CRRID: People ready to fight for water but do nothing to save it

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 22

The state is ready to fight for its riverwaters, but none — be they farmers or industrialists or domestic consumers — seems interested in saving water.

A report prepared by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) on water use pattern and its sustainability in Punjab has found that in agriculture around 78 per cent, in industry around 96 per cent and among domestic consumers around 91 per cent don’t make any effort to save water.

“When it comes to the consumption of water, especially groundwater, it is not being done in a judicious manner, more so in agriculture but almost the same in the industry and domestic sectors. The water table has gone down alarmingly and sub-soil water is becoming unfit for human and animal consumption in certain area even for crops,” said Ranjeet Singh Ghuman, former Nehru SAIL Chair Professor at CRRID, who conducted the study.

Use in agriculture

The study found that contrary to the impressionistic view, 79 per cent of the farmers are aware of the declining watertable. But as regards rainwater harvesting, only 11 per cent are resorting to it.

Industry and water

The study found that the industrial sector is mainly dependent on groundwater with average depth of the tubewell being 230 ft. As regards water conservation, 96 per cent units are not harvesting water. Only 24 per cent units have installed one or the other device.

Domestic consumption

Awareness about water consumption is very low when it comes to domestic consumers, as only 10 per cent people said they were aware about water conservation. However, 91 per cent households do not use any water saving techniques.