Deep waters, slowly drying up in Punjab, India

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World Bank cites Andhra water project for food security​

2010-08-31 22:20:00

With the global population expected to reach nine billion by 2050, the World Bank has cited India's Improved Rural Community Water Project in Andhra Pradesh as a model for better water management.

'Experience in Andhra Pradesh has shown that actions on the ground tailored with reforms have proven to be strong incentives in fostering the reform agenda,' says a review of the World Bank Group's water strategy released Tuesday.

The Mid-Cycle Implementation Progress Report for the Water Resources Strategy - entitled Sustaining Water for All in a Changing Climate - calls for a more integrated approach to water management.

'We can't properly tackle global priorities of food security, renewable energy, adaptation to climate change, public health, and urbanisation unless we manage water better,' said Julia Bucknall, water sector manager for the World Bank.

India's Andhra Pradesh project 'successfully combines the three major targeting mechanisms' of geographic targeting and a number of use self selection and/or means tested targeting to increase their targeting effectiveness, the review notes.

Building on the successes of reform in Andhra Pradesh, additional states have embarked with Bank support on reforming their irrigation; these include ongoing projects in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Additional initiatives have also burgeoned in neighbouring riparian countries, with emerging activity on the Indus Basin in Pakistan and river basin work in Nepal, the review notes.

On the international water stage the launch of the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) aimed at supporting riparian countries on both international and national river basin issues is an important step forward, it says.

In India, in urban water, the focus has been on sectoral reform building on ongoing good examples such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the review says.

In hydropower, the reform process has also made progress through the energy agenda. Bank engagement has been consolidated in India with the financing of two major hydropower projects in Rampur (412MW) and Vishnugad Pipalkoti (444MW).

In India, the initial reform in Maharashtra laid the groundwork for river basin institutions with adequate instruments for water regulation and allocation, it says.

The pioneering work in Maharashtra has further stimulated other states in championing the basin approach with ongoing work on the Alaknanda River Basin and most recently the establishment of the Ganga National River Basin Authority in February 2009, the review noted.

 

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long article interested people can read it all by following the link.

Rain Water Harvesting in Punjab- An Experience​

Er. SS Saini, Chief Conservator of Soils, Punjab, Chandigarh.

Water is a critical input for the land based production system. Since 1950-51, a massive investment has been made for the development of irrigation in India and the area under irrigation increased from 22.61 mha in 1950-51 to 86.26 mha in 2000-01. Despite such substantial increase of area under irrigation, the share of irrigated area to gross cropped area is about 40% as of today. At the National level, there are concerted efforts to bring more area under irrigation and the focus is on rainwater management for increasing the production in rainfed areas.
In Punjab, 5.38 lakh hectare area, nearly 10% of the total geographical area of the state, comprising of Shivalik foothills known as Kandi area, water is a precious resource. Although the average rainfall in this area varies from 1000 mm to 1200 mm, the irrigated area is far below than the rest of the state where more than 97% of the area is under assured irrigation. In comparison, only about 20% of the cultivated area in Kandi is under assured irrigation. Therefore, the management of rainwater in this region is a key to environmental, economical & social sustainability.

Scope and Potential of Rainwater Harvesting in Punjab
Punjab is one of the smallest States of India with geographical area of 50362 Sq. Km. It lies between 29-30' to 32-30' N Latitude and 73-55' to 76-55' E Longitude. It is bounded by Pakistan in the west, Jammu and Kashmir in the north, Himachal Pradesh in North and North East, Haryana in the east and South west and Rajasthan in the south west.

Based on soil and climatic parameters, Punjab is divided into the following Agro Climatic regions:-
1. Sub Mountainous undulating region or Kandi region.
2. Undulating plain region.
3. Central plain region.
4. Western plain region.
5. Southern plain region.
6. Flood Plain/Bet Area.

Although the Punjab State has highest production of crops in the country, there are few areas in sub-mountainous region lying in the Shivalik foothills where lands are not intensively cultivated. The development of irrigation potential through surface and subsurface has reached up to the level of approx. 98% of the cultivated area in central plain regions and western and south western regions. Although the average annual rainfall in the Kandi region is more by about 1.5 times the rainfall in the Central region and more by about 2.5 times the rainfall in the western and south western regions, but its distribution is erratic and uneven. The 80% of average annual rainfall of 1000 mm in Kandi region is received within 3 months of monsoon period resulting into severe soil erosion with flash floods and frequent droughts due to erratic rainfall. Therefore, the management of the runoff in the sub-mountainous region known as the Kandi region is crucial for increasing productivity of this region.

