressal, and no mandatory provision for personal protective equipment for small farmers.

Training has been equally inadequate. Over nearly three decades, fewer than 6 lakh farmers have received Integrated Pest Management training in a country with more than 15 crore farmers. Aggressive marketing by agrochemical companies often fills the knowledge vacuum, turning retailers into the primary—and frequently unreliable—advisors for farmers.

The human cost is stark. Studies indicate alarming levels of pesticide residues in Punjab’s soil, particularly in districts such as Bathinda, Mansa, and Ludhiana. These toxins do not remain confined to fields; they enter food chains, water systems, and ultimately human bodies—posing intergenerational health risks. Ye sirf faslon ka nahi, naslon ka sawal hai.

Soil Intelligence

Punjab’s revival lies not in abandoning productivity, but in changing its foundation. The future of agriculture must be diagnostic-led, biology-based, and digitally empowered.

The Soil Health Card scheme proved that data-driven nutrient management works. Punjab now needs a Digital Soil Health Mission that integrates satellite imagery, AI analytics, weather models, and real-time soil sensors to provide farm-level advisories. Decentralised soil-testing labs, run by FPOs, rural youth, and women’s groups, can transform soil testing from a periodic ritual into a continuous intelligence system.

Equally critical is restoring the soil microbiome. Decades of chemical overuse have disrupted microbial networks essential for nutrient cycling, moisture retention, and plant resilience. Integrated Nutrient Management, combining chemical, organic, and biological inputs based on real diagnostics, can reduce costs, curb leaching, and rebuild long-term fertility.

Here, biostimulants offer a promising bridge. These eco-friendly inputs—such as seaweed extracts, protein hydrolysates, and beneficial microbes—enhance nutrient uptake and stress tolerance without harming soil ecology. India’s decision to regulate biostimulants under the Fertiliser Control Order from June 2025 ensures quality, farmer confidence, and global competitiveness.

India also holds immense untapped potential in seaweed-based biostimulants. Seaweed cultivation requires no freshwater, fertilisers, or arable land, and can generate over ₹13 lakh per hectare annually—opening new livelihoods while reducing chemical dependence. For Punjab, this is an opportunity to align agriculture with a broader bio-economy.

The Way Forward: Chemical Dependency to Living Soil

Punjab’s agricultural renewal must be a coordinated national mission, not a piecemeal fix. First, policy incentives must reward soil restoration, not just output, through carbon credits, preferential credit, and benefits linked to improvements in organic carbon.
Second, massive investment is needed in farmer education, mandatory safety protocols, and transparent data systems to close regulatory blind spots. Third, research institutions—ICAR, agricultural universities, and IITs—must accelerate the development of crop-specific biological solutions and sustainable alternatives.
Finally, rural bio-economy hubs processing agro-waste, seaweed, and organic residues can create jobs while supplying clean inputs at scale. Punjab fed India through the Green Revolution. Today, it must lead Green Revolution 2.0—one that is regenerative, climate-resilient, and rooted in living soil. Because when soil heals, the farmer prospers, the consumer stays healthy, and the nation stands stronger. “Mitti bachegi, tabhi bhavishya bachega”.

-The author is Vice-Chairman of Sonalika ITL Group, Vice-Chairman(Cabinet minister rank)of the Punjab Economic Policy and Planning Board, and Chairman of ASSOCHAM Northern Region Development Council. Views expressed are personal.