Punjab launches science-driven initiative to study, conserve water resources

Acknowledging the significance of the report, the committee has now tasked the PSFFWC to expand the study to micro-level, employing advanced techniques like carbon dating, isotope technologies, and seepage pattern analysis.

To galvanise expert insights, the PSFFWC also hosted two back-to-back workshops — first, featuring a team from the University of California, USA, led by Sharron Elizabeth Benes and Dr G S Brar; and the second involving water experts from the Punjab Agricultural University, the Panjab University, and the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.

On Friday, PSFFWC chairman Professor Sukhpal Singh convened a high-level meeting, which was attended by eminent scientists including IIT Ropar’s Pushpendra Pal Singh (Dean) and Sarbjot Kaur (Radioactive Tools Expert), IIT Mandi’s Harshad Kulkarni and Ranjeet K Jha, NIH Roorkee Scientist-E Gopal Krishan, and Horticulture Department’s former director Dr Gurkanwal Singh.

The session, coordinated by PSFFWC’s administrative officer-cum-secretary Ranjodh Singh Bains, focused on a 15-point agenda, addressing immediate and long-term water management challenges.

Key recommendations included advanced isotopic studies and carbon dating to track groundwater depletion, heliborne surveys to identify paleo-channels for aquifer recharge, feasibility studies for a 5-billion cubic metres (BCM) reservoir on Ujh river, scientific aquifer characterisation to establish sustainable extraction limits, use of salt-tolerant and heavy metal-absorbing crops including bamboo species, revival of traditional water bodies and wells for recharge, and flood-resilient agricultural strategies.

“These insights would underpin a state-wide Water Conservation Mission involving top research institutions,” Bains said.

The participating institutions — IIT Ropar, IIT Mandi, and NIH Roorkee — gave in-principle approval for collaboration, while a consortium memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed soon, with the PSFFWC to operationalise a comprehensive state-level project focused on groundwater sustainability and pollution prevention.

Expressing confidence in the consortium’s potential, PSFFWC chairman Sukhpal Singh said: “This collaboration represents a turning point. With the collective expertise of our scientists and the commission’s policy platform, we are poised to deliver transformative solutions to Punjab’s water challenges. This initiative is expected to safeguard Punjab’s agricultural future, and elevate its stand on the global stage as a model for sustainable water management.”