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“Centre not serious about groundwater conservation”

NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slated to inaugurate the National Ground Water Conference organised by the Ministry of Water Resources on Tuesday, a water expert has charged the Government with not being serious about the situation.

According to Himanshu Thakker of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, not enough attention was being paid to groundwater recharge systems such as rainwater harvesting, watershed development, local water systems (tanks, lakes, ponds, talabs, pokhars), wetlands, forests, floodplains and rivers. All were facing systematic destruction in the name of development and at best lip service was being paid for their conservation.

He said official figures showed that 85 per cent of rural water supply came from groundwater sources. More than half of the urban and industrial water supply was from groundwater systems. At least two thirds of irrigated area food grains production came from groundwater irrigated lands. Eighty per cent of additional irrigated areas in the last two decades had come from groundwater sources. Yet, recharge systems, which were the lifeline of groundwater, were being ignored.

Mr. Thakker suggested “dramatic, fundamental changes” in the approach to water resources. “Our plans and budgets need to reflect such policy. We need a legally enforceable regulatory system that has community as the focus. Our understanding of the science of groundwater aquifers and use of that scientific understanding in groundwater management need to improve. Use of water saving techniques like the System of Rice Intensification needs to be given more serious attention as it has big potential in reducing groundwater use.”

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