Interlinking of Rivers of India through Trench Cum Contour channels to bring about sustainability in agriculture

From,                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                    Hyderabad,

 Sri A.V. Subba Reddy M.Sc (Ag)                                      12-12- 2015.

 Asst. Director of Agriculture (Retired)

 6-3- 596/95/A; Naveen Nagar, Khairatabad,

 Hyderabad     500 004

  

To

    The reader,

    Citizen of India

  Sir,

           Please find here in the enclosed article on “Interlinking the Rivers of India through Trench- Cum- Contour channels to bring about sustainability in Agriculture”. I request you to go through the article and comment upon this for implementation in order to bring about sustainability in Agriculture in India.

 Further I invite your valuable suggestions for the ‘Hell to Heaven development of India with this concept’ duly pointing the objections on this article.

                                                Thanking you, sir.                          

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                 Yours sincerely,

                                                                                                  A.V. Subba Reddy

How to bring about the sustainability in agriculture in India by mitigating the ill effects of natural calamities like drought, floods and cyclones etc.

Why the farmer is going to borrow money for his crop inputs? Why does he suicide? Is he solely responsible for his suicide? Or else. Whether his production is lesser than his investments? Is the loss is at production level or marketing level? Who is responsible? Is the farmer himself or the middle man or Government officials or the politicians or the people in the society as a whole?

India has 165 M. ha of cultivated land. Out of which 108 M. ha of land is under drought prone area belongs to 99 districts in 13 states, which is nearly 70% of the cultivated area that is being subjected to vagaries of monsoon. It is experienced that out of 4 years, once in 3 years there is complete failure of crops, once in 4 years there is a good crop and in the remaining 2 years average yields can be expected. It means that the dry land farmer never come out of his debts.

What is necessary for the crops to grow? Water? Yes, water.  Water is the vital resource for all living things. So also for the plants. No living thing exists without water. It is the prime requirement after the air.

            In drought prone areas water is deficit. Is India a water deficit country? No. Not at all. The average rainfall of India is 1200mm and it is more than the world average rainfall of 990mm.The total amount of rainfall received in India is about 400 M. ham i.e. 4000 billion cum. Out of which, 165 M. ham of water is going waste and draining into the seas. If this can be harnessed, It is sufficient to irrigate all the cultivable area of 165 M. ha; If manned properly.

            Can we solve the farmer’s suicide by scraping of his loan every time? Is it guanine? Certainly it cannot solve the problem. Instead, by supplying water to all the drought prone areas, the problem can be solved. Can‘t the famer get profitable returns from his farm, if sufficient water is provided? Certainly, he can. If, so where is the necessity for him to commit suicide?

            Is the watershed programme yielding desirable results which are intended to mitigate the drought situations? Is this programme able to mitigate the drought situation? Is there any technicality in the present day of execution? Are they being systematically executed? Can we differentiate a watershed area and non-watershed area when we travel across? Is it not a wasteful expenditure? Are the ‘in-pits’ being executed in the watershed programme are useful? How useful the check dams, rock fill dams and soil conservation works are? Are these activities mitigating drought conditions? Programs like Kanuga plantation, Khus as a barrier, Indira Kranthi Pathakam, plantation programmes etc. are yielding desired results?

            For all these programmes water is the main input which is scarce in drought prone areas. Without water no plant can survive. One must bear this in mind before planning a programme. Without providing water, planting of trees/ growing of crops is a gamble in the monsoon. They cannot alleviate the drought situation and stabilize the crop production. So, water need to be provided to the drought prone areas to bring sustainability in crop production in these areas.

            How to provide water to these areas? By constructing the dams, check dams, or by taking up of Soil conservation works or inter-linking of rivers? Can they solve the problem? No. It is proved that they can’t solve. It is also proved that the construction of huge dams across the rivers encountered many problems and failed to solve the problems as desired.            

Is the present day idea of interlinking of rivers as envisaged in the proposed draft plan can address the problem effectively?.

            As seen from the perspective plan of the proposed Inter basin Water Transfer links, It is evident that the most of the rivers are linked at lower reaches leaving larger portions of drought prone areas on the upper reaches. It appears that due attention has not been paid in addressing the problems of the Drought Prone Areas; such as:

·         In supplying the irrigation water by gravitational means to all the drought prone areas in order to stabilize the agricultural production and also to boost up the crop production to meet the future demands.

·         In providing water for drinking and other purposes to the drought trodden areas.

·         In alleviating the havocs caused by the Natural calamities like floods and cyclone, earthquakes etc.

·         In addressing the pollution control.

·         In eradicating the soil erosion.

More over the lifting of water involves recurring finance. In view of the above, the plan needs to be re-examined long with the plan of Captain Dastur’s proposal of garland canal. Captain Dastur’s plan may be re-examined for consideration.

One ought to  bear in mind that it is impossible to stabilize agricultural production in India and to stop suicides of farmers without supplying gravitational water to the drought prone areas, since 70% of the cultivated area ( about 108m.ha against 165m.ha) is under drought prone areas being subjected to vagaries of monsoon.

            The only way to solve the problem is first we have to nationalise the rivers of India. We have a network of road ways, Railways which are nationalised. Why not river waters? The only way to solve the problem is inter linking of all rivers of India through Trench cum contour channels.

