100 Rohtak villages waterlogged

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, August 12

Farmers in over a 100 low-lying villages of Rohtak district have been battling waterlogging and salinity problems that threaten to render their land unfit for cultivation.

Though groundwater has been rising alarmingly in several blocks, it has reached up to 1.5 metres from the surface level in 16 villages and between 1.5 and 3 metres in around 100 villages.

Rohtas, Deputy Director (Agriculture), said groundwater could prove disastrous for farming if it reached one metre from the surface. “All crops need at least one metre space in the soil to flourish,” he added. The average groundwater level in the district was 4.30 metres in 2010 and it was recorded at 3.58 metres this year, according to a survey by the Agriculture Department in June.

Kalanaur block witnessed the highest decadal rise of 1.45 metres, followed by Rohtak block at 0.94 metre and Meham and Lakhan Majra at 0.66 metre each. The count stood at 0.1 metre in Sampla.

Ankit of Karotha village in Rohtak block said due to the rising water table, their fields got submerged even during light rain. Dalvir Singh Rana, a hydrologist, said Rohtak district was geographically shaped like a bowl. Rohtas said horizontal surface drainage was the only solution to counter the menace.

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