Micro-irrigation system 'panacea' to drought: Par panel

Describing micro-irrigation system as the "panacea" to drought in many water-scarce regions of the country, a parliamentary panel today asked the government to take "much-concerted efforts at the earliest" to make it a popular movement for efficient use of irrigation water.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources also sought to be apprised by the government on initiatives taken by it in this regard within three months of the presentation of the report.
Micro irrigation systems such as sprinklers or drip irrigation are the panacea to the drought-like situations prevailing in many water-scarce regions especially in the over-exploited, critical and semi critical blocks of the country, it said.

"The committee, accordingly, recommends that much concerted efforts are needed to be made by the government at the earliest to make micro-irrigation as a popular movement all over the country so as to achieve the goal of efficient use of irrigation water," the panel said in its ninth report on 'Demands for Grants' presented to Lok Sabha and tabled in Rajya Sabha today.
The committee's remarks came following its observation that in some states like Punjab, where flood irrigation is prevalent, "much of the water has to be extracted for the purpose".