Water harvest only way to fight drought

Ranchi: Local policies and area specific plans are necessary to replenish Jharkhand. If anthropogenic activities lead to climatic changes, certain steps in the positive direction can reverse the ill-effects. Steps to bring about a change were discussed at the 'Replenish Jharkhand' conclave organized jointly by the Information and public relations department, the government of Jharkhand and The Times of India.
Experts in water conservation from across the country shared their experiences and top bureaucrats from the state government raised queries to understand if the models experimented in Rajasthan, Telengana and other states can be replicated here.
Principal secretary, rural development department, N N Sinha asked if the structure of check dams used in Rajasthan are fit to be used in Jharkhand at a time when the annual average rainfall in the state has decreased by around 100mms in the past 100 years.
Answering him, waterman of India Rajendra Singh who has championed bringing greenery in deserts of Rajasthan said that proper human intervention helped them increase annual rainfall from 340mms to 600mms over the past 32 years in a 1,250 sq km area in Rajasthan.
Showing slides to compare the change in cover of vegetation between 1984 and 2014, Singh said that the thermal map prepared by remote sensing shows the difference distinctly. He admitted that the structure of check dams for hilly areas is different from the structures used in a place like Rajasthan.
"Importance of trees cannot be denied in conservation of water because the root helps in percolation of water into the natural aquifers and also checks surface run off.
Principal secretary to governor S K Sathpathy shared his experience of series of check dams failing in Jharkhand because of the deposition of silt. He asked if there was some way to check run off of surface water without constructing traditional check dams.
Answering this, Singh said that in most of the hilly areas, seasonal rivers carry huge quantity of sand and silt with them which is often deposited at the core wall of check dams. "We must design it in a way that the silt gets deposited to form natural wall and strengthen the core wall, otherwise farmers complain about the river sides being cut wherever check dams restrict the flow," he said.
Singh admitted that despite checks and balances, check dams are filled with silt within 15 years and it becomes necessary to clear them.