Water management is very important
Several arid States are hoping to revive their rivers and reservoirs with
bountiful rain. One of them is Gujarat. The State government has embarked on a
labour-intensive programme to desilt rivers and waterbodies ahead of the rains. Water scarcity is caused by heat waves and
significant rain deficits in different regions. There is need to prioritise drinking
water needs over farming. Urgent
water management reforms must be undertaken to help citizens and avoid losses
to the economy.
The monsoon itself is highly variable. This underscores the need for
comprehensive reforms at the level of States, with the Centre helping to
conserve hydrological resources. Farmers will get relief from the monsoon vagaries. Farmers need to be
helped with the latest technologies to cut water use. The State government is
thinking of going in for desalination. Decentralised water storage too will
help.
Water management is never taken seriously in our rain deficit nation.
Water conservation should be taught in schools to teach small children about
importance of cutting water use. Water bodies must be dredged and be kept ready
to serve as reservoirs with more space and depth. First drinking water must be
given priority and then water for agriculture. Water bodies in the urban areas
are converted into dwelling areas and flooded at the time of flood.
Gujarat has about 63 rivers, with some of them flooding during rainy
season - whatever shortfalls and rainfall levels occur. The average rainfall in
Gujarat is just about 800 mm - far greater than Israel, whose average rainfall
is just about 100 mm. Yet, Israel manages there available water in a most
scientific manner, and produces vegetables and flowers, exported to Europe.
Gujarat is supposed to be a state where entrepreneurs are vibrant. It is time
they come up with solutions to water problems, through appropriate water
management.
The demand of irrigation for water-guzzling crops like paddy can be cut
by 40% by adopting the well-established SRI technology, which can even produce
heavier crops. This is true even for sugarcane. The system, which some
agri-historians say was first developed in Tamilnadu centuries ago, and has
shown farmers that plants actually prefer it to flood irrigation. A new
understanding of plant physiology is needed. Dr MS Swaminathan has been
campaigning for a 'brown revolution' to increase production of rain-fed crops
through better management. The late Dr T. Hanumantha Rao, consultant to the
United Nations, demonstrated in several countries that micro watershed
development was a cost-effective superior alternative to larger irrigation
projects that cost huge sums of money and gave poorer results. The government
needs to integrate national water management policies with properly managed
farming systems and supportive forestry.
A comprehensive policy is needed for management of water in the country
to overcome the challenges thrown by erratic monsoons and ever shrinking
glaciers. A few years ago there was talk of linking of major rivers in the
country to preserve the river water and use it as per requirement. The linking
of rivers requires huge investments and also political consensus. The sharing
of river waters have been a cause of major discord between Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu, Punjab and Haryana, Haryana and Dehli, etc. The union government should
take urgent measures for building consensus and formulate an integrated plan
for linking of major rivers which seems to be only course to overcome ever
increasing demand of water for drinking and agricultural purposes.
It's a serious problem for everyone in India that people is facing water
scarcity despite many efforts by government. We need to look deeply and come up
with permanent solution to this problem.
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