The Punjab government on Friday gave nod to a 14-point Integrated State Water Plan to preserve and replenish water sources in the state
Chandigarh: The Punjab government on Friday gave nod to a 14-point Integrated State Water Plan to preserve and replenish water sources in the state.
The plan was approved by chief minister Bhagwant Mann at a meeting of the water resources department here in which he stated that the plan had been prepared in consultation with other departments. He said the situation in Punjab is already alarming as 115 blocks of the state out of total 153 are over exploited in terms of groundwater extraction. The plan focuses on saving the groundwater and enhancing the usage of canal water for various motives, he said. Mann also expressed concern over the annual average of the lowering of water level by 0.7 metres due to extraction of 5.2 billion cubic metres of water. He said there was a need to reduce the groundwater demand, decreasing agricultural water demand, improve the irrigation techniques, replenish the groundwater and artificially augment the groundwater. Additionally, efforts must be made for finding other sustainable sources, deep aquifer exploration and promoting use of surface water.
He further said that the government is duty bound to give water to every tail end user and has already restored 17,000 water courses with an approximate length of about 6,300 kms. and 79 canals after 30 to 40 years of abandonment. About the action plan, he said that it should aim to bring around 15,79,379 hectares area under various water efficient techniques such as drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation and others instead of conventional irrigation methods to reduce the net water demand and wastage of water by increasing the efficiency.
The CM said the plan will focus on restoration of canal water courses and excess available water will be distributed from canal and its distributaries directly to ponds adjacent to canal and distributaries. The water from the pond will be taken to fields through a lift irrigation system, thereby increasing area under surface irrigation, he said, adding that construction of check dams and new ponds will be done. He also laid stress on deep groundwater study to understand the actual situation. The plan also envisages private sector participation in water management under corporate social responsibility.
Experts meet to tackle water crisis
The Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission (PSFFWC) on Friday held a meeting with water experts and scientists on 15 agenda points on water resources availability and other related issues.
In the meeting chaired by PSFFWC chairman Dr. Sukhpal Singh, experts emphasised the need for urgent interventions, including advanced isotopic studies and carbon dating to map the state’s depleting groundwater resources, heliborne surveys to identify ancient paleo-channels for enhancing recharge, and a focused strategy to address South-West Punjab’s severe waterlogging and salinity issues.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Pushpendra Pal Singh, dean (CAPS), IIT Ropar, Dr. Sarbjot Kaur, leading scientist on radioactive tools, IIT Ropar, Dr. Harshad Kulkarni, assistant professor, IIT Mandi Dr. Ranjeet K Jha, IIT Mandi, and Dr. Gopal Krishan, Scientist-E, National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee. Earlier, the discussions followed a study commissioned by PSFFWC from the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee in this regard.
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