            How many channels are needed? At what contour levels/intervals? What is the width and depth of the channel?  How they are useful? What are the advantages? What are the limitations? All these need to be discussed with subject matter specialists thoroughly before designing the trench cum contour channels.

            Is it possible to execute trench cum contour channels? What are the hurdles during execution? Can they be resolved or cannot be? How to design them? Whether the present technology available in India is sufficient for the execution?  Can they arrest the natural calamities like floods, drought?  Can they mitigate the high wind speed?  Can they stop the losses caused due to floods? Can they alleviate droughts? In order to achieve them, how to design the trench-cum contour channels? By Inter-linking of rivers with a trench cum contour channels, can they change the climate of the area from monsoonal?  Can they change and improve the health of the soil? Can they reduce the hazards of air pollution and water pollution and soil problems and get back the healthy environment? Yes, we can solve.

Inter linking of Rivers of India through Trench Cum Contour channels.

Present Scenario:

Resources:

1.     Air

2.     Water

3.     Land

4.     Human beings.

Air, water and land are the prime requirements for the life to exist

1.    Air

Natural Vegetation – We require the Forest cover- 33% (110M.ha). But the forest cover is being depleted year by year as shown here under.

                                       60 M. ha – 1970

                                       50 M. ha – 1980

                                       32 M. ha – 1990 (10%)

Annual depletion of land: Out of 2.5 M. ha land depletion, 1.5 M. ha from Forest lands only and this amount to 5% of the existing Forest covers.

Air Pollution and raise in temperature: They can be controlled by planting trees.

Pollution from factories: Necessary steps to be taken to reduce their ill effects.

2.    Water

Water is the vital resource and it is essential for the survival of life. Fresh water occurs from rivers (Perennial rivers and ephemeral rivers), ponds etc. as surface waters and from wells, Bore wells etc. as underground water. Sea water is the saltwater.

India’s Water Budget- Present scenario.

Average annual rainfall of India:  1200mm or 400M.ham. (Slightly above the global average rainfall of 990mm)

Distribution of rainfall in India:

25% of the rainfall is unseasonal.

30% of the area receive  < 750mm

40% of the area receive in between 750 – 1250mm

20% of the area receive 1250 -2000mm

10% of the area receive >2000 mm

	Initial rainfall distribution	Final rainfall distribution
Soil Moisture	165M.ha.m (41.25%)	40M.ha.m (10%)
Deep percolation	50M.ha.m (12.50%)	36M.ha.m (9%)
Evaporation	70M.ha.m (17.50%)	164M.ha.m (41%)
Surface Run-off	115M.ha.m (28.75%)	160M.ha.m (40%)
Total	400M.ha.m	400h.m

          

                                                                  

Rivers carry 80% of the runoff during Monsoon months.

Total rainfall: 4000 b. cum or 4 Trillion. Cum

Utilizable runoff water: 1528b.cum = 53960 TMC or say 54,000 TMC.

Present Utilization of surface water: 176 billion. Cum

+ Subsurface (underground) water: 100 billion. Cum.

Scope for further utilization: 1250 billion. Cum /4385 TMC  

Present Planning

Major & medium Project:                       58 M. ha

Minor Irrigation Projects:                        15 M. ha

Subsurface Irrigation (Underground):      40 M. ha  

Total Planned area under Irrigation:         113 M .ha

35 M. ha can also be bringing under Irrigation by high investments. It is proposed to bring an area of about 140 M. ha of land under irrigation by 2050. 690 billion Cum can be utilized through Dams beside 418 billion Cum of underground water can also be utilized.

Rainfall:                        4000 B. cum

Trans-boundary flow:       300 B. cum

Returns:                          259 B. Cum

Total:                           4559 B. Cum

Evapotranspiration:       2347 B. cum

Withdrawals:                 1180 B. Cum

   

Total:                           3527 B. Cum

Remaining water = 4559 – 3527 = 1032 B. cum = 36,444 TMC and that can irrigate 146 m. ha of land.

1 TMC of water can irrigate 10,000 acres or 4000 ha of land; 54,000 TMC = 216 M. ha can be irrigated. So, it is possible to irrigate the entire cultivable area of 165 M. ha of India with the available water if planned properly.

    

3.    Land

Total geographical area of India : 328 M. ha

176 M. ha Gross cropped area

140 M.ha Net cropped area.

35 M.ha degraded forest

40 M.ha Non-available for cultivation

16 M.ha Waste lands

25 M.ha under fallow

24 M.ha unaccounted area.

68% of cropped area is the dry land area, contributing 44% of food grains and supporting 60% of livestock population.

Natural calamities: Floods, Droughts, Hazards like cyclones, water and wind erosion

Erosion: Water and wind are the twin evils of soil

Water erosion: Loss of Top soil: 12 billion tonnes /year or 36.5tonnes /ha whereas the tolerable limit is 4 tonnes/ha. The loss of soil from 80M.ha of cultivated lands is about 6000 M. tonnes /year and the loss of nutrients is about 8.4 M. tons (2.5M.tons of N, 3.3 M .tons of P and 2.6M.tons of K). 178 M. ha of land is seriously affected by soil erosion at present. The total loss of nutrients (NPK) is about 10-16 M. tons/ year which is equivalent to the loss of 60-100M.tons of food production.

Siltation hazard: It is 200 – 1500% higher than the estimated amount.

