{"id":14996,"date":"2021-04-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/29-04-2021\/groundwater-depletion-in-india\/"},"modified":"2021-04-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T00:00:00","slug":"groundwater-depletion-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/29-04-2021\/groundwater-depletion-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Groundwater Depletion In India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>In News<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">According to recent study, the Groundwater depletion may reduce winter <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>cropping intensity by 20% in India by 2025.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">India\u2019s three main irrigation types on winter cropped areas: dug <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>wells, tube wells, canals.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Key Findings<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">With current groundwater depletion trends,\u00a0 cropping intensity may decrease by 20 percent nationwide and by 68 percent in groundwater depleted regions.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Cropping intensity<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> refers to raising of a number of crops from the same field during one agricultural year; it can be expressed through a formula.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Cropping Intensity<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> = Gross Cropped Area \/ Net Sown Area x 100.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">13 percent of villages in which farmers plant a winter crop are located in critically water depleted regions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Switching to canal irrigation has limited adaptation potential as that would lead to <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>7 percent decline <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">in the cropping intensity.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Groundwater Depletion in India\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">India is the world\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>second-largest producer of wheat,<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and rice and is home to more than 600 million farmers.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The country has achieved <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>impressive food-production gains<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> since the 1960s, due\u00a0 to an increased reliance on irrigation wells, which allowed Indian farmers to expand production into the mostly dry winter and summer seasons\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>These gains have come at a cost w<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">ith severe groundwater depletion, the cropping intensity or the amount of land planted in the winter season may decrease by up to 20% by 2025<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The country that produces 10% of the world\u2019s crops is now <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>the world\u2019s largest consumer <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">of groundwater, and aquifers are rapidly becoming depleted across much of India.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Causes of Groundwater Depletion<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>\u00a0Green Revolution: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In the green revolution era, policy-supported environment led to a large increase in rice cultivation in northwestern India mainly in Punjab and Haryana which are ecologically less suitable for rice cultivation due to predominantly light soils.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">This policy-supported intensive agriculture led to <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>unsustainable groundwater use for irrigation<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and in turn groundwater scarcity.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Poor infrastructure: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">There are enough groundwater resources supported with higher monsoon rainfall in eastern Indian states like Bihar. But due to lack of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>enough irrigation infrastructure<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, farmers are not able to make use of natural resources there.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Increased demand: Increased demand<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> for water for domestic, industrial and agricultural needs and limited surface water resources lead to the over-exploitation of groundwater resources.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Inadequate regulation<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> of groundwater laws encourages the exhaustion of groundwater resources without any penalty.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Government Initiatives\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Use of tensiometer: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The tensiometer gives visual information about the availability of soil moisture conditions. Irrigating the field based on this information will help conserve groundwater.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The tensiometer is 2\u20133 feet long and has a ceramic cup containing numerous tiny pores at the bottom. It is inserted up to 8 inches into the soil, which is beyond the root zone of rice. The water inside the tensiometer reaches equilibrium with soil moisture, and rises or falls depending on the amount of moisture in the soil.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Atal Bhujal Yojana: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It\u00a0 is a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Central Sector Scheme<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> for facilitating <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>sustainable groundwater<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>management<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> with an outlay of INR 6000 crore<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The scheme lays emphasis on <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>community<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>participation<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>demand side interventions<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> for <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>sustainable groundwater<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> management in identified water stressed areas in seven States of the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The scheme also envisages <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>improved source<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> sustainability for <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Jal Jeevan Mission<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, positive contribution to the Government\u2019s goal of \u2018doubling farmers income\u2019 and inculcating behavioral changes in the community to facilitate optimal water use.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Promoting Rainwater Harvesting<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and Precision Agriculture.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Way Forward\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Farmers in the regions where groundwater depletion has already occurred should consider cultivating<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> less water-intensive crops<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, use better irrigation technologies and irrigate crops only when necessary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Adoption of water-saving technologies like a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>sprinkler, drip irrigation<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and maybe switching to less water-intensive crops may help use the limited groundwater resources more effectively<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">We need <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>coordinated efforts<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> to solve this water availability and food security issue, which should be supported by science-led policy decisions on what strategies and technology solutions to scale out to improve irrigation efficiency.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Indian government officials have suggested that <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>switching from groundwater-depleting wells to irrigation canals<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, which divert surface water from lakes and rivers, is one way to overcome projected shortfalls.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/groundwater-depletion-may-reduce-winter-cropping-intensity-by-20-in-india\/article34402181.ece\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>Source :TH<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News According to recent study, the Groundwater depletion may reduce winter cropping intensity by 20% in India by 2025. India\u2019s three main irrigation types on winter cropped areas: dug wells, tube wells, canals. Key Findings With current groundwater depletion trends,\u00a0 cropping intensity may decrease by 20 percent nationwide and by 68 percent in groundwater [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[128,25],"class_list":["post-14996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-changes-in-geographical-features-their-effects","tag-gs1"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/7032325current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}