Kapurthala MLA writes to Punjab Chief Minister over depleting water table

Jalandhar, June 19

Raising concerns over the falling water table in the state and increase in area under paddy cultivation, particularly in the Malwa belt, Member of Legislative Assembly from Kapurthala Rana Gurjeet Singh has written to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. He has suggested certain measures to pull Punjab’s agriculture and peasantry out of distress.

The former minister wrote, “Rapid depletion of groundwater is a cause of worry, especially the reports of Punjab turning to a desert very soon. Among many contributory factors, the role of paddy cultivation is the highest. Unless an alternative crop is proposed and incentivised, farmers in the state are not going to shift so easily.”

Decrease in area under cotton crop

From 8 lakh hectares in the 1980s, the area under cotton crop has come down to just 96,600 hectares this year. An increase of area under paddy in 1 lakh hectares means that almost 40,000 agriculture pump sets shall be extracting double the volume of ground water, which was required for cotton crops. So, we can imagine as to how much additional water has been pumped out due to the declining area under cotton cultivation over the past few years. — Rana Gurjeet Singh, Kapurthala MLA

On the basis of his experience and expertise on the subject, he has noted, “The cropping pattern in Punjab is changing alarmingly. Cotton cultivators in Malwa region are also shifting to paddy cultivation. With an average decline of 51 cm/year, the state is already the worst affected in the country in terms of groundwater exploitation. The future appears even grimmer as the Central Ground Water Board has estimated that if the present pace of exploitation continues, groundwater aquifers up to the depth of 600 ft will run dry in the next 17-20 years.”

Calculating the loss further, he said, “From 8 lakh hectares in the 1980s, the area under cotton crop has come down to just 96,600 hectares this year. An increase of area under paddy in 1 lakh hectares means that almost 40,000 agriculture pump sets shall be extracting double the volume of ground water, which was required for cotton crops. So, we can imagine as to how much additional water has been pumped out due to the declining area under cotton cultivation over the last few years.”

He suggested that, “The rabi-maize or monsoon-maize is a tried and tested key alternative to the water guzzler paddy as the climatic conditions of the state are ideal for its cultivation. Not only the economics of growing monsoon-maize are comparable to that of paddy but the quantum of water saved is also beyond comparison. I would like to suggest that Punjab Agricultural University and other allied departments/institutes should also set up some demonstrative plots of ‘monsoon maize’ in an area of approximately 5,000 acres all across the state, in all three Majha, Malwa and Doaba regions under the guidance of relevant experts. A compensatory allowance can also be set up for farmers accruing losses during these experiments. A committee from among the elected MLAs and MPs, assisted by subject specialists, can work on a roadmap for increasing areas under such types of alternative crops and for ways and means to develop strategies for conserving groundwater.”