Punjab soil & water conservation dept submits rainwater harvesting plan to state, Centre

“Punjab has been facing the problem of depleting groundwater for over two decades now, but the state’s successive governments seemed to have no political will to get a real solution to tackle the issue except making statements,” said an expert on ground water from the state agriculture department, adding that RWH&RWR systems are the need of the hour here where ground water is depleting by over half a metre each year.

Punjab receives around 650 mm rainfall annually, 75% is received between June and September.

“For average rainfall of 1,000 mm, approximately four million litres of rainwater can be collected a year in an acre of land post-evaporation. So if Punjab gets around 650 mm rain, then around 2.5 million litres can be collected,” said Gurvinder Singh Dhillon, map officer, chief conservator office, Chandigarh.

“In urban areas, more than 65% to 70% rain water get wasted, either going into sewer lines or evaporating due to lack of kuccha places and green belts. If we start harvesting and recharging rain water from big buildings, use of groundwater will decrease and water level will automatically go up in a few years,” said a senior officer of the department’s town planning wing, adding that several such projects had been proposed in the state in the past but nothing was done.

“We have made an action plan because in Punjab, 70% of the population depends on groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes,” said Dharminder Sharma, IFS, chief conservator of the soil department.

He further said that in the Kandi belt (sub-mountainous) more than 60 water harvesting structures and over 500 smaller check dams have been constructed in the past two decades.

The plan was been submitted to the Centre in January and the state government in May, and shall be implemented in the coming couple of years, he added.

“The action plan has been prepared with a total outlay of Rs 213.75 crore which includes Rs 73.75 crore for installing 305 rain water harvesting structures in Kandi area, Rs. 112.50 crores for constructing 2500 rain water recharging Shafts across state, Rs. 2.50 crores for constructing 50 units of recharge ground water at tail ends of the canal system and Rs. 25 crores for constructing 100 units of rejuvenation of village water Bodies for recharge and Irrigation source Creation,” said Dhillon.

“Besides focusing on water recharge, the plan also includes interventions for reducing ground water drawal by utilising harvested water for irrigation,” said chief conservator Sharma.

The action plan also includes suggestions of micro-watersheds in earthen or RCC dams.

How rainwater recharging/harvesting is done

Rain water collected on rooftops/open spaces of houses/buildings is added to soil through underground pipes laid from the rooftop to the ground. On ground, two tanks are constructed as per the requirement of the premises and the collected rain water through pipes goes into the first tank directly, gets filtered and then goes into the second tank. Expenditure varies from Rs 50,000 to Rs. 5 lakh depending on the area.

Rain water harvesting is collection of rain water by storing it in a different ways, for example, by constructing ponds in low-lying areas from where it is later lifted for irrigation purposes and watering plants in parks. Wells are also constructed in sub-mountainous areas and from there, water is supplied to the fields through underground pipes.