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DEPARTMENT OF SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION, PUNJAB |
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MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION OF IRRIGATION WATER
-Role and Programmes of
Department of Soil & Water Conservation Punjab
By: Er. G.S.Virk, Chief Conservator of Soils, Punjab.
There has been a spectacular change in the land use during the period 1960-61 to 2002-03. During this period, the area under cultivation increased from 3.76 Million Ha to 4.22 Million Ha. The Net Area Irrigated increased from 2.25 Million Ha to 4.04 Million Ha which means that area under irrigation has almost doubled during this period. The major shift is area under Paddy and Wheat which increased from 0.227 Million Ha to 2.53 Million Ha and 1.40 Million Ha to 3.37 Million Ha respectively. The cropping intensity in the state has increased from 94% to 187%. As a result, the demand for irrigation water increased manifolds during this period. The Net Irrigated Area by canals in 1970-71 was 1.29 Million Ha which is 1.15 Million Ha in 2002-03, whereas the Net Irrigated Area from Tubewells/ wells in 1970-71 was 1.59 Million Ha which is 2.88 Million Ha in 2002-03. This shows that the canal irrigated area decreased by 0.14 Million Ha wheras Tubewell irrigated area increased by 1.29 Million Ha. From this, it is evident that dependence on ground water increased manifolds to meet the increased demand of irrigation water. The number of tubewells increased from 1.92 lakh in 1970-71 to 11.50 lakh in 2002-03 to meet the increased irrigation water requirement.
As per latest estimates, total water available for irrigation is 29.64 MAF, out of which 14.54 MAF is available from surface water resource and 15.10 MAF is being extracted from groundwater resource. The available groundwater resource is 13.29 MAF whereas net draft is 15.10 MAF. It is observed that during the past 28 years (1975-2003), there is a decline in the ground water levels in fresh ground water areas. Out of the total 50,362 Sq. km area (78%) exhibits a decline in water levels. In Punjab, 8 districts & 93 blocks fall under Dark category, and 3 districts & 13 blocks in Grey category. The stage of ground water development for the state as a whole has reached 113.79%, the highest being in district of Moga at 251.86%.
ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT
The Department of Soil and Water Conservation was established in 1969 with the responsibility of conservation of land and water resources of the state. The department initiated its programmes with the twin objective of developing the resources for increased production and at the same time, conserving the same for their future sustainability. The Northern part comprising of the fragile lower Shivalik areas needed measures for controlling severe soil erosion and saving the lands from flash floods, the Central & South-western areas needed the measures to control desertification by greening it after removing sand dunes. Large tracts in these areas also needed reclamation of alkaline soils. The scarcity of irrigation water made the department to launch the programmes irrigation conservation to cover the maximum areas with the available water at farmers' fields. The mammoth contribution of the department during last three decades has already set in motion the process of conservation of soil & water resources. The major achievements are:-
Land Development
The call of Green Revolution during the early Seventies necessitated the development of barren and unculturable lands to bring them under plough and make them suitable to receive irrigation. About 2 lakh ha land was leveled and developed with the direct intervention of the department and more than 10 lakh ha were developed by the farmers under technical guidance of the department. This played a massive role in increasing the food production during Green Revolution in the state.
Conservation of Irrigation Water
During this period, the conservation irrigation techniques were also introduced on the farmers fields. The successful intervention was brick lining of conveyance channels and later on changed to under ground pipe system. After the initial lack of interest from farmers, the persistent efforts of the departmental field workers led to large scale adoption of the system. The Agriculture Refinance Development Corporation now called NABARD was roped in to make the finance available to the farmers through Land Mortgage Banks. The State Government also provided subsidy earlier @50% and later @25% on this work. This activity became popular over the period and now 25 to 30 crores are annually spent on it by the farmers without any assistance from state government. The departmental staff provides technical assistance to the farmers. The department till now has covered about 3 lakh tubewells and 20,000 km pipeline has been laid on the individual tubewells benefiting 6 lakh ha area. The department has also brick lined about 4000 km of common water courses. It has been estimated that this activity alone has resulted into the saving of approx. 6000 Million Cubic Meter (MCM) of water annually in the shape of less drawl from the ground water reservoir. Apart from it, 505 million units of electricity is saved annually with less running of electric motors. It has also saved 126.25 lakh man days and more than 9000 acres of land which otherwise comes under the old kutcha conveyance channels.
In-situ Moisture Conservation
The department also took up the work of contour bunding and gully control in more than one lakh ha in Kandi area saving thousands of hectares of land from degradation and improved soil moisture & ground water regime in the rainfed areas.
Rainwater Harvesting and Watershed Development Programme
During Mid-eighties, the department initiated new ventures like rainwater harvesting, harnessing of base flow for irrigation and watershed development programme. More than 300 rainwater harvesting dams have been constructed directly benefiting 10000 ha in the Shivaliks in the form of providing supplementary irrigation to the marginal lands. A very successful intervention known as Makowal type water harvesting structure taken up by the department during early nineties has now been adopted and being followed in all the five northern states to harness trickle flows for irrigation. Seventy such irrigation schemes have been constructed in Shivalik foothills benefiting approximately 4000 ha.
