• Inundation of land• India – Monsoon climate•Rainfall concentrated to limited months •Large network of rivers•Possibilities of flood and drought

Flood

-Heavy rainfall- cloud burst- La-Nina

Flood: Natural Reasons

1) Bad drainage (terai)

2) Basin topography (PN-HN)

3) Narrow river valley (Brahmaputra)

4) Siltation of river bed (Kosi)

5) Landslide in the course of river

Flood: Natural Reasons

1) Global warming – melting of glaciers

2) Deforestation – siltation- lower channel capacity

3) Construction of dams and canals

4) Poor settlement management

Flood: Anthropogenic Reasons

1) Ganga-Yamuna system

2) Brahmaputra – Manas

3) Mahanadi4) Weinganga

(Godavari)5) Bhima (Krishna)

Flood-prone areas

• IPCC 4th and 5th report:• Increase in events of heavy rainfall in Himalayan region•Deforestation, haphazard construction, dams in upper reaches of rivers•Sand mining, habitation near river valley

Problems of floods

Administrative strategies:Flood management program (11th Plan)

Flood control commission to control flood in 23 rivers

Information exchange from Nepal and China about volume of water in rivers in their origin

Solutions for flood

•Forestation on the banks of rivers•Better settlement management•Watershed management and rainwater harvesting than construction of dams and canals

Solutions for flood

•Rainfall less or equal to 75 cm or less than 60 cm = Drought

Drought

•Areas having more than 25% of variability of normal rainfall – drought-prone

1) Plateau region2) Western RJ,

Kutchh3) Ladakh

Drought-prone areas

•Drought is not only about water scarcity – much more complex in India•Drought is related development •Drought = agrarian poverty = high IMR, high MMR, low literacy

Problem of Drought

•Drought can affect only if the farmers are not prepared.

1) Economic status of farmers

2) Irrigation facility3) Alternative

livelihood

Problems of Drought

Agriculture income

Irrigation facility

Alternate livelihood

To fight against Drought

Where agriculture is totally depended on rainfall

Areas without irrigationDry season = land fallowingIf rain fails = agricultural povertyLow productivity, subsistence farming, high poverty

55% of net sown area of the country

Rainfed-Areas

1) Rain-shadow regions of western Ghats - Telangana, Rayalseema, Vidarbha

Drought-prone areas

2) Malawa, Bundelkhand, Mewar, 3) Eastern India- High rainfall but misuse or under use of water resources – administrative lapses – underdevelopment of irrigation network

Drought-prone areas

4) North-east IndiaWettest part of India but no availability of water storage facility Water shortage in dry season

Drought-prone areas

Rainfed areas produce 50% of India’s grain production – 90% of pulse/millets production

Most of the cash crops, industrial crops exclusively from these areas

Important for food securityHome of 66% of livestock population of India

Max potential for livestock expansion

Importance of Rainfed areas

•Most of their farmers grow cash-crops (cotton, ground nut, tobacco) • if crop fails – reduce their purchasing power – hunger- malnutrition•Low Human Development

Problems of Rainfed areas

•Arid, semi-arid regions•Land fallowing, soil-erosion•Penninsular region -Difficult to construct canals + low ground water level

Problems of Rainfed areas

Rainfed areas – more than 40% of India’s BPL population (most of them are landless labourers)

If farmers of rainfed areas are strengthen – much of the poverty in India will be reduced

Problems of rainfed areas

- Land abandoning – soil erosion

-Reduction in production – food security

- Low productivity-Poverty (most of the small and marginal farmers live in drought-prone areas)

Implications of drought

Expansion of irrigation facilityUse ground water in water-crisis situation

rainwater harvestingCheck-damsWatershed- management

Solution to drought

Rainwater Harvesting Small check-dams

Small drought-preventing techniques

Sustainable way to use water resourceUnderstanding the natural resource in its entirety

Integrated or system approachHuman intervention should be limited to natural limits

Watershed management

•Watershed = geo-hydrological unit that drains at a common point•A main river and its catchment area

Meaning of Watershed

•River, streams, soil, surrounding forest, riverine ecosystem, wild life•Surrounding agriculture field, villages•Human beings (active participation)

Components of Watershed

•Construction of small earthen check-dams •Network of small dams instead of large concrete dams•No blockage of river•Storage and sustainable use of water

Watershed Management

•Afforestation on river banks• Increase in ground water level• Increase in water level in river•Soil conservation•Entire area can be greener

Watershed Management

Watershed Management program in 1973

2009-2010Drought-prone area Program + Desert development program + integrated watershed development program = Integrated watershed Management Program

Institutional and capacity building assistance from center

Watershed development in India

Successful Watershed Management experiments:1) Aravari project in RJ under

Rajendra singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh

2) Rale gaon siddhi (MH) under Anna Hazare

Watershed development in India

management can work only under cooperative atmosphere of entire area

Community participationStrong panchayati raj systemDecentralized system

People’s participatio

n

•Local population to participate in watershed management•Better soil and water availability – better production•Better income•Environment and ecology balance each other

Involvement of local population

Increase in water availabilityMultiple crop in a year – increase income

Increase farm income – more access to modern inputs

Increase in agriculture productivityIncrease fodder availability = more yield of milk

Benefits of watershed management

Agriculture income

Irrigation facility

Alternate livelihood

To fight against Drought

•Alternate income to farmers from:•Animal husbandry (dairying, meat, poultry, animal products, bee keeping, seri culture)•Agro-forestry•Food-processing industries, handicraft, tourism

Solution to Drought

For Availability of alternative employment in rural areas

Connectivity, transportation network, 24x7 electricity required

Facility of crop-insurance, formal banking to cushion against economic crisis

Solution to Droughts

Agriculture income

Irrigation facility

Alternate livelihood

To fight against Drought

•Development of agro-infrastructure •check-dams, tanks, rain-water harvesting systems, wells/tube wells, cold storages•Use of Soil conservation techniques

Agro-practice in Drought-prone areas

•Choice of crops•No = Water intensive crops like, rice, cotton, sugarcane•Yes = Less water intensive crops – millets (Jawar, Bajra, Ragi)

Agro-practice in Drought-prone areas

Optimum use of water in irrigation-Drip irrigation- sprinklers

Agro-practice in Drought-prone areas

• India –limited irrigation potential – there will be some areas out of irrigation network •Risk diversification:•Agro-silvi•Pastoral system

Agro-practice in drought prone areas

•Drought-resistance variety•Conservation of soil moisture – mulching•Pre-monsoon ploughing and soil dressing•Deep drilling of seed and fertilizers• crop-rotation

Agro-practice in drought prone areas

Provide them:SubsidiesCrop-insurancePDS / Direct cash transferGuaranteed employmentDevelopment of rural assets

Drought-prone area development plan

FloodFlood-prone areasProblems – solutionDroughtDrought-prone + Rainfed areasSolution to drought situation