Water from overflowing ponds used for farming

strap: Farmers in 11 villages successfully use water for kharif crops

Box: Kurukshetra village shows the way

As a pilot project, 11 ponds from 11 villages — Kirmach, Jirwehri, Dhurala, Bir Mathana, Kishangarh, Kaul, Dhurana, Machhonda, Dukheri, Bal Chhapar and Talakaur — were selected and farmers used overflowing water from ponds for kharif crops last year. The total cost of the pilot project was Rs4.89 crore. Solar-powered micro-irrigation systems were installed in Kurukshetra’s Bir Mathana village. From June 12 to September 16 last year, the village posted water savings of 4.86 crore litre and power saving of Rs73,000.

BQ: We propose to cover 55 more villages in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Karnal under this project and the proposal has been sent for the government’s consideration. By adopting these methods, new areas can be brought under irrigation with optimum utilisation of available surplus water. Neeraj Sharma, xen, cada

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, January 13

The Command Area Development Authority (CADA) has proposed using surplus water from overflowing ponds in villages for irrigation to reduce usage of groundwater for the purpose.

The CADA has studied 11 ponds in villages in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts. After testing water and calculating daily available runoff, the area which can be irrigated from surplus water was calculated on the basis of crop water requirement in 11 villages, CADA officials said. Sedimentation chambers were constructed to separate coarse sediments and obtain clear water.

CADA XEN Neeraj Sharma said, “A study was carried out over 57 acres at Bir Mathana village in Kurukshetra to evaluate its performance in saving groundwater and electricity from June 12 to September 16 last year. The results indicated that the underground water saving over 57 acres was 4.86 crore litre, while electricity saving was Rs73,000. Solar-powered micro-irrigation systems were installed for this project.”

“After the success of the research, we propose to cover 55 more villages in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Karnal under this project and the proposal has been sent to the state government for consideration. By adopting these methods, new areas can be brought under irrigation with optimum utilisation of available surplus water. Expenditure on electricity and diesel of farmers will reduce, while the yield will increase as nutrient-rich water will be supplied. Water that was otherwise going waste will now be put to good use and huge expenditure on deepening of bores and power will be saved,” the XEN said.