4.    Sea, Sea coast & Sea Products:

5.    Coal, Iron & other Minerals:

6.    Population:

7.    Life style

The increase of human population is in geometrical Progression whereas the food production is in arithmetical progression. The present food production is about 200M.tonnes. By 2020 the requirement is about 300M.tonnes and the estimated population by 2050 is about 1600 millions, require nearly 500 M. tonnes of food grains.

Hell to heaven – Development

Hypothesis:-

Inter Linking of rivers through Trench cum contour channels

All Indian Rivers need to be nationalised.

1. Inter- state Trench-cum- contour channels: Choose the appropriate number of contour channels needed with their contour levels. Say: 50 – 100 m (80m); 200 – 350 m (300m); 400 – 600m (550m) or at 100m; 200 – 225m; 300 – 325m; 500 – 550m; that are more convenient and economical. The top most contour level be decided keeping in view the major portion of the cultivable area must fall below this contour level. The width of the channels may be I km or two adjoining channels with 500m each or even less. The depth of the channels may be 5 – 10m. The contour channels may be designed keeping the inflow and out flows.

2.     Intra-state contour channels: In between the two Inter-state channels, State Contour Channels may be dug at 5 – 10 m vertical interval with a width of 50 – 100m and with a depth of 5 – 10m.  

3.     Intra- Mandal contour: These may be provided at 500m horizontal interval or 1 -2m vertical interval.

4.     From all the rivers or streams, channels may be provided on either side from the FTL of the contour channel and join them to the contour channel at ground level.

5.     Barrages may be provided across the river/stream with shutters to regulate the water flow.

                  

 

                                                                            River/ rivulet     

                                                                                               

                                                                                          Barrage

                                             Channel                               Channel

                                               

                                                                    Contour Channel

 

6.     Silt load from the mountains etc. can be reduced by providing suitable silt traps before the water empties into the contour channel.

7.     Pipelines may be laid to facilitate flood, sprinkler or drip irrigation.

                                            G

                                     5-10m                                    Spoil bank

                  

                       

 

                                                     Connecting channel                           L   

                                                                                                                                   

8. All along the contour channel different types of trees may be planted on the upstream side to a width of 2 – 3 km depending upon the soil type and climatic conditions of the area so as to meet the timber, fruit, and medicinal requirements of the country /state/ the area in particular.
9. The level of the contour channel can be deviated as per the existing topographical conditions (situations) Viz. while crossing village sites, already constructed project areas, valleys etc. It is also possible to pass the contour channels across the ridges by tunnelling or deep cuts or by connecting two ridged of the same level by providing pipelines with concrete so as to facilitate to pass water from one ridge to the other (U- tube concept) and vice versa depending upon the prevailing field conditions. 

 

Hillock/ridge                        Pipe line (U-Tube)            Hillock/ridge    

  

Hillock/ridge

                                    Tunnel

 

                                                              Contour trench cum contour channel                

Channel   Hillock/ridge

                                     

                       

10.   Drainage pipes may be provided to drain the water collected against the upstream bund to avoid stagnation

      U/s                                                                  D/s           

                                    Channel                                                                  Drainage pipe

11.   The width of the channel can also be increased or decreased depending on the type of soil. More width may be provided at withered zones to facilitate percolation of water deep in to the soil in order to raise the underground water table level and decreased while passing at rocky areas or hilly areas so as to reduce the cost and also to raise the head of flow so as to increase the rate of flow of water in the contour channel due to constriction of channel.

12.  The shape of the channel can also be changed depending upon the type of soil and its angle of repose. Black soils 1:3 or more; red soils 1: 1  ; Rocky soils 1:1; sandy soils – channels may be constructed with cement concrete etc.

13.  It is also possible either to increase or reduce the flow of water in the contour channel by decreasing or increasing the width of the channel respectively. The rate of flow increased by constricting /reducing the width and reducing the rate by increasing the width of the channel.

 

     Wide                                   Constricted                                   wide              

 

14.  Necessary provision for the periodical removal of silt in the contour channels and also to clean the channels may be made.

15.  Rain gauges need to be established to measure the rain water contribution from each state in order to facilitate water allocation properly.

16.  Take 20% of the rain fall as runoff and allot the same quantity of water from the contour channel to that area of the state and measure the quantity of water flowing through that particular river at its head in the particular state, divide this by the total catchment area of that particular river and multiply the area of the catchment of the particular state under the river. Allot this water in addition to the quantity of water received through rainfall.

Let ‘x’ TMC of water is entering into a particular state, say ‘P’ state from its upstream side.

The total rainfall received in ‘p’ state be ‘y’ TMC

20% of the water is the runoff from the state 0.2y TMC.

Provide this water to the state ‘p’ at first from the flood water ‘x’.

The area of ‘p’ state within the watershed area be ‘a’ ha

Total area of the watershed on D/s of the ‘p’ state including the area of the ‘p’ state = A ha 

The total quantity of water received by the state ‘p’

= 0.20Y + (x – 0.20y) TMC

17.  At National level, the services of the engineering personnel may be best utilized keeping them all along the contour channel to regulate the water flow without causing flooding and to allocate water to each state as per the calculations enumerated supra.

18.  The services of Forestry, Horticultural, agricultural may also be best utilized to maintain the trees planted on the upstream side of the contour channel.

19.  At the state level also the services of the Engineering staff may be utilized to allocate water to each Mandal and also to fill all the existing water bodies such as dams, tanks, ponds etc.