Drip and Micro-sprinkler irrigation
The latest intervention of the department is introducing Drip and Micro-sprinkler irrigation on horticultural crops. Two prominent areas, where these systems have become popular on horticultural crops, are Ferozepur and Hoshiarpur districts. The new Kinnow plantation especially in Ferozepur district has been possible due to ensured availability of optimum sweet canal water through drip and micro-sprinkler irrigation techniques. The canal water is stored in tanks and daily requirements of the plants are met from the stored water in the measured form through drip and sprinkler irrigation. 4526 ha area has been covered in this scheme. This technique saves precious irrigation water by 30% to 40%.
Artificial Recharge to Ground Water
21 pilot schemes have been constructed by the department for artificial recharge of ground water, 6 being the surface water recharge and 15 roof top recharge schemes. These pilot schemes have been constructed in collaboration with the Central Ground Water Board.
Extension & Awareness Programme
The role of field workers in educating the farmers is also noteworthy. The large scale lining of field channels at the fields of the farmers has been the result of continued education which motivated the farmers to adopt it. The success of the programme can be gauged from the fact that in the initial years, very few farmers were ready to adopt it in spite of heavy assistance in the form of subsidy. Whereas now, the programme has expanded even in the absence of any financial assistance from the Govt. The field workers provide guidance and technical assistance after convincing the farmers to adopt irrigation conservation methods in the present circumstances of depleting resource and deepening of tubewells. Similarly, the modern application methods like Drip & Micro-sprinklers are now becoming popular after initial hiccups a few years ago. The awareness programmes & trainings are a continuous process in which the Departmental Training Institute has also played a commendable role.
FUTURE PROGRAMMES
The future programme of the department has been prioritized to:-
i) Reduce the ground water draft; and,
ii) Increase ground water recharge.
The most viable remedy to overcome the alarming situation to the extent possible is to reduce the ground water draft through optimum and efficient irrigation conservation methods. It is the cheapest and immediate solution than many other alternative remedies. The present & future departmental schemes are aimed to meet this goal. The following are the future programmes:-
Saving of Conveyance Losses
It has been estimated that about 10% to 20% water is saved by brick-lining or providing underground pipeline systems in place of kutcha field channels on the tubewells. About 3 lakh tubewells have been covered in last 25 years. The department plans to cover another 2 lakh tubewells in the next 10 years by arranging funds under NABARD Schemes. This measure alone will help in saving of 400 MCM of water.
Efficient Irrigation Application
The department is planning to bring 50,000 hectares under Drip & Micro-sprinkler/Sprinkler Irrigation. The only limitation is the high cost of the system. The Govt. of India provides adequate funds to subsidize the cost. 30% to 40% of irrigation water is saved with these systems.
Efficient Field Distribution
The optimum field slope through fine leveling and appropriate size of the borders help in saving of irrigation water. The department has trained staff to help the farmers in shaping their fields with its own machinery. The extensive extension work will be taken up to educate the farmers on it.
Conjunctive Use of Surface & Poor Quality Water
In the South-western districts, the ground water is brackish and is not suitable for irrigation. However, it can be used in conjunctive with sweet canal water depending upon the tolerance of crops. The department is already helping the farmers in the shape of laying conveyance systems to carry the sweet water near the canals to distant areas for conjunctive use of poor quality water. This helps in saving of draft from deep aquifers.
Re-use of Waste Water
The waste water of cities and towns, wherever toxic elements are to the permissible levels, will be used for irrigation.
Appropriate Cultural Practices and Scheduling of Irrigation
The department is planning to utilize the services of its trained field staff for educating the farmers to prepare FARM IRRIGATION PLANS and advise the farmers to select suitable crops and adopt appropriate cultural practices according to the availability of irrigation water at their field. The help of Agricultural University shall also be taken to prepare suitable models.
ACCELERATING GROUND WATER RECHARGE
The HARVESTING OF RAINWATER is the only economically viable method for enhancing ground water recharge. There is a tremendous scope of rainwater harvesting in Kandi area by constructing series of check dams. A huge scope is there to rehabilitate the old ponds and construction of new water bodies. The department has already constructed 300 Water Harvesting Structures & Check dams in the Kandi area and 150 ponds have been rehabilitated under different watershed programmes. The department proposes to construct 500 water harvesting structures and rehabilitate 1000 ponds in the next 5 years.
ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE TO GROUND WATER
This methodology, though expensive, has to be adopted on selective basis. The department plans to take up induced method of recharge with surface runoff in northern Kandi belt and by utilizing flood water of river Ghaggar in Patiala & Sangrur districts. The roof-top rainwater harvesting has already been completed in 15 schools of Patiala district to create mass awareness.
Spreading of Flood Water in the Basin of River Ghaggar
An innovative scheme of spreading the flood water in paddy fields near the banks of river Ghaggar has been prepared. This will help in less draft of ground water during paddy cultivation and also help in ground water recharge. This scheme will be implemented in Patiala & Sangrur districts which are severely affected by ground water depletion.
Watershed Development
It has been seen that watershed development has positive impact on ground water. At present, there are many programmes being operated in the state which will be further expanded.
Training, Awareness and Extension
Programmes for training, awareness & extension shall be extensively taken up to sensitize the users to efficiently use and save the available irrigation water.