Chandigarh: Congress MP from Gurdaspur, Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday raised the issue of deteriorating groundwater level in Punjab in the Lok Sabha and informed the House that the groundwater use has went up by 89 per cent since the beginning of the Green Revolution. The National Geophysical Research Institute has found that due to this over-exploitation, the ground water levels are going down by 60 cm every year. Punjab has, in less than 30 years, used up ground water reserves built up over the last 105 years. “In order to reach the water table, farmers are forced to dig deeper into the ground and use more power to pump out the water adding to their over all farm costs. The National Rainfed Area Authority has maintained that if this situation continues in Punjab, desertification is imminent,” he said, adding that the matter concerns national food security and must be given immediate attention. K