CHANDIGARH: As a consequence of falling water table the tube wells are: getting unserviceable in the centrally located districts of Punjab. Deeper boring requires higher horsepower motors which require more electricity. All this adds up to cost which farmers, already reeling under debt an ill afford.
The state government has identified blocks based on the status of water table in each district. Soil Scientists feeling alarmed at the overexploitation of ground water have sounded a note of warning. According to a former director General of ICAR, Dr.N.S.Randhawa, Punjab may become a desert if the farmers persist in using ground water for growing heavily irrigated paddy especially in semiarid region.
Of 118 blocks in the state 74 have been marked “darks” due to the overexploitation of water. These are in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Patiala and Sangrur districts. Due to the declining water table the shallow tube wells had become infructuous.
NABARD is said to have suggested ‘a project for minor irrigation and for 199397 a sum of Rs 97.53 crore is estimated to be required for it. Of it Rs 9.58 crore was budgeted for the current financial year, This investment was to be made on “shallow tube wells, diesel engines, electric motors, drainage systems and energization of pumps under the rural electrification scheme.”
But there is a ray of hope for tackling the declining water table in a Chinese way. According to Dr.G.S. Dhillon, a visiting Professor at Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, the Chinese have successfully adopted the “management of four waters.”
These four waters as identified by the Chinese are; “ground water, surface water, rainfall and soil moisture.”
‘The objective is to use all these waters in conjunction and obtain at least two crops a year over a large area with the united use of the available surface water. Dr.Dhillon, who was in China recently, visited the sites of the project; He was told by Chinese scientists that experiments and field application around Beijing showed that the exploitation had resulted in water table going down by nearly 3.41 meter between 1981-1991 in and around Songzhuang and Tongzian country. The decline was still steep 5 meters in Banbidian and Daxing countries, the farmers there were forced to change their pumping sets and even, after that the yield remained 33% less than expected. This decline has now been arrested by the Chinese through proper management enabling them to obtain sustainable irrigation with maximizing food production by utilizing locally available water sources. After explaining the methodology adopted and the scientific manner in which the pilot project was implemented, Dr.Dhillon said last week, that the result was encouraging. In the affected area wheat and maize yields increased. For wheat yield recorded was 4140 kg per hectare and maize 4275 kg per hectare, in 1990.
As a result of adoption of “four waters” theory there was a rise of water table ranging 0,75 to 1.45 meters in two years in China, The tube well efficiency increased from 28.61% 10 41.78%. This reduced power consumption by 24%, The “border mode” compared to “basin mode” (as in Punjab) was found of use 15% less water, 12.5% less electricity but gave a higher food production by 6.2 times, Dr.Dhillon said there was no reason why Punjab could not achieve what Chinese have. The Chief Minister, Beamt Singh, is on record having expressed concern over declining water table in central districts and hinting at the Cabinet taking note of that. Dr.Dhillon suggested that an “expert committee should be formed to find cost effective solution relevant to Punjab.
It is no use expressing concern alone as a customary exercise each year before the monsoon.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 18, 1993
