Today (July22,2014;Tuesday),we organized the event marking the conclusion of Ground Water Week in Uttar Pradesh.The event was graced by Minister, Minor Irrigation and Ground Water department of U.P.,Dr J S Samra, Chief Executive Officer,National Rainfed Area Authority,Planning Commission ,New Delhi and Keynote Speaker was Jal Purush ,Rajendra Singh.I chaired the session as Agriculture Production Commissioner of U.P.
Ground water is used for three purposes.
1.For agriculture.
2.For industry.
3.For drinking water needs.
All the three needs are important , and we need to consume ground water.But the supply of ground water is limited and we need to use it judiciously.Due to over exploitation , there is a steady depletion of ground water in 630 blocks out of 820 blocks in U.P. There were only 20 over exploited /critical blocks in the year 2000 in U.P. and now this number is 108.The ground water table is falling down at the rate of 91 cms annually in Meerrut , 79 cms in Ghaziabad , 76 cms in Gautam budh Nagar and 70 cms in Lucknow.This is quite alarming.There is an urgent need to arrest and reverse this trend.
The one way is to change the cropping pattern from Sugar cane , Paddy in the western parts of UP to eastern UP.There is hardly any scope to reduce the requirements of industry and consumption for drinking purposes.This requires community participation in conserving ground water.
There is also a need to have more public investment in ground water as compared to investment in canals and surface water.Planting trees is also a good method to help ground water recharge .Rain water harvesting in urban areas is another effective method for ground water recharge and we must enforce and encourage it .There is a need to provide adequate manpower with expertise in ground water department , and to build their capacities.
A concern was also expressed about the pollution of ground water and presence of impurities like Arsenic , Lead, Florides and alkalinity.We have to work to provide clean and pure drinking water to our citizens.
Let us all take some time out to do our bit to conserve the quantity of ground water and to improve it quality
Let us all take some time out to do our bit to conserve the quantity of ground water and to improve it quality
3 comments:
Uttar Pradesh, the bread basket of the country is turning in to a mess, in the matter of ground water. The demand for water has increased multifold, while the supply has decreased because of erratic rains, more runoff (particularly in urban areas) and uncontrolled withdrawal. Ground water is like a bank account, if the deposits are less and withdrawals more, the account goes in to red. ground water account is already in red in many areas in U.P. Lucknow's condition is going from bad to worse. The number of private tubewells being drilled daily in exorbitant. Unless the government comes with a heavy hand, time is not far when Lucknow may face mass migrations.
Thank you for your comment, Joshiji.I agree with you that the situation regarding ground water in U.P. is a matter of concern .I am not sure if the laws are in place for the government to come with a heavy hand .But yes , we must intervene effectively.
Welcome and thanks Vidyanand ji. Effective intervention will certainly check the rampant withdrawal of groundwater.
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