Deficient rainfall in almost a dozen out of Punjab’s 22 districts has led to over-exploitation of ground water to irrigate paddy fields in the state. Groundwater had to be used extensively to save paddy crop on nearly 25 lakh hectares out of total 29 lakh hectares of area under the rice crop varieties in state this year. This area is divided into total 141 agricultural blocks in the state, out of which 102 agricultural blocks fall under the Dark Zone. A Dark Zone is an area where groundwater table has sharply declined and the recharging process is slow. Around 55 per cent of the total area of the state faced a rain drought with scanty and deficient rainfall.