20.  The services of Horticultural, Forestry and Agricultural staff may best be utilized for planning and execution of crop production programmes and for regulating the water and planning of trees and crops depending upon the availability of water and type of soil and the prevailing climatic conditions etc. so as to boost up the production.

21.  The sewage and industrial waste water should not be let into these contour channels directly in order to avoid water pollution. They should be purified and reutilized or necessary arrangements may be made to percolate into the soil.

22.  Wild life sanctuaries, swimming pools, parks and other tourism spots may be developed all along the contour channels.

23.  Road ways, Railway tracts and Navigation facilities may be provided.

24.  Provision for diverting the water from one contour channel to another adjoining channel may be provided so as to facilitate for repairing or de-silting of the channels.

25.  Fly overs may be provided to facilitate for easy movement of vehicles and human beings etc.

Note: To protect and improve our natural resources a permanent system need to be established. Top most priority has to be given to Agricultural sector and in stabilising the agricultural production and main focus need to be given for establishing Agriculture based industries rather than other industries.

Advantages of contour channels:

1.     Since there is a dead storage in the contour channels, the water table levels in the downstream side will be raised and mitigate the drought situation.

2.     They convey water and facilitate to fill all the water bodies like dams, tanks, ponds etc. with water. 

3.     It is easy to convey water from upper channel to lower channel.

4.     It is possible to irrigate all the area below the level of the contour channel by gravity..

5.     Ground water can be utilised in conjunction with surface water.

6.     As it is possible to regulate the flood flows from the rivers, the damages caused by floods can be avoided.

7.     The ill effect of the fluoride in areas having high fluoride contents can be solved by dissolving and removal of excess fluoride content from that area as there is sufficient water available for washing away the excess fluoride.

8.     As there are trees all along these contour channels and also contour channels acts as drainage channels, salinization and alkalisation can be avoided besides helps in reclaiming these problematic soils.

9.     The water from existing springs and where the water table is within 5/10 m from the ground level will contribute their water in to the contour channels.

10.  The ill effects of cyclones, storms with high winds speed on the crop losses will be reduced and save the agricultural as well as horticultural crops etc. from these adverse effects as the trees act as wind breaks and also shelter belts and thus save the huge investments on these.

11.  It is possible to bring about all the drought prone area under irrigation.

12.  Soil erosion can be kept within the tolerable limit and save the losses of nutrients as the channels are intercepting the slope of the land.

13.  Navigation and tourism can be developed all along these contour channels.

14.  The climate of the area (Monsoonal) may be changed.

15.  The base flow of the rivers may be developed.

16.  Reduce the damages and havocs caused due to earthquakes or breaking of dams etc. 

17.  It is possible to bring about sustenance in agricultural production and to achieve the production of 550 M. tonnes.

18.  It is possible to irrigate all the available cultivable area of 165M ha

19.  It can solve the drinking water problem in drought prone areas.

20.  Fish culture can also be taken up.

21.  The system can provide the fruit, timber and medicinal requirements of the people of India.

Limitations: Acquiring the land and Rehabilitation is the major task. This has to be over come in view of numerous benefits enumerated supra and allocating the irrigable area to owner whose land taken for this purpose.

Other aspects:

1.  Drainage lines/ waterways:

·         The drainage lines/ water ways can best be utilized as Water bodies and for diversion of      water.

·         Raise the banks of each river/rivulet/stream/streamlets etc; so that no flood water enter into the adjoining fields on either side.

·         Construct check dams across the said water ways to store water and to divert the water into other side channels/pipelines

·         Improve the drainage system of the village/town and plant trees all along on either side of the road in order to bring them as clean and green habitation.  

2.  Utilization of Solar / wind/ tidal Energy: 

·         Establish research centres to take up research on tapping solar energy etc. to produce current within affordable cost.

·         Encourage the people for utilization of solar energy by fixing solar appliances on each and every building. Thus utilizing solar energy by every house holder in conjunction with the conversional current (Hydro/thermal) in order to reduce the pressure on them.

·         Utilize solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, frictional energy, energy from waste materials etc.

·         Establish solar/wind /tidal etc. plants where ever economical.

3.  Education:

·         Abolish the unfruitful educational institutions at once.

·         Establish residential schools, colleges and educate the future citizens of India (All children without considering the caste and creed etc.)

·         Appoint the most efficient, clever and well qualified persons as teachers, lecturers.

·         The entire cost of the education must be borne by the government.

·         The government should establish skill oriented institutions based on the identified available resources in order to utilize their services after completion of the training.

·         The amount paid on each of the candidate for education /training etc. can be reimbursed from their salaries in order to maintain the institutions further.

·         The duty of the Govt. is to identify the available resources and utilize them properly along with human resources.

·         Strengthen the institutions by providing latest equipment besides sending the master trainers to abroad for learning latest technology and skills available in the world.

·         Human resources to be fully utilized in India only. No scope is given to go abroad for want of job.

4.  Utilization of manpower (Human resource):

·         Utilization of the services of the retired personnel/Pensioners and old persons etc. :

The services of the senior citizens need to be utilized properly.

 Paying pensioners without work is not genuine and it is nothing but the wasting of our human power. Their physical and mental power or experience need to be utilized. The services of Old people, disabled people can also be utilized by identifying their skills.

