With frequent droughts, failure of rains and fast depletion of groundwater table severely affecting more than half of Himachal Pradesh, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, has started making efforts to find answers to the problem.
Beginning with a Rs 42-lakh rainwater harvesting project for a 540-hectare campus, the university proposes to develop a sustainable model for the state’s water-scarce belts, including the Mid-Himlayan region, to meet long-term needs of water, both for irrigation and drinking purposes.
The university has its own drinking water scheme commissioned two decades ago that involves lifting of water from the downhill Giri river. It has been catering to all kinds of water requirements at the university. Due to expansion of the campus activities, opening of new departments and establishing field trials, this water has now become scarce.
The university had till now not taken significant initiatives to establish a rainwater harvesting model.
Vice-Chancellor Dr K R Dhiman said: “My biggest priority now is to develop an innovative rainwater harvesting model within the campus. We will develop a kind of rain harvesting structure, which not only meets the irrigation needs, but also helps in the groundwater recharge — a serious issue that Himachal cannot ignore keeping in view climatic changes.”
The university will soon construct a big rainwater harvesting structure on the campus. The water flowing on the surface and accumulating on rooftops would be collected and stored for its consumptive and non-consumptive re-use, the V-C said.
In fact, the university’s soil science department, said Dr Dhiman, had prepared a draft paper on the emerging strategies for water conservation. This was recently submitted to the government on Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s advice.
As a follow-up, the government has set up a state-level Water Management Board to oversee strategies and coordinate in the efforts for water conservation. The board will also identify areas facing water scarcity or those where the groundwater table is depleting.
A recent report of the Central Ground Water Board portrays an alarming picture of the groundwater depletion in the state, especially in the districts of Una, Kangra, Hamirpur and Solan — mainly the industrial belt of Nalagarh, Baddi and Barotiwala. The report blames it on the large number of tubewells.
In 2009, the agriculture department had engaged an international consultant to conduct a detailed study on sustainable water management in Himachal in the context of climate changes and repeated dry spells. Rainwater harvesting is an area, which most studies have suggested as a long-term solution.
The V-C also pointed towards the water table going down in the areas with a concentration of handpumps. “I believe the government agencies should have conducted a baseline survey on the status of the groundwater in these areas before, and now after the handpumps are installed. The handpumps scheme has helped solve the problem of drinking water in worst affected blocks where the government used to spend crores of rupees to supply water through tankers. But it has also caused an adverse affect on the soil conditions,” he said.
The university has proposed to undertake a detailed study of the areas where handpumps have cast negative effects. There are a total of 20,000 handpumps in the state.
