Groundwater

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (www.cag.gov.in) is starting a performance Audit on "Pollution of ground water, lakes and rivers in India". CAG has invited citizens to point out specific problems / issue regarding water pollution affecting them or the environment.

A training programme on Sustainable Groundwater Management in Semi-arid and Arid Regions of India is being organized in IRMA, Anand, Gujarat on March 22-27, 2010.

The water position in Chennai has been satisfactory for several years now because of a couple of good monsoons, good supply from Andhra Pradesh and from the Veeranam Lake. The rainwater harvesting systems installed by many citizens have also helped in improving ground water levels. However, citizens should not presume that their water problems are solved for the following reasons;

Chennai’s water needs are mainly met by impounding the rainwater from the Araniar-Kortalayar rivers north of the city and the capacity of the reservoirs is woefully inadequate. It has been estimated that an entire year’s supply flows wastefully into the sea consequently. The quantum of supply from AP and the Veeranam Lake is uncertain.

Mazhapolima was a participatory well recharge programme initiated by the Thrissur district, under which domestic water sources were recharged with rainwater harvested (usually) from roof tops.

Once it is known that the system of administration and management of water resources has grown in a manner which is not conducive to productivity and efficiency, then what options are we left with? How do we analyze the state of the system, so that the critical points are identified and improved upon?

Unrestricted flow, reproduction and redistribution of data has been a great concern with most of the projects and research establishments in India. As we heard the Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources voice his recommendations on the ways to tackle the looming water crisis, and the steps that the ministry is taking towards this, we thought of first putting down the highlights of the talks raw, before we get back to them in a detailed manner.

While we compile together all the presentations and papers, here' s a quick update on the talks from the first day. On the research challenges for improving the use and productivity of natural resources in India, Dr. Anil Singh, Deputy Director General, Natural Resource Management, Indian Council of Agriculture Research had an interesting observation linking fertilizer use with water consumption in the gangetic basin. It is assumed that both of these factors impact the crop productivity and this needs to be explored further.

He suggests:

• India needs a ground water management policy.
• The issues discussed in the workshop cut across all the basins in the country and have long term implications.
• Gangetic Basin is critical for our food security
• The attempt to reduce the cropping area would be a difficult proposition. We would have to live with it... area under cultivation is poised to increase and we might want to consider technological options like the cultivation of aerobic rice, SRI etc.
• Another answer is mechanization in the agricultural sector. This may enhance efficiency.
• We must consider a shift to precision farming as well.

Two new publications from the IGB project were released today by the Chief Guest at the workshop, U.N. Panjiar, the Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India. Releasing the reports, Mr. Panjiar presented the government's perception of the present water situation along with some statistical data on the water usage. The challenges of food security and water security are global. Climate change has been an increasing concern too. He observes food security, water secutiry and climate change are closely related. The objective of food security cannot be achieved without water security.

 U.N. Panjiar releasing the IWMI publications on Indus-Gangetic Basin with Bharat Sharma and Madar Samad

Anil Singh delivering his speech

Mr. Panjiar puts forward the following recommendations, stating that these could possibly help us manage well, the problem of water crisis.

• A comprehensive water database should be developed.
• Assessment of impact of climate change on rescources is required.
• Promotion of citizen and state action for conservation of resources.
• Focus on overexploited areas.
• 15% aquifers in country are overexploite and another 15 are critical. We must increase water reuse by 20%.
• Basin level resource management is essential.
• Irrigation potential crated and irrigation potential utilized must be to the optimal levels.
• In agreement with Simon Cook, he emphasizes that efficiency is an important issue.
• Water, energy and food productivity are closely linked. This relation and interdependence must be explored.
• Remote Sensing techniques are critical in agriculture and basin management.

 

Government of India has launched a Water Resource Information System and most of the data is being made public under this project! Policy too, is being revised to make most of the data public and it is projected to be launched by the end of current financial year. Launching a National Water Mission of India is also being mulled over. (Read the related documents here)

Stating that it is important to ensure technology transfer to farmers to achieve “more crop per drop” he talks about a project conducted by the ministry in which 5000 demonstrations of relevant farm technologies were given to the farmers. The interim report of this project indicates that use of such technological interventions is important in improving the yield of the crop and improve water efficiency!

Udumalpet taluk comes under Tiruppur district, a recently formed district of Tamilnadu previously under Coimbatore district. Udumalpet is the headquarters of Udumalpet taluk and popularly known as” Poor man’s Ooty” due to its cool climatic conditions. 

Ashok Jaitly, Water Resources Department, TERI
Policy issues in water conservation

Habil Attarwala, Furaat Earth Ltd., Gujarat