If the physic is not permit, join them in the old age homes and by providing nurses

 and doctors to attend them and to lead a happy life without worries until they leave

this world. So, the services of all the people need to be utilized properly without

wasting the power of human resource.

·         Establish old age homes for old, disabled and for patients by providing the require nurses and doctors to attend them

.

5.  Abolish Unfruitful schemes:

·         Most of the Govt. schemes are being misused. Reservations, free schemes etc. need to be abolished. The govt. need to provide employment to all the people and utilize their man power.

6.  Medical Facilities:

·         Establish natural cure centres, Unani, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Allopath centres and appoint doctors, nurses for each and every village by utilizing their services as these are India’s rich and varied heritage.

·         Update their skills by providing training.

·         At Mandal level establish hospitals for minor operations and at district level Super speciality hospitals with latest equipment and well trained and skilful doctors and nurses and other staff members. At state level super speciality hospitals that are equivalent to hospitals at abroad.

7.  Agriculture:

·         Provide pipelines. Establish drip irrigation system. Encourage organic farming/ permaculture. Reduce the usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc.  Provide good drainage to improve the physical condition of the soil. Maintain good soil health. Discourage the constructions in the cultivable lands.

      Use the land as per its capability

8.  Vertical Housing system:

·         Encourage vertical housing in order to save the land.

·         Utilize the land for establishing parks; play grounds, Yoga centres etc.

9. Utilization of scarce and exhaustible resources:

·         Need to be utilized judiciously. Utilize them in inland by discouraging Exports.

Appendix

Estimates of water resources of India
Agency	Estimate in BCM
1st Irrigation Commission (1902-03)	1443
Dr. A.N. Khosla (1949)	1673
Central water and power commission (1954-66)	1881
National Commission on Agriculture	1850
Central Water Commission (1988)	1880
Central Water Commission (1993)	1869

Water Resource Potential of River Basins of India
Sl.No	River Basin	Catchment Area (Sq.km)	Average water resources potential(BCM)	Utilisable surface water resource (BCM)
1	Indus	321,289	73.3	46
2	a). Ganga	861,452	525	250
	b). Brahmaputra	194,413	41,723	537.2
	c). Barak and others	48,4	24	-
3	Godavari	312,812	110.5	76.3
4	Krishna	258,948	78.1	58
5	Cauvery	81,155	21.4	19
6	Subarnarekha	29,196	12.4	6.8
7	Brahmani & Baitarni	51,822	28.5	18.3
8	Mahanadi	141,589	66.9	50
9	Pennar	55,213	6.3	6.9
10	Mahi	34,842	11	3.1
11	Sabarmati	21,674	3.8	1.9
12	Narmada	98,796	45.6	34.5
13	Tapi	65,145	14.9	14.5
14	West flowing rivers from Tapi to Tadri	55,940	87.4	11.9
15	West flowing rivers from Tadri to Kanyakumari	56,177	113.5	24.3
16	East flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar.	86,643	22.3	13.1
17	East flowing rivers between Pennar and Kanyakumari.	100,139	16.5	16.5
18	West flowing rivers of Kutch & Sourastra including Luni	321,851	15.1	15
19	Area of inland drainagein Rajasthan	-	Neg	-
20	Minor rivers draining into Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh	36,202	31	-
	Total		1869.4	690

Distribution of water resources in the country
1	Indus	7%
2	Ganga, Brahmaputra, Barak and others	40%
3	Godavari	11%
4	Krishna	8%
5	Mahanadi	7%
6	Narmada	5%
7	Others	22%

Estimation of water resources of India
Sl.No	Agency	Estimate in BCM
1	First Irrigation Commission (1902-03)	1443
2	Dr. A.N. Khosla (1949)	1673
3	Central Water and Power Commission (1954 – 60)	1881
4	National Commission on Agriculture	1850
5	Central Water Commission (1988)	1880
6	Central Water Commission (1993)	1869

The CWC in the year 1993 is considered 1869 as reliable. The CWC estimated the utilizable surface water in each river basin considering the suitable sites / location for diversion and storage structures to meet the needs of irrigation and demand of domestic, industrial and other sectors as 690 BCM. The unconsolidated sediments from potential ground water aquifers giving copious supplies of ground water while the compact or crystalline formations from poor aquifers and yield low discharge. The annual replenish able ground water resource for the entire country is 433 BCM as on March 2004.

