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View Full Version : Water Management: Interstate Relations: Few Questions?



raj2rif
March 5th, 2007, 02:37 AM
Dear Members,
Sarkaria Commission has battled for decades now to solve this issue, but the fact remains that while we have floods in some part of the country we also have draught at the same time in other parts of the country. While it is difficult to doctor the terrain, the engineering is advance enough these days to make a dent and divert the precious water resources to the areas needing them the most.
It is the irony, that in a Nation that boosts of greatest ranges in the world, we still don't have drinking water for all. Millions of acres of agricultural land remains at the mercy of rain God for water. While a lot has been done, I feel a lot better could have been done. I don't believe in playing the blame game, but look forward to finding the solution, that is totally in the interest of the nation and is above the party politics. We are looking at the optimum utilization of our vast water resources to get best out of it.
I look forward to the views of the members on this issue with recommendations to find a solution to optimize the use of available water in the country.
Let us get going.

dndeswal
March 5th, 2007, 10:18 AM
.
Water is a national property but our States are fighting with each other over this issue. The scheme of interlinking the rivers launched by the previous Central Govt., was a good initiative but it seems that the issue is dead now. Immediately after coming to power, Punjab Chief Minister has said that he will make further amendments in the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act 2004 and hence, the future of completion of SYL canal seems to be bleak. The precious surplus water will continue to head towards Arabian Sea, via Pakistan. The news story is contained in the following link:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070304/main1.htm (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070304/main1.htm)
.

bls31
March 5th, 2007, 01:18 PM
Dear Members,
Sarkaria Commission has battled for decades now to solve this issue, but the fact remains that while we have floods in some part of the country we also have draught at the same time in other parts of the country. While it is difficult to doctor the terrain, the engineering is advance enough these days to make a dent and divert the precious water resources to the areas needing them the most.
It is the irony, that in a Nation that boosts of greatest ranges in the world, we still don't have drinking water for all. Millions of acres of agricultural land remains at the mercy of rain God for water. While a lot has been done, I feel a lot better could have been done. I don't believe in playing the blame game, but look forward to finding the solution, that is totally in the interest of the nation and is above the party politics. We are looking at the optimum utilization of our vast water resources to get best out of it.
I look forward to the views of the members on this issue with recommendations to find a solution to optimize the use of available water in the country.
Let us get going.
Some time we can go back also to solve the problem ,How it was solved by simple village folks in good old days. Couples of years back I wrote 'The Vllage Pond and Water Harvesting ' the article was published in Times of India,I am posting it under
THE VILLAGE POND AND WATER HARVESTING


It in the thirties, then being five to six years of age and youngest child, my mother always took me with her whenever she visited her parents in her village


The modern age was still in future, the village pond was the favourite playground of my cousins and I was always a fascinated invitee.


When they threw a pebble in the pond, the green moss covering its placid surface would part and the water of the pond would break into ripples, The long reeds, bulrushes, growing around the pond, swaying in the breeze, Dragoon flies buzzing around, the butterflies fluttering aimlessly to my young eyes, the humming of the bees and the chirp of the koel, it was here among other wonders of village life that I was initiated in the art of smoking a clay pipe, crafted from the wet earth of the pond and a small section from the reeds, for a city bread, it was all pure thrill and fun.


There was always a herd of buffaloes in the pond, with just the nostrils and eyes showing, enjoying the cool water. Some times the children would also jump, stark naked, in gleefully and join the buffaloes to beat the heat.
The houses ware all constructed from the mud taken from the pond that is how the pond had come in to being in the first place.
This was engineering,
Before the advent of monsoons and summers the houses were given a coating of mica powder mixed in mud paste ,to prevent damage from rain and reflect the summer heat away.
This was preventive maintenance and thermal engineering.
The rainwater would collect and fill the pond.
This was water harvesting.
This also prevented the flooding of the village lanes and houses during heavy rains.
This was flood control and disaster management.
Simple solutions for simple problems devised by the simple villagers.
The lanes and allies were dry and clean, water for drinking and other household requirements was drawn from the village well and strictly conserved.
This task was assigned the young unmarried girls of the house and new brides.
The village well was a popular venue for many budding romances and love affairs as also a meeting place and exchange of gossip for the village bellies.
I was too young at that time to notice such going ons.
Slowly progress caught up, brick houses came into vogue and became a matter of prestige it did not matter if they became ovens in summer and iceboxes during winter
Mud from the pond was required no more and it started shrinking.
With hand pumps installed in the house the animals were also now given a bath in the quadrangle it self, with the water flowing out of the house in the narrow lanes creating mud, slush and stink, mosquito menace disease and sickness. The males of the household had also greater control on the women folk, who were now confined to the four wall of the house, loosing their small diversion from the monotonous and backbreaking daily chores.
The village well came in to disuse and was capped.
If it rained heavily any time now the lanes and the houses got flooded as the water had no where to flow to on the flat ground.
The greedy village dadas encroached on the now dry and dying pond, grabbing and selling the reclaimed portion of land to friends and relations,
I noticed all this, as I grew up, during my now infrequent visits to the village, sad but helpless to influence the events.
Some lucky and progressive villagers, thirsty urban areas and even some government agencies are rediscovering the wonders of water harvesting once again, but will the magic of the village pond ever be recreated , if at all?


Brigadier Lakshman Singh