CHANDIGARH: If the continuing fall in the water table in Punjab remains unchecked the hydrology Conditions would threaten the functioning ore 8 to the cost of tube well Pumping, thereby rendering. It uneconomical, Already of 116Odd blocks, 86 are in the “critical” one as Regards water table.
This Warning is contained in the Report on water Regime management, key plan area, on control of depletion of water levels in Punjab, The “Technology plan” has been Prepared by the Principal Scientific Officer, Dr.KP.Singh, who is working with the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology.
Its adviser, N.S.Sodhi, said that the report not only gave a graphic account of the groundwater situation but also made recommendations on recharging the water table; the “overdraft” of water was a serious problem with disastrous consequences.
The basic guiding principal of the “Technology plan” was “to control depletion of water levels by making artificially recharging groundwater and taking other measures,” says Dr.Singh.
To give an idea about general features, he said most areas in Punjab were plain except in the northeast, where rocks of Shivalik system are exposed, The southwest parts were characteristic of stable sand dunes, Besides the three perennial niyers, the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi, there is the ephemeral Ghaggar. The rainfall decreased progressively from about 100 cm in the northeast to about 35 cm in the southwest.
The depth of water in Punjab varied from almost near the surface to about 5O cm below. the ground level, Deep water levels are in the Kandi area and near Waterlogging in the parts of south West tracts, In the rest of the state, the depth ranged from three to 10m below the land surface. The ground flow of water was from northeast to southwest.
What really worry the scientists at the PSCST are the “groundwater overdraft” and a constant fall in the water table due to less recharge and more discharge. The main reason for “water overdraft” is due to the rise in number of tube wells (shallow) from 1.92. Lakh (1970) to 7.42 lakh. The canal irrigated area has, however, remained more or less static.
‘The lining of water courses and construction of dams have immensely benefited farmers but on the other hand, this has reduced the recharge to groundwater system, and accelerated the fall in water levels. The council has classified the state’s blocks as “white,” “grey” and “dark,” depending on the underground status of the water table.
Giving an overview of the state as a whole, Dr.Singh said some of the areas like Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Ludhiana and parts of Sangrur were “critically” suffering from “groundwater overdraft.”
There were “less critical” areas but which needed attention in the second phase in districts like Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Hoshiarpur, Ropar and parts of Sangrur.
The water table has been rising in the southwest districts Ferozepore, Faridkot and Bathinda.
Referring to the consequences of declining water table, he said this caused a reduction in discharge of tube wells, several of the tube wells had been reduced to junk in Jalandhar, In Patiala, and effluent discharge into the Ghaggar has upset the aquatic ecosystem. In Faridkot, where fresh water layers over saline zones have been overexploited, resulting in saline water intrusions.
In view of this ground reality, it was imperative that artificial recharge should be considered as an important aspect of the groundwater management as it provided “storage space free of cost, avoided evaporation losses and allowed use of stored water during dry period.” The three ways to go about artificial recharge were “spreading induced recharge and injection” method; the suitability of each method was based on hydrogeological conditions, quality of source water and proposed use of recharged water.
As the recharge systems were Site-specific, it was not necessary that what worked well in one place would not be good for another area.
Dr.Singh has suggested certain Projects which could be undertaken by institutions and organizations to control depletion of the water level. He felt that some son of “legislative measures” should be taken to “regulate” pumping patterns in the state to conserve water level. In places where shallow tube wells had been installed one could develop technology for “vertical turbine submersible pumps,” change the cropping pattern and crops varieties, which required less water. Even recycling and reuse of water needed to be promoted.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 3, 1993