The state wise Replenishable Ground Water Resource in India
Sl. No	Name of the state	Annual Replenishable Ground Water  Resource						Total
		Monsoon season			Non-monsoon season
		Recharge from rainfall	Recharge from other source		Recharge from rainfall		Recharge from other source
1	Andhra Pradesh	16.04	8.93		4.20		7.33	36.50
2	Arunachal Pradesh	1.57	0.00		0.98		0.00	2.56
3	Assam	23.65	1.99		1.05		0.54	27.23
4	Bihar	19.45	3.96		3.42		2.36	29.19
5	Chhattisgarh	12.07	0.43		1.30		1.13	14.93
6	Delhi	0.13	0.06		0.02		0.09	0.30
7	Gujarat	10.59	2.08		0.00		3.15	15.81
8	Goa	0.22	0.01		0.01		0.04	0.29
9	Haryana	3.52	2.15		0.92		2.72	9.31
10	Himachal Pradesh	0.33	0.01		0.08		0.02	0.43
11	Jammu & Kashmir	0.61	0.77		1.00		0.32	2.70
12	Jharkhand	4.26	0.14		1.00		0.18	5.58
13	Karnataka	8.17	4.01		1.50		2.25	15.93
14	Kerala	3.79	0.01		1.93		1.11	6.84
15	Madhya Pradesh	30.59	0.96		0.05		5.59	37.19
16	Maharashtra	20.15	2.51		1.94		8.36	32.96
17	Manipur	0.20	0.01		0.16		0.01	0.38
18	Meghalaya	0.79	0.03		0.33		0.01	1.15
19	Mizoram	0.03	0.00		0.02		0.00	0.04
20	Nagaland	0.28	0.00		0.08		0.00	0.36
21	Orissa	12.81	3.56		3.58		3.14	23.09
22	Punjab	5.98	10.91		1.36		5.54	23.78
23	Rajasthan	8.76	0.62		0.26		1.92	11.56
24	Sikkim	-	-		-		-	0.08
25	Tamil Nadu	4.91	11.96		4.53		1.67	23.07
26	Tripura	1.10	0.00		0.92		0.17	2.19
27	Uttar Pradesh	38.63	11.95		5.64		20.14	76.35
28	Uttaranchal	1.37	0.27		0.12		0.51	2.27
29	West Bengal	17.87	2.19		5.44		4.86	30.36
	Total States	247.87	69.51		41.84		73.15	432.43
1	Andaman Nicobar	-	-		-		-	0.33
2	Chandigarh	0.02	0.00		0.01		0.00	0.02
3	Daman & Diu	0.01	0.00		0.00		0.00	0.01
4	Dadar & Hagar Haveli	0.06	0.01		-		-	0.06
5	Lakshadweep	Water resources computed using climate water balance STU						0.01
6	Pondicherry	0.06		0.07	0.01	0.03		0.16
	Total Uts	0.14		0.08	0.01	0.03		0.60
	Grand Total	248.01		69.59	41.85	73.18		433.03

Basin-wise Replenishable Ground water Resources
Sl. No	Basin	Resources 2004 (BCM)
1	Indus	31.23
2	Ganga – Brhmaputra - Meghna	209.85
3	Godavari	37.50
4	Krishna	26.65
5	Cauvery	10.15
6	Pennar	5.10
7	East Flowing Rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar	14.17
8	East Flowing Rivers between Pennar and Kanyakumari	18.11
9	Mahanadi	17.72
10	Brahmain - Baitarni	6.70
11	Subarnarekha	5.13
12	Sabarmati	2.98
13	Mahi	3.12
14	West Flowing Rivers of Kutch and Saurashtra	11.90
15	Narmada	12.90
16	Tapi	7.36
17	West Flowing Rivers Tapi  and Tadri	12.38
18	West Flowing Rivers Tadri to Kanyakumari
19	Rivers into Bangladesh and Myanmar	0.40
	Total	432.64
20	Andaman, Nicobar & Lakshadweep	0.34
	Grand Total	432.98

Preliminary studies indicate that in alluvium ground water can be extracted down to 450m as in Indo-Gangetic valley. The coastal aquifers are also having similar depth range of ground water availability. Inland river basins in the country have shallower depth within the range of 100-150 m. In hard rock terrain, ground water is generally available till about 100m depth.  The total estimated static ground water resource is 10,812 BCM.

Per capita availability
Year	Population (in Millions)	Per capita availability (in cubic meters)
2001	1027 (2001 census)	1820
2025	1394 (Projected)	1340
2050	1640 (Projected)	1140

The need for Inter – Basin Water Transfer to Augment Available Water Resources:

The summer monsoon accounts for more than 85% of the precipitation. The uncertainty of occurrence of rainfall marked by prolonged dry spells and fluctuations in seasonal and annual rainfall Is a serious problem for the country. Floods are recurring features, particularly in Brahmaputra and Ganga rivers accounting for almost 60% of the river flow of our country. On the other hand, large areas in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu face recurring droughts.  As much as 85% of drought prone area falls in these states. The water availability even for drinking purpose becomes critical, particularly in summer months as the rivers dry up and the ground water recedes. Regional variations in rainfall lead to situations when some parts of the country do not have enough water even for raising a single crop.

One of the most attractive options available to augment Available Water Resource (AWR) in deficit basins, while reducing the flood peaks to some extent is Inter Basin Water Transfer (IBWT)from surplus to deficit area of river basins. Starting with National Perspective Plan (NPP) of 1980, National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has at length studied Indian River Basin sunder two separate components. Himalayan and Peninsula and identified over 30 links which can transfer about 200BCM of fresh water within sub basins of large basins by the side of smaller links for smaller basins. After feasibility studies, DPR preparation is in progress for at least two links. Studies done so far also indicate that the Brahmaputra, Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari and west flowing rivers originating from the western Ghats have surplus waters for transfer. While carrying out IBWT, the country could avail augmentation for additional irrigation. Domestic and industrial water supply, hydro power generation, navigation facilities etc.

Need for integrated approach to water resources development and management. A large quantum of municipal and industrial effluent is discharged untreated it to the rivers. Return flow from irrigated areas also pollute river water with residual fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Ground water is also getting polluted in similar fashion. Extraction of ground water has started playing a a major role in water resource development.

