'Unsuitable cropping affecting groundwater in Pb, Har, Raj'

The groundwater scenario in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan is "aggravating" due to unsuitable cropping pattern, a Parliamentary committee has said quoting a representative of Water Resources Ministry.
"The representative of the Ministry submitted during oral evidence held on January 27, 2015 that the situation regarding ground water scenario is aggravating in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan because of the unsuitable cropping pattern, i.E. paddy that is grown in Punjab and Haryana uses huge amount of water," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources said in its report.
The fifth report on 'Review of Ground Water Scenario, Need for a Comprehensive Policy and Measures to Address Problems in the Country' was presented before the Parliament here today.

The Committee said when it asked the Ministry if it had specific suggestion to ameliorate the distressing scenario in the three northern states, it recommended adopting effectively on-farm water management techniques like laser levelling, zero tillage, etc.
Other recommendations included using 'Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water', revising canal irrigation system, revamping agricultural power supply and pricing structure, etc.
The Committee said its members were also apprised of laws enacted by Punjab and Haryana to prohibit sowing and transplanting paddy before certain periods.

"In the state of Rajasthan, most of the rice production/ paddy cultivation is limited to canal command area of IGNP (Ganganagar and Hanuman districts) and reasonably good rainfall areas of southern Rajasthan (parts of Kota, Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar and Dungarapur districts) where mainly rain-fed paddy is grown with occasional supplementary irrigation from ground water," the ministry said, according to the panel.

Meanwhile, in its seventh 'Action Taken by Government on Observations/Recommendations' report, the Committee said the Ministry informed it to have approved close to 900 water bodies during XII Plan in four states namely Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Manipur.
The Ministry informed the panel to have released Rs 103.48 crore out of the total project cost of Rs 621.734 crore as on March 2015.