Chandigarh: The water level in Punjab is continuously falling. The Union Minister Bisweshwar Tudu has expressed concern over the declining water level of Punjab.
Minister Tudu told Parliament that the ground water level of 20 of Punjab’s 23 districts is falling drastically. Punjab is now moving towards desertification. In the coming time, a more serious situation can arise about this.
Regarding the falling water level of Punjab, experts also say that if the farmers of Punjab need to get out of the paddy straw, if this is not done then they may have to yearn for further water.
About 1400 km of rivers, streams and canals have dried up in Punjab. Due to which the use of groundwater has increased. In Punjab, only 60 per cent of groundwater is usable.
According to a CAG report, 16 of the 23 districts have detected fluoride-rich, nine iron-rich, nitrate-rich, water-deficient, Copper, cyanide, nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium etc in the ground water. Likewise, many districts like Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Amritsar. Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozepur, Mansa, Bathinda, Faridkot, Sangrur and Tarn Taran districts have high fluoride content in their water.
According to state government records, in 2020-21, the Centre had procured around 203 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from Punjab. The state needed about 54,400 billion liters of water for this paddy cultivation. Although the government is pushing to bring the area of paddy cultivation under DSR, it is believed that direct sowing is not beneficial but water is being spent more.