Conflicts on sharing of water will also reduce if concept of IWRM is put in practice. IWRDM makes it necessary to create Basin Authority for managing Inter State Water Basins. River Basin Organisations (RBO) constituted with multidisciplinary units only can achieve the desired coordination. Comprehensive plans for optimal development of surface and ground water systems and promotion of measures for prevention of water logging and conservation of water quality.

Holistic approach to Integrated River Basin Planning and Management (IRBPM) to achieve optimal benefit and interstate allocation based on the economic value of water will not be possible if planning is to be governed by interstate allocations.

Water has come to be accepted, historically, as a state subject. The political perceptions may not help in enacting legislation under Entry 56, List I  (Union List). With different political parties in power at the centre and in the states, regional parties in the state demanding more autonomy and article 262 having been used sparingly. Significant changes and major amendments in the constitutional provisions will be very difficult. Still RBOs can be established through minor amendments to the constitution. Efforts are being made by Ministry of Water resources / Central Water Commission to create River Basin Organisations for the river Mahanadi and Godavari.

National Water Policy: National Water policy (2002) embodies the Nation’s resolve that planning, development and management of water resources would be governed by National perspective. The updated National Water Policy lays emphasis on Integrated Water resource development and management for optimal and sustainable utilisation of the available surface and ground water.  NWP has prioritised the water allocations are under Drinking, Irrigation, Hydropower, Navigation and Industrial and other uses in that order.

Drought:

Drought prone areas: The central water commission during 1975-82 studied and identified on a regional level 99 drought prone districts in 13 states covering area about 108 M. ha.In case of long duration hydrological droughts, local rainwater harvesting is not successful.It is now being generally accepted that an integrated basin wise planning of development of water resources through major and medium projects and rainwater harvesting and watershed development at micro level is necessary. In addition percolation tanks have shown commendable success wherever practiced in reducing the severity of drought.

Artificial recharge of ground water, creation of surface storages, Inter basin transfer of water, Water conservation measures, cropping pattern, Providing irrigation during critical growth, sprinkler and drip irrigation, conjunctive use of surface and ground water, reduction in conveyance losses, Reduction in evaporation from soil surface, renovation of tanks, ground water use, Reduction of evaporation . Loss from (Reservoirs: Shallow tanks with large surface area in drought region lose nearly half of the water storage by evaporation. The loss is reduced by spreading a chemical like Cetyle-Steryle and fatty alcohol emulsion) desalinization.   

Flood:

 Landslides in Himalayas, spilling of rivers over their banks, drainage congestion, some of the rivers to change their course, erosion along the banks.Huge amount of silt brought by Himalayan rivers get deposited diring the receding floods forcing the rivers to change their course. This result in erosion of banks, the fertile land as well as the embankments. Urban drainage.

Flood prone areas:

Structural measures- embankments and flood walls, dams and reservoirs, Natural detention basin, drainage improvement diversion of flood water. Non- structural measures: Floodplain management, flood proofing, Flood forecasting and warning: Modernisation of flood forecasting service, flood fighting , flood disaster relief; Climate forecasting system, Components of disaster management project, Disaster preparedness  and response planning

Cyclones:

Cyclone disaster management, National cyclone risk mitigation project. The west coast revers (as many as 600) are of great importance. Although only 3% of the areal extent of the basins of India is drained by these rivers, as much as 14% of the countries water resources are contained in them.

The main water resource of India consists of precipitation on Indian Territory which is estimated to be around 4000 BCM per year. In addition it receives transbounary flows in the rivers and aquifers from upper riparian countries.

State wise distribution of Large dams in India
Sl. No	State / Organisation	Already completed	Under construction
1	Andhra Pradesh	281	51
2	Bihar	24	4
3	Chhattisgarh	243	16
4	Gujarat	598	68
5	Jharkhand	49	28
6	Karnataka	229	7
7	Kerala	53	1
8	Madhya Pradesh	899	7
9	Maharashtra	1676	145
10	Orissa	157	0
11	Rajasthan	180	23
12	Tamil Nadu	107	1
13	Uttar Pradesh	115	16
14	West Bengal	28	0
15	Other states	70	23
	Total	4711	390
	Grand Total	5101

Basin wise storage of large dams in India
Sl.No	Name of the basin	Live storage capacities up to July 2007.
		Completed projects	Projects Under construction	Total
1	Indus	16285.90	282.53	16568.43
2	a). Ganga	42060.20	18600.18	60660.38
	b). Brahmaputra and Barak	2326.92	9353.64	11680.56
3	Godavari	25124.60	6205.79	31330.39
4	Krishna	41803.98	7743.54	49547.52
5	Cauvery	8597.20	269.82	8867.02
6	Pennar	2649.40	2170.71	4820.11
7	Brahmani & Baitarni	4648.09	875.60	5523.69
8	Mahanadi	12334.80	1873.00	14207.80
9	Subarnarekha	672.02	1650.19	2322.21
10	Mahi	4722.60	261.43	4984.03
11	Sabarmati	1306.77	60.77	1367.54
12	Narmada	16979.50	6625.10	23604.60
13	Tapi	9408.37	847.42	10255.79
14	West flowing rivers from Tapi to Tadri	11268.03	3464.38	14732.41
15	West flowing rivers from Tadri to Kanyakumari	10236.16	1317.54	11553.70
16	East flowing rivers between Mahanadi to Godavari and Krishna to Pennar.	1601.44	1424.97	3026.41
17	East flowing rivers between Pennar and Kanyakumari.	1838.41	68.49	1906.90
18	West flowing rivers of Kutch & Saurashtra including Luni	4726.92	797.23	5524.15
19	Medium Projects each having a capacity of less than 10MCM	6241.00		6241.00
20	Minor rivers draining into Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh	312.00		312.00
	Total in MCM	225144.31	63892.33	289036.64
	Grand Total in BCM	225.14	63.89	289.03

Dam safety:

Any development measure such as a dam, building or a bridge, present a degree of risk to life or damage to property should it fail. The population located along the river bank downstream, often constitute a higher hazard in the case of a failure than other public structures.

