On the occasion of World Water day, SwitchON Foundation released its plan to combat groundwater depletion in the state. An increasing vulnerability to climate change means that Indian agriculture and cities face an uphill task in effectively and efficiently tackling its water problems. “In recent years, farmers and cities have started facing water stress which has resulted in heightened distress” says Vinay Jaju of SwitchON Foundation, a not-for-profit organization working in the energy access space for almost a decade. To address this issue, SwitchON launched its flagship SEWA (Strengthening Energy Water Agriculture) Program which aims to achieve the trifecta of promoting clean energy in agriculture, doubling farmer’s income and conserving water resources.

The land of abundant rainfall, plentiful surface water and rich alluvial aquifers, West Bengal – has started seeing emerging signs of groundwater decline in 80% of the districts and cities across the state including Kolkata. Even though the northern part of Bengal is considered to be safe, there is increasing evidence of springs and wells drying up. A study conducted by SwitchON Foundation has revealed that the highest decline of groundwater is seen in the central part of West Bengal. NASA has also revealed that India’s Northern and Eastern states are among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has resulted in the decline of freshwater availability. Saikat Pal from PRASARI at a roundtable organized by SwitchON Foundation said “The central region or the Rice Bowl of Bengal is the most productive zone and majority of the groundwater development has taken place here”.

In an effort to tackle the sluggish agricultural growth, the second green revolution is being promoted in East India with aggressive use of groundwater. “The consequences would lead to wells going dry, groundwater contamination emerging even more strongly than we have today, competition and conflict over groundwater, along with groundwater depletion” said Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni at SwitchON’s roundtable on groundwater. Prof. Chinnasamy, IIT Bombay said at the roundtable that it is a concerning issue as “India extracts groundwater in combination and excess of China and USA put together”. As alarming as it may sound, it is no news to bureaucrats, academicians or the government.

“East Indian states like West Bengal and Orissa receive heavy rainfall but due to lack of harvesting technologies and community practices, flood irrigation is mostly practiced which results in drought-like situations” says Swapna Saringi, Foundation for Ecological Security at the roundtable. To tackle this situation, SwitchON Foundation is promoting micro irrigation with solar pumps, which helps in increasing the income of farmers while reducing upto 60% of water use. SwitchON is also motivating and mobilizing the farmers to make a sincere attempt to diversify their cropping pattern by shifting from water guzzling crops like rice to low water high value horticultural crops. In addition to that SwitchON is intiaiting a campaign in Kolkata and various districts of West Bengal on water conservation and recharge.

In a study conducted by SwitchON Foundation, it was seen that the highest groundwater level drop in West Bengal since 2013 has been up to 11 metres, noticed in Bankura followed by Birbhum district in the post monsoon period. The Central Groundwater Board data also suggests that there has been a rise of critical blocks in the state. Some of the farmers in Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia and Hooghly have raised concerns towards unavailability of groundwater. Due to rapid urbanization, there has been a decline of groundwater level in Kolkata from 7 metres to 20 metres in the last 12 years. An IIT-Kharagpur study reveals that lower contribution of water from aquifers has resulted in even drying up of rivers during summer season.

Groundwater depletion being witnessed in Punjab is an outcome of decades old short sighted agricultural policies that promote food production at the expense of groundwater over-exploitation. Mahasweta Chakraborty of SwitchON Foundation said “The groundwater level in West Bengal is not yet as serious as Punjab, but it is time to develop viable and practical solutions before the state runs out of this precious resource and cities like Kolkata taps run dry as was the case in chennai.”

On World Water Day 2021, Parul Thapa of SwitchON Foundation said that “West Bengal is considered to have tremendous groundwater potential. In the absence of technologies to harvest rainwater, the state is struggling to meet the aspirations of its farmers and the time has come for taking a critical look at the deteriorating resource”. As an active practitioner in the state, SwitchON has started to promote micro irrigation and has mobilized hundreds of farmers from across the state to start installing drip and sprinkler units in the districts of Nadia, Purulia Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Medinipur etc. On the occasion of World Water Day, SwitchON announced that it is partnering with various academic institutions like IITs with a plan to undertake rainwater harvesting in Kolkata and groundwater recharge in 4 districts of West Bengal along with spreading awareness among farmers and citizens to save water.

Watch the video to know what experts think about Management and Monitoring of Groundwater: