Water: April 2006 Archives

Coca Cola was the leading sponsor of the "World Water Forum" in Mexico this year. But Coke is not alone in the devastation it inflicts in India. Meet the Real Thing. Central and state governments in this country are privatising water. Coke is just one of the beneficiaries. Oddly, those selling out India's water almost never use the word 'privatisation'. They know how discredited that is. So the buzzword is 'efficiency'. Or 'public-private partnerships'. The real questions are never raised. Should anyone own water? How must it be shared? Who gets to decide? Is water a commodity to profiteer in or is it a human right? Is it more than a 'human' right? Countless other species also need it to survive. - P. Sainath

Answer : -- Well irrigation causes the level of the water table to go down until the subterranean flow of water eventually dries up. Shortages of water due to well irrigation are not easily perceptible.

The negative effects of well irrigation include the following:

(1) All neighbouring shallow wells dry up creating the problem of the lack of drinking water.

(2) Trees, orchards and large plants don't get sufficient water so they may wither and die. Green country-side will become a desert after 30 to 45 years of intensive well irrigation.

(3) In some deep tube wells elements or minerals which are harmful to the soil get mixed with the water, causing salinity, for example. As a result the land becomes unfit for cultivation and eventually becomes infertile.

(4) When the flow of well-water stops, irrigation tanks supplied by these wells also dry up.

Thus, well irrigation should be used only as a temporary measure because of the devastating effects it can have on the surrounding environment. Alternative methods of irrigation are river irrigation, irrigation from reservoirs, shift irrigation and lift irrigation. [From 'QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - 3', Prout in a Nutshell - Part 14, By Shrii P. R. Sarkar]