The sedimentation rate varies from reservoir to reservoir and the medium value of sedimentation varies from 4.5 ton 21.10 ham /100sq.km/year where as the average sedimentation rate varies from 6.5 to 35.33 ham/100 sq.km/year. But the rate of sedimentation decrease d with time.

Soil conservation methods seek to protect the water shed through such measures as afforestation, pasture development, protection of river fringes, road sides and the shore lines of reservoirs and the control of forest fires which ravage tree and grass growth. Various types of engineering works involved are head water control structures, sediment and debris detention dams, check dams farm ponds etc. Execution of soil conservation works provides increasing permanent vegetative cover in the critically eroded areas, detention of silt to ensure better permeability and absorption of water in the soil profile and reduce siltation rate and increase the life of the reservoirs.

The water requirement for various sectors. As per the assumption of the Standing sub-committee.
Sl.No	Sector	Water demand
		1990	2000	2010	2025	2050
1	Irrigation	437	541	688	910	1072
2	Drinking incl. live stock	32	42	56	73	102
3	Industrial	-	8	12	23	63
4	Energy	-	2	5	15	130
5	Others	33	41	52	72	80
	Total	502	634	813	1093	1447

Future water requirements:

As per the National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD)

Water requirements for different uses. (in BCM)

Sl. No	Uses	2010							2025									2050
		Low		High			%		Low		High				%			Low			High	%
1	Irrigation	330		330			48		325		366				43			375			463	39
2	Domestic	23		24			3		30		36				5			48			65	6
3	Industries	26		26			4		47		47				6			57			57	5
4	Power	14		15			2		25		26				3			50			56	5
5	Inland Navigation	7		7			1		10		10				1			15			15	1
6	Flood control	-		-			0		-		-				0			-			-	0
7	Environment
i)	Afforestation	-		-			0		-		-				0			-			-	0
ii)	Ecology	5		5			1		10		10				1			20			20	2
	Evaporation loses	42		42			6		50		50				6			76			76	6
	Total	447		458			65		497		545				65			641			752	64
Ground Water
1	Irrigation	213			218	31			236			245		29			253			344			29
2	Domestic & Municipal	19			19	2			25			26		3			42			46			4
3	Industries	11			11	1			20			20		2			24			24			2
4	Power	4			4	1			6			7		1			13			14			1
	Total	247			252	35			287			298		35			32			428			36
	Grand Total	694			710	100			784			843		100			973			1180			100
Total Water Use
1	Irrigation	543	557					78		561			611			72			628	807			68
2	Domestic	42	43					6		55			62			7			90	111			9
3	Industries	37	37					5		67			67			8			81	81			7
4	Power	18	19					3		31			33			4			63	70			6
5	Inland Navigation	7	7					1		10			10			1			15	15			1
6	Flood control	0	0					0		0			0			0			0	0			0
7	Environment
i)	Afforestation	0	0					0		0			0			0			0	0			0
ii)	Ecology	5	5					1		10			10			1			20	20			1
	Evaporation loses	42	42					6		50			50			6			76	76			7
	Total	694	710					100		784			843			100			973	1180			100

Sl.No	Sector	Water demand in BCM
		Standing Sub-committee of MOWR			NCIWRD
		2010	2025	2050	2010	2025	2050
1	Irrigation	688	910	1072	557	611	807
2	Domestic	56	73	102	43	62	111
3	Industries	12	23	63	37	67	81
4	Power/ Energy	5	15	130	19	33	70
5	Others	52	72	80	54	70	111
	Total	813	1093	1447	710	843

NCIWRD follow the estimates of higher and lower limits of Indian population in the year 2050 as 1581 million (high) and 1346 million (low). It felt that India’s population of 1027 million (2001 census) would stabilize at 1600million by 2050. This would require about 450 million tonnes of food grains annually and 500 million tonnes of food grains by 2050 would be planned. To reach this, the ultimate irrigation potential is assessed as 140 M ha through all the irrigation schemes. In order to achieve the food grain production of 550 million tonnes, 3.25 tonnes /ha for irrigated and 1.5 tonnes/ha for the un-irrigated area sand concluded that it would be necessary to harness the entire irrigation potential of 165 M   ha to match the projected food requirements for the year 2050 and 140 M ha for 2025. It is also proposed to increase the irrigation efficiency from the present 30 – 40% to 60%. NCIWRD aimed at to provide 220 litres per capita per day (lpcd) for urban and 150 lpcd for the rural areas for domestic use; 63 BCM for industrial and 130 BCM for Power use by 2050. The situation can only be managed by different methods of conservation of water and adopting all measures for exploiting/tapping the remaining water resources in the identified proposals to be given priority so that additional water is available to meet the demand for all sectors by 2050.