The importance of ground water as a vital natural resource is well known. So, of course, is the fact that it is being mercilessly over-exploited in most areas where it is readily accessible. Still, most state governments are taking an immense amount of time in taking corrective measures. The meeting of the state water resource ministers, convened by the Centre last Saturday, to discuss the issues connected with ground water, did not adequately dispel this impression. Though there was no dearth of ideas on how to regulate the use of ground water, no firm time bound commitment was made.
The problems afflicting ground water reserves are plenty. Falling water level is just one of them, though it is perhaps the most significant. The rate at which the water level is receding is indeed alarming in states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, where water-loving crops like paddy and sugarcane are raised with tubewell water. The level is reported to have fallen by as much as four to six metres in most of these regions in the past few years.
Over-extraction of ground water in coastal areas is leading to the intrusion of saline water into fresh water reserves, thereby, making it unfit for drinking and other purposes. This menace is quite formidable in coastal areas of Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu and, to some extent, in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
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On the other hand, ground water level in the command areas of medium and major irrigation projects, is rising menacingly. While some tracts have become water-logged, in many others the water level is within two metres of the surface. As a result the salts present in the sub-soil region have started moving up to the top soil zone i.e is the plant root zone rendering it unproductive. Inland ground water salinity is estimated to have already affected an area of over 1.9 lakh sq kms in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
Such misuse cannot be allowed to continue unabated. Former director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and a noted soil expert, late Dr N S Randhawa, had cautioned way back in the late eighties, that the hitherto agriculturally rich state of Punjab would turn into a desert in the next couple of decades, if ground water continues to be exploited indiscriminately. His warning seems very realistic now. Deepening of wells has become a common practice in the state. Time does not seem to be far when the water table would go down to unaccessible levels.
In fact, it was a newspaper report about a similar situation emerging in Delhi that forced the Supreme Court to pass an order directing the Union government to constitute the Central Ground Water Board, as an authority under the Environment Protection Act, to regulate the use of sub-soil water. The mandate of the authority, set up through a notification in January 1997, goes beyond curbing indiscriminate boring and withdrawal of ground water, to include preservation and protection of quality of water.
It is now for the state governments to enact suitable legislations for ensuring sustainable use of water. As suggested by the Centre, the states should ban digging of additional water extraction structures in over-exploited areas without prior permission from the ground water authority. This should be done by prohibiting the agencies or firms that are engaged in this business in the over-exploited areas. Digging of wells in coastal aquifers where the danger of saline water intrusion exists needs to be banned, irrespective of the status of the ground water exploitation and water level.
Simultaneously, adequate measures should be taken to curb run-off of rain water, to facilitate its in situ preservation in the under ground reserves. This, coupled with the prohibition of lining of canals in over-exploited areas, can help in the replenishment and recharging of ground water reserves in the long run.
Gardening tips
Monsoon will start withdrawing from the first week of September from Rajasthan. Consequently, rains will abate in the Delhi region by the middle of the month and Mumbai towards the end of the month. Calcutta may continue to experience rains a little longer.
Lawns will need to be mowed and weeded regularly till the rains last. Plant and lawn do not require any fertiliser or manure till the end of the monsoon season. Any gaps in the lawns can still be filled by planting grass roots.
Chrysanthemum plants are highly sensitive to excess water. These should be kept in the verandahs receiving adequate sunlight.
Most winter plants can be sown in this month. These include aster, carnation, calendula, cinerraria, dahlia, dimorphotheca, English daisy, gaillardia, hollyhock, linum, petunia, tulips, viola, zinnia, etc.
Gerbera seeds sown in June are now ready for transplanting in the garden.
Roses will continue to need protection against pests. Spray paratox or folithion at the rate of 1gm/litre of water, to guard against red scale insect. Dusting of BHC or spraying of metasystox or rogor can help control chaffer beetles which remain active till the end of the monsoon season.
It is time to start sowing of leafy vegetables in the kitchen gardens. Lettuce, celery, parsley and methi can be planted now. Other vegetables like carrot, radish, cauliflower and knol khol can also be sown in rows.
Fruit plants face threat from pests like fruit borer and jassids. These can be controlled by spraying malathion at two or three weeks interval.
The problems afflicting ground water reserves are plenty. Falling water level is just one of them, though it is perhaps the most significant.