Ground Water Use Across Command Area of Pabnawa Minor of Bhakra Irrigation System

Abstract

The northwest Indo-Gangetic plain of India endowed with fertile soil, defined seasons and fair climate produces about 52 % of the national food requirement. Currently, this plain is facing a number of second generation problems, declining water table being the major one. The paper presents the status of ground water table, and looks at the scope of conjunctive use of water at field scale in the command area of the Pabnawa minor of the Bhakra irrigation system. The study showed that there is a steep decline in water table after 1998 in middle and tail reaches. The study revealed that ground water contribution to irrigation and productivity in the canal command is very high. While canal irrigated area is shrinking, ground water irrigated area is increasing every year. The contribution of shallow and medium depth tube wells is negligible /limited, and the area covered by deep tube wells is large in all the reaches of the command area. This system of intensive irrigated agriculture is unsustainable in the long run because of declining water tables and high use of energy.