Farmers' uprising in Rajasthan- A Political Mischief
Current issue of Down To Earth repeated two years old story of water crisis in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan when trouble brewed again.
Most disturbing aspect of this outdated story is that exactly two years later water release from Indus Waters are 11345 cusecs and 1800 cusecs for Indira Gandhi Canal and Bikaner Canal or 13145 cusecs whereas Down To Earth quotes the figure of 5203 cusecs.
Rajasthan Irrigation department didn't report any discrepancy about gauging reported in Down To Earth story. In its official website it gave the figure of 11345 as water delivered as well as water released in to Indira Gandhi Canal. As a matter of fact actual release in Indira Gandhi Canal was 11345 cusecs against schedule of 10775 cusec.
As an engineer, inventor, water expert and farmer I discovered many significant developments in addition to above.
1. Rate of water release is 5.23 cusecs per 404.7 hectares mean flow of 1.3 cusecs per 100 hectares. Since Indira Gandhi Canal envisaged irrigating 1.2 million hectares, at this rate Rajasthan required 627600 cusecs of flow. But flow available was only 5203 cusecs. Government of Rajasthan ought to have told the agitating farmers that it is releasing 12 times more water than average availability for the 1.2 million hectares.
2. It is not unexpected that the area in Ganganagar first to get irrigation enabling Prem Vishnoi to irrigate 40 bighas of land which has now reduced to 3 bighas.
3. Compared to four districts of Rajasthan namely Ganganagar, Suratgarh, Bikaner and Jaisalmer getting 5203 cusecs of water net in a draught year that too after accounting for canal losses from dam releases is ten times more than water allocated to five riparian districts of Doaba region; Doaba means area served by two rivers Sutluj and Beas. They are Jallandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Navashahar.
4. In spite of getting 12 times more water than average for the project command, assistant director admits decline of crop arrivals from Rs.80 crores to just Rs.1 crore. The reason for decline surely is the waterlogging problem, which is acute in Indira Gandhi Nahar Command, and rise of salinity has rendered land unfit for agriculture.
5. While non riparian Rajasthan has computed 2070 cusecs as essential water requirement Delhi, a city of 15 million beg for water in distant rivers and minimum flow prescribed in Yamuna is 10 cumecs or 350 cusecs.
6. Due to the political mischief of Indira Gandhi herself, the canal is named after her, Punjab was deprived of its riparian waters though using waters most productively in the world – though 1.6% in area contributed to 13% food production, Ganganagar and command areas were flooded with 500 million acre feet of water that formed huge lakes in the heart of presumable dry desert. This has altered the weather pattern-affecting monsoon.
7. Recently core of the desert experienced unprecedented floods essentially because there is already an ocean of water released by Indira Gandhi Canal. Even after two months Barmer flood affected people are still living in roadside camps.
Such is colossal waste of precious water.
Water must be used most efficiently and productively.
Ravinder Singh October23, 2006
Down To Earth Story Is Followed By Rajasthan Irrigation Water Statement For October20, 2006
Farmers' uprising in Rajasthan
Intro: Four farmers killed in police firing while demanding more water for irrigation; anger still brewing
Intro: Four farmers killed in police firing while demanding more water for irrigation; anger still brewing
If we are doomed to witness water wars in the coming years, as many experts predict, they would perhaps begin thus. Four farmers were killed and about 30 were injured in police firing in Rawla and Ghadsana towns of Rajasthan's Sriganganagar district on October 27, 2004. They were protesting an alleged reduction in their water allowance from the Indira Gandhi Canal (igc). While defending the police action, the government denies any such reduction. It holds scarcity of rainfall, population increase and growing consumption responsible for the water crisis. But its explanations leave a few questions unanswered, and this is perhaps the reason why the farmers are in no mood to relent even after the incident.
The Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (ignp) transformed Sriganganagar district from a desert to a green area in the 1970s. But the farmers complain about decreased water supply in the past five years. They have suffered huge crop loss during this period. Farmers had been agitating to get more water from igc for almost a month before the police-firing incident. Frustrated at not being heard and to protest against previous day's lathicharge on farmers at Ghadsana, they attacked the Rawla police station on the ill-fated day. They also torched several government buildings and official residences. To contain the uprising, the police first lathicharged the protestors and then opened fire on them, killing two of them on the spot. One farmer succumbed to his injuries later. Not very far away, another agitating farmer was killed in police firing near Ghadsana.
The Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (ignp) transformed Sriganganagar district from a desert to a green area in the 1970s. But the farmers complain about decreased water supply in the past five years. They have suffered huge crop loss during this period. Farmers had been agitating to get more water from igc for almost a month before the police-firing incident. Frustrated at not being heard and to protest against previous day's lathicharge on farmers at Ghadsana, they attacked the Rawla police station on the ill-fated day. They also torched several government buildings and official residences. To contain the uprising, the police first lathicharged the protestors and then opened fire on them, killing two of them on the spot. One farmer succumbed to his injuries later. Not very far away, another agitating farmer was killed in police firing near Ghadsana.
Sowing delayed "We were just asking for some water so that we could sow mustard. We are already late by 25 days, since the sowing should have started from October 5, 2004. We have been requesting the government for more water for the last one month but it is suppressing our demand," charges Brijlal, 58-year-old father of Mangelal, one of the deceased. But Rawla's police justifies its move, saying it had exhausted all other options. "We tried to control the situation by using tear gas and rubber bullets, but the mob went out of control. After using all options, we ordered firing when the mob tried to lynch a constable," says Raisingh Beniwal, station house officer at Rawla police station.
Curfew was imposed in Ghadsana, Srivijaynagar, Anupgadh and Suratgadh immediately after the incident. The army was called out. All weapon licenses were suspended and a judicial enquiry was ordered. The government also announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the four deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured. But this hasn't doused the farmers' anger.
Reduced water supply The igc gets the water of the Satluj and Beas rivers from Punjab's Harike Barrage, via a feeder canal. The ignp was divided into two stages; Rawla-Ghadsana area started receiving water in the project's first stage. The water allowance for areas in ignp's first stage is 5.23 cusec per 404.7 hectares and for those in the second stage is 3.05 cusec per 404.7 hectares. But farmers allege that the government has now made the water allowance equal for both the categories and that their share of water is being diverted. Prem Vishnoi of Rawla, a member of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (kss), a protest group formed by the farmers, reasons: "Had we been getting the same amount of water as ten years ago, when I could irrigate my forty bighas of land, why would I have to irrigate only three bighas now? Our water is being taken to second stage so that government can sell its land. But we won't let this happen."
But Rajasthan's irrigation minister Sanwar Lal Jat rejects the allegation: "We have not made any change in water allowances. Some politicians are spreading these rumours to get political mileage." Shiv Charan Regar, executive engineer (regulations) at the region's irrigation headquarters (north) at Hanumangarh, offers an explanation for the crisis. He says the areas covered under the first stage of ignp were earlier getting all the water allotted to the project. But now the share of the areas covered under the second stage has to be given. Besides, "low rainfall and increase in command area and reservation of water for essential uses have contributed to the crisis," he says.
Wrong gauging?
The ignp's main canal, which has a capacity of 18,000 cusec water, gets only 5,203 cusec water, according to the state's irrigation department. Rajasthan blames Punjab for this shorfall. "Punjab does wrong gauging at Harike barrage from where the water is released to igc. It doesn't give us enough water," alleges an irrigation department official. To resolve this issue, a meeting was held between the irrigation ministers of Punjab and Rajasthan in New Delhi on May 21, 2001. Rajasthan proposed to transfer the control of the barrage to Bhakra Beas Management Board, constituted to reconcile water accounts. But Punjab did not agree. And the water scarcity in the canal continues. What is worse, the essential water requirement of the area has risen to 2,070 cusec due to population growth. This leaves only 3,133 cusec water for irrigation for both stages. This is highly insufficient, especially because the command area, referring to the area under irrigation, has increased. The command area under ignp's first stage, which is divided into two phases, was 0.5 million hectares in 2000-2001. But the project is designed to irrigate only 0.38 million hectares. Though the command area decreased after 1999 due to water scarcity, it is still much more than what the project can irrigate (see table: Increasing command area). "Even if we irrigate only the first phase of stage one as per the allowance, we will need 7,602 cusec water. But we have only 3,133 cusec for both the stages," Regar says. In fact, the command area has been more than planned from the beginning of ignp (see graph: Poor water management).