Kandi Area of Punjab
Location
The Kandi area is located in North-Eastern part of Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahar, Ropar and Patiala districts lying between 30o21'48" to 32o30" north latitudes and 75o32' 12" to 75o56' east longitudes covering an area of 5,38,000 hect about 10.6% of 5.03 million hect. geographical area of Punjab state. The watershed and sub watershed lying in the Kandi area of the Punjab covers 2154 villages of Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshaher, Ropar and Patiala district. The average height of hills range from 415m to 500m above mean sea level.
Fluvial action of choes, erosion and deposition are free geomorphic processes prevalent in the Kandi area of Punjab.
Geologically, the area forms a part of the Shivalik hills constituting piedmont and alluvial piedmont. The piedmonts are sited on the upper conglomerate beds mainly on a bed of clay intermixed with pebbles and cobbles and nodular concretions and in the plains, it is alluvium deposits.
Physiography
There are two major physiographic units:-

 

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Rain Water Harvesting System​

SUCCESS STORIES OF ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE PROJECTS PUNJAB AND HARYANA STATES​

 

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Chandigarh is high on rainwater harvesting​

By Alkesh Sharma, IANSMarch 2nd, 2010


CHANDIGARH - In addition to its clean, wide roads and thick green cover, the Union Territory of Chandigarh can also boast of successfully running one of the biggest rainwater harvesting projects in the country.


The initiative, which was earlier only aimed at saving the Sukhna Lake, a prominent tourist destination here, has now emerged as an exemplary model of rainwater harvesting and soil and moisture conservation in the region.

The Chandigarh forest department has constructed as many as 193 water bodies (check-dams) to save the Sukhna Lake from disappearing. These water bodies of varying sizes conserve rain water and prevent silt from entering the man-made Sukhna Lake.

“There are 193 water bodies preserving rain water in the catchment area of the Sukhna Lake called the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over an area of 25.42 sq km,” Chandigarh’s former conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden Ishwar Singh told IANS.

He added: “This is quite extraordinary not only in India but in the whole of Asia, as nowhere will you find this density of water bodies. Their basic purpose is to desilt and to continuously feed the Sukhna Lake and to support wildlife and migratory birds that flock to this sanctuary.”

A variety of butterflies, birds and animals like wild boars, pangolin, mongoose, deer, Indian civet, peacocks, red jungle fowl and snakes like the Indian python and Russell’s viper are seen in this sanctuary.

A recent study conducted by the NGO Society for Promotion and Conservation of Environment (SPACE) reveals that these water bodies not only gave the Sukhna Lake an extended life span but also improved the soil’s fertility, raised the underground water table and facilitated thick vegetation and plantation.

Sukhna Lake, a three sq km rain-fed lake, is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas, the Shivalik hills. It is very popular among tourists, boating enthusiasts and daily morning and evening walkers.

Chandigarh’s forest-cum-finance secretary Sanjay Kumar told IANS: “This is a perfect example of large-scale rainwater harvesting. Further, the moisture retention in soil is contributing vastly towards biodiversity in the Shivalik region. Thanks to these water bodies, intense plantation has been done in the area, converting the entire Shivalik hills into a thick forest.”

He added: “Once the rate of soil erosion in the catchment area of the Sukhna Lake was 160 tonnes per hectare per year in 1988. But after the set up of these water bodies, it has been bought down to only five tonnes per hectare per year, and no fresh silt is now coming into the lake.”

Apart from these 193 water bodies, there are two more such bodies in the Patiala ki Rao forest near Dhanas village and two more water bodies and an artificial lake in Chandigarh’s botanical garden near Sarangpur village here, which are also significantly contributing to rainwater harvesting.

“In the wake of the growing population, these water bodies have maintained Chandigarh’s ecological balance that you will find nowhere in the country. Every year they also attract a huge number of both domestic and foreign tourists to this city,” Rohit Ruhella, a city-based environmentalist, told IANS.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, is the only planned city in independent India. It was designed by legendary French architect Le Corbusier for a population of 500,000, but now the city accommodates over 1.1 million people and a floating population of over 100,000 a day.

 

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Desalination Plants - Key to Halt Alarming Water Crisis in Coastal Cities in India

 

[DesiGuy]

India Punjab was Number 1 state in India. but since badal came into existanc, it's been going down and down.

Punjab does NOT need to be Basket of India anymore. Let's make Punjab more industrial.

 

[pogo]

I guess nanodams is the right solution. As some one posted this earlier, it is quite interesting..

Look how much water can be stored or kept for one more year in pictures shown in there website