Tubewells face threat of extinction

  IT is often said that if the high yielding varieties of crops are responsible for the Green Revolution, it is the private tubewells which have made these varieties a success. The management of these in Punjab and Haryana is a joint one; farmers are responsible for their installation and operation whereas the responsibility for maintaining the level of ground water at an optimum one by controlling the input and output of water is that of the State Government. This level started falling some 20 years ago and has been continuing since then. Obviously, the output has been exceeding in input. A stage has now been reached when these tubewells, numbering over 14 lakh, are facing the threat of extinction and nobody is sure of their fate after another 10 years. Even if the rainfall continues to be as good as in the last decade their ship is sinking slowly but surely.

This crisis is an unprecedented one and neither of the States has got any tested technology to tackle it. Some amount of research and experimentation is, therefore, unavoidable but the state governments have not shown any inclination for the same, so much so that this issue is not even on their agenda. The tubewell owners being unorganised, have failed to persuade the governments to discharge their obligation and this makes this tragedy even more tragic.

The one and only possible solution is to inject the rainwater and the overflow from the rice fields into the ground. At present these states do not have any other surplus water and this one is being allowed to go waste via drains even in this age of water shortage.

The doomsday for the sinking ship can be delayed if:

The tubewell owners can make use of their votes for persuading the political parties to use their influence with the government for setting up at least 50 injecting stations on a pilot basis before the monsoon in 1999.

The engineers can explain as to how the desilted water from the drains can be injected into the ground by gravity and the same can raise the level of groundwater.

The experts from the agricultural universities can explain that economically these tubewells can make the difference between the life and death of these states.

The financial experts can explain that funds are no constraint because operational expenses of these injecting stations are practically nil and their capital cost will be more than offset by the savings that will accrue from the reduced subsidy to the electricity boards.

The environmentalists can explain that unrestricted decline in the level of groundwater can cause the brackish water from the adjoining areas to intrude into the sweet belt and that such degradation is irreversible.

The Press, the so-called watchdog of democracy, should cease to remain aloof from such a burning problem and do its duty of making it a mass movement like the one it did in the case of onions.

S.P. MALHOTRA
Engineer-in-Chief (retd)
Panchkula

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Hunting frenzy

The news regarding the killing of a number of hare in a “hunting competition (Jan 24) gave an awfully rude shock. This sadistic act reminded one of the Roman arenas of yore where blood-shedding was a favourite pastime. An aberration of the sick mind, it was a glaring instance of unbridled urge to perpetrate violence on the mute animals. No doubt, it was a “bloody treat” thrust upon the bewildered gathering. It is a pity that a docile and sprightly animal which has always been loved and protected became their target.

Sadism has always been a dominant factor behind poaching. The killing of antelopes by Bombay film stars was a glaring instance of blood-spilling. Again, it was brutality in its vilest form when the employees of the forest department in Bihar hunted a blind and starved elephant for a number of days and finally ensnared and killed him with a live electric wire. That heinous act was committed just to procure the tusks of that fugitive elephant! This single act of human ferocity betrays an ingrained bestiality. It reminds one of the Central Asian invaders who would push the elephants from high cliffs and derive pleasure from the shrieks of severely wounded elephants.

An occasional poacher like a film star or confirmed poacher has always tried to wriggle out after committing a crime. In most of the cases they are let off with mild punishment. For them there are no cathartic moments. The present wild life laws are highly provisory in nature. Unfortunately, they have been incapacitated in such a way that the guarantee of absolute protection is beyond their purview.

H.M. SAROJ
Chandigarh

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Health services

The health services provided by Panjab University, a premier and pioneer university of the region, instead of any improvement are worsening. The latest is the stoppage of reimbursement for treatment and investigation outside the health centre/PGI/government hospital, especially in respect of those staying outside the campus and also where they do not benefit from university health centre treatment. Previously, treatment and investigation undertaken outside was reimbursed at PGI/govt hospital rates, thereby there being no additional financial liability to university — saving employees’ time — which again is beneficial to the university.

In PGI/govt hospitals there is also much wastage of time of employees, investigations and treatment delayed for months, leading to deterioration in a patient’s condition. Dental treatment is not taken up in ordinary cases except for VVIPs. It is beyond comprehension that when there is no financial (additional) liability to university why this retrograde step, causing so much inconvenience, resentment and illwill, and bad name?

MANOHAR SINGH GILL
Chandigarh