But these explanations can't answer two simple questions of farmers: what is the government doing to fight water scarcity and why is it developing the project's second stage if there isn't enough water even for the first? "The government can't suppress our protest by killing or arresting us. Ghadsana and Rawla were just trailers," warns Bhupram Vishnoi, a kss member.
But these explanations can't answer two simple questions of farmers: what is the government doing to fight water scarcity and why is it developing the project's second stage if there isn't enough water even for the first? "The government can't suppress our protest by killing or arresting us. Ghadsana and Rawla were just trailers," warns Bhupram Vishnoi, a kss member.
The U turn
Desert to green land to desert again
The Rawla-Ghadsana region, which was a desert till 1970s, became a cotton belt after benefiting from the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP). Construction of IGNP commenced in 1958 and the government started allotting land to farmers in early 1970s. "Because of the IGNP, the whole area with mainly three types of soil — sandy loam, loam sand and loam — emerged as a cotton belt. Agriculture in this area depends totally on canal water as the groundwater is saline," says Om Prakash, assistant director, agriculture, Sriganganagar. Kaluram of Rawla Mandi says the mandi 's turnover had reached Rs 80 crore, with cotton and mustard as the main crops. But the golden period lasted only till 1998. After that, the water supply reduced. The population of the region also increased considerably, contributing to the crisis. Rawla's population rose from 253 in 1971 to 12,325 in 2001. Traders of Rawla Mandi say its turnover for 2003-2004 was hardly Rs 1 crore.
DATE 20.10.2006
| Name | Today's Level ( Ft. ) | Gross Storage (MAF ) | Dead Storage (MAF ) | Live Storage (MAF ) | Inflow (cusec ) | Releases (cusec ) |
| Pong Dam | 1384.60 | 5.435 | 0.885 | 4.550 | 3001 | 11706 |
| Bhakra Dam | 1669.66 | 5.949 | 1.353. | 4.596 | 10125 | 11500 |
| R.S.Dam | 519.85 | 2.146 | 0.886 | 1.260 | 3200 | 6854 |
| B.S.L. | - | - | - | - | 3009 | - |
| Deliveries in Indra Ghandi Feeder 11345 | | |||||
| Deliveries in Bikaner Canal 1800 | | |||||
| Data of 19.10.2006 | | |||||
| Gandhi Sagar | 1309.41 | 5.9367 | 0.4258 | 5.52128 | - | - |
| Rana Pratap Sager | 1155.30 | 2.3550 | 1.1856 | 2.24720 | - | - |
B__CHANNELS
Note :------- N/R --Not recived up to 12.30 PM at Hanumangarh. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. __._,_.___
***NEW: DESI TALK!! The Shout box in the group home page***
Comments, suggestions or just plain chatting... you can do it right here!
Homepage: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dilsedesigroup
***DIL SE DESI GROUP***
You can join the group by clicking the below link or by copying and pasting it in the browser bar and then pressing 'Enter'.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dilsedesigroup/join
OWNER/MODERATOR : rajeshkainth003@gmail.com; {Rajesh Kainth}
MODERATOR : a.amitkumar13@gmail.com; {Amit Kumar}
MODERATOR : manisha.hatkar@gmail.com; {Manisha Hatkar}
MODERATOR : preeti.hande@gmail.com; {Preeti Hande}
MODERATOR : immortally69@yahoo.com {Rahul Joshi}
MODERATOR : kaustubh.basu@gmail.com {Kaustubhshobhan Basu}
MODERATOR : planetofprince@yahoo.com (Prem)
MODERATOR : abhijeet-bhurke@bridgestone.co.in (Abhijeet)
To modify your list subscription, please send a blank email to:
SUBSCRIBE : dilsedesigroup-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
UNSUBSCRIBE : dilsedesigroup-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
INDIVIDUAL MAILS : dilsedesigroup-normal@yahoogroups.com
DAILY DIGEST : dilsedesigroup-digest@yahoogroups.com
VACATION HOLD : dilsedesigroup-nomail@yahoogroups.com
FOR POSTING MESSAGES : dilsedesigroup@yahoogroups.com
SPONSORED LINKS
| Desi arnaz | Lucy desi |
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___