WATER VOWS AND PUNJAB

A 20 metre-fall in central Punjab’s water table in the past decade is alarming, to say the least. A study by the state’s Agriculture Department has revealed shocking details about the ground reality in the districts of Sangrur, Barnala and Moga. The situation may not be much different in other districts barring those areas where waterlogging is a problem. What is worrying is that even when there is heavy rain — as it happened during the monsoon last year — the water table continues to decline. The data taken in October 2010 shows there was no improvement in the post-monsoon groundwater situation. This means rainwater simply goes waste as village ponds have been levelled or encroached upon.

The reason for the declining water table is well known. It is excessive paddy cultivation. Since paddy still gives the highest and assured returns to farmers, thanks to an almost yearly increase in the minimum support prices by the Centre, there is no attempt to shift to other kharif crops. The area under hybrid maize, for instance, has not increased. Though the Centre talks of extending the Green Revolution to the eastern states, it has now started encouraging the production of oilseeds and pulses in Punjab and Haryana by offering better support prices since the country relies heavily on costly imports.
However, it is Punjab’s political leadership that not only ignores the state’s long-term interests but also works at cross-purposes. On the one hand, the government departments make efforts – even if half-hearted — to promote crop diversification, on the other state politicians press for higher paddy prices/bonuses every year to cash in on farmers’ votes. The misdirected subsidy of free power also leads farmers to over-exploit groundwater. The canal water supply meets just one-fourth of the requirement for paddy. The canals and rivers lose water heavily for want of repairs and cleanup. The state leadership is yet to wake up to the need for rainwater harvesting, which ultimately has to be adopted on a mass scale to rejuvenate Punjab’s depleting water resources.