Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Preserve rain water to use it during draughts' that was published in Newsband

Preserve rain water to use it during draughts

India Meteorological Department has pressed the panic button by forecasting that this year’s rain will be deficient. The estimate is indeed cause for concern, as it holds the possibility of the country being pushed into a drought situation.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says that the fears are exaggerated, and he may well be right. The Centre has said it is ready to face a deficit monsoon. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh says that a ‘contingency plan’ is in place. It is high time that the governments at the Centre and the States worked out a long-term irrigation plan

If the forecast does come true, however, India could be facing the 12th worst drought since 1950. This could lead to serious problems on the food front with consequences on the price situation.

It is unfortunate that in case we receive less rain, we are left with no other choice but draught. We should develop and encourage water harvesting techniques like rain water harvesting. IMD results should be taken as a warning but not as a perfect analysis. Let's hope for the best.

To counter the drought situation, there are some measures which will be helpful. Rain water harvesting in every village and city, proper distribution of the stored food grains, ruthless control on black marketing and sustaining these measures on a long term basis irrespective of drought situation or normal situation will make this country a rich agricultural economy during the years to come.

It is unfortunate that Indian agriculture continues to predominantly rain-fed. The dependency of monsoon rains should be minimized. A new paradigm for agriculture is needed. Instead of treating farmers as vote banks, the politicians should think of helping farmers to adopt technologies to make farming a monsoon-proof activity. Half of Israel is desert. Yet this nation never complains of lack of water.

Traditional farming techniques need a re-look. This doesn't mean mindless application of GM technologies or total mechanization. Rainwater harvesting, desalination of sea water, recycling of waste water, optimum use of water resources are areas where the government can help farmers.

We get sufficient rail fall but we are allowing rain water to go waste. What happened to so many schemes like check dams, drip irrigation and other water conservation schemes? It is a recurring problem but forgotten soon after rainy season. How can we vie with China if we cannot solve our basic problem?