Satellite-based estimates of alarming groundwater depletion at 4 cm per year |
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Abstract: A satellite study finds that groudwater is depleting at the rate of 4 cm per year in four Indian States of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana,Delhi. |
Groundwater is a primary source of fresh water in many parts of the world. Some regions are becoming overly dependent on it, consuming groundwater faster than it is naturally replenished and causing water tables to decline unremittingly 1. Indirect evidence suggests that this is the case in northwest India 2, but there has been no regional assessment of the rate of groundwater depletion. Here we use terrestrial water storage-change observations from the NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites 3 and simulated soil-water variations from a data-integrating hydrological modelling system 4 to show that groundwater is being depleted at a mean rate of 4.0  1.0 cm yr-1 equivalent height of water (17.7  4.5 km3 yr-1) over the Indian states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana (including Delhi). During our study period of August 2002 to October 2008, groundwater depletion was equivalent to a net loss of 109 km3 of water, which is double the capacity of India's largest surface-water reservoir. |
Annual rainfall was close to normal throughout the period and we demonstrate that the other terrestrial water storage components (soil moisture, surface waters, snow, glaciers and biomass) did not contribute significantly to the observed decline in total water levels. Although our observational record is brief, the available evidence suggests that unsustainable consumption of groundwater for irrigation and other anthropogenic uses is likely to be the cause. If measures are not taken soon to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, the consequences for the 114,000,000 residents of the region may include a reduction of agricultural output and shortages of potable water, leading to extensive socioeconomic stresses. The NATURE Journal, 120809 |
2. Hike in MSPs of Paddy and Pulses Inadequate to Meet Costs |
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The MSP for common variety of paddy has been hiked to Rs 950 from Rs 850 a quintal and for the A-grade to Rs 980 from Rs 880 a quintal for 2009-10 season.
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The MSP for toor has been increased to Rs 2,300 from Rs 2,000 a quintal, moong to Rs 2,760 from Rs 2,520 a quintal and sesame to Rs 2,850 from Rs 2,750 to Rs 2,850 a quintal. In 2008-09 season (October-September), the government has so far procured about 325 lakh tonnes of rice, which is coming handy to overcome the shortfall in production of rice now.
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Freeze: Cotton’s MSP has been retained at Rs 2,500 a quintal for medium staple kapas and Rs 3,000 a quintal for long staples, while remaining at Rs 1,350/1,390 a quintal for black/yellow soyabean, Rs 840 a quintal for maize, bajra and hybrid jowar, Rs 860 a quintal for ‘maldandi’ jowar, Rs 915 a quintal for ragi, Rs 2,520 a quintal for urad, Rs 2,100 a quintal for groundnut-in-shell, Rs 2,215 a quintal for sunflower-seed and Rs 2,405 a quintal for niger-seed. MSPs were been hiked steeply between 2003-04 and 2008-09 for cotton (from Rs 1,725-1,925 to Rs 2,500-3,000 a quintal) and soyabean (from Rs 840/930 to Rs 1,350/1,390 a quintal). PTI 200809 |
Stir plan However, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) has termed the Rs. 100 hike for paddy “too small” and demanded an MSP of at least Rs.1,500. “It is like playing a cruel joke on the farmers who have spent huge amount of money to save their paddy crop in view of the erratic monsoon this kharif,” union president Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said in Chandigarh. He announced launching of an agitation for a higher MSP. |
Note: Labour wage rate under NREGS is creased by 25% from Rs 80 per day to Rs 100 per day. Diesel prices and other input prices also have risen. Rural inflation index is 13%. Rice and pulses production is estimated to decline by more than 10%. Hence there is essential to increase MSPs of paddy by at least 25% i.e., Paddy MSP to Rs 1250 a quintal. According to NCAP the minimum support price fixed on the basis of cost production rather than demand and supply and liberal polices of ‘zero duty on import’ is obstructing production of pulses in the country. There is therefore urgent need to hike MSPs of pulses to match market rates as suggested by NCAP to encourage production. Freeze in MSPs of millets, cotton and oilseeds is unfair and irrational in the face of mounting costs of cultivation. There should be 25% increase for all these commodities. Deferring SMP on sugarcane will ultimately result in reduction in sugarcane cultivation. |
3. Rural Consumer Inflation up 13% : |
Consumer Price Index-based inflation for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers, surged 12.90 per cent and 12.67 per cent respectively for July 2009, up from 11.52 per cent and 11.26 per cent reported in June. |
4. Decline in Rice production Est. at 10 mn Tons : |
The Centre declared that the production of rice might decline by 10 million tonnes this kharif owing to shortfall of 5.7 million hectares in paddy sowing from the deficient southwest monsoon. TH 190809
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5. States asked to limit BPL beneficiaries : |
The Union government wants to limit the “targeted” BPL beneficiaries to 5.91 crore as per 2009 population estimates, instead of the present 6.52 crore. The majority of the States have disputed the Centre’s poverty estimates and demanded “food for all” under the Bill. Against the allocation of foodgrains to 6.52 crore BPL families, the BPL cards issued by the States are 11.03 crore. |
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6. Doubts in everybody's mind about NREGA functioning
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NREGA suffers from many ills leakages and delays in wage payments, non-payment of statutory minimum wages, and work only for an average of 50 days per annum as against the promised 100 days, fudged muster rolls, few durable assets and even fewer sustainable livelihoods. |
The Government accepted that effective implementation of NREGA with the aim of winning confidence of the common man was a "challenge" for it, and hence it needs to be applied as an Act and not a scheme. "Everywhere, including in Parliament, there are doubts in everybody's mind that the way in which NREGA should function, is not happening. Job cards are not reaching the beneficiaries, sarpanches are supposed to make plans but that is not happening and funds for material components are not being used properly. PTI 200809The following steps are needed to improve implementation. |
* Strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) by providing them requisite technical and social human resource so that plans can be made and implemented genuinely bottom-up. |
* There needs to be a renewed focus on improving the productivity of agriculture and convergence to engender allied sustainable livelihoods. NREGA will become really powerful when it helps to rebuild this decimated productivity of small farms and allows these people to return to full-time farming, thereby also reducing the load on NREGA. |
*What would accelerate this strengthening of small and marginal farming is the proposal to allow assets creation through NREGA on farmers lands. Magsaysay award winner Deep Joshi believes that NREGA should actually be used for assets creation on all lands, much as in a watershed programme, so that plans can be made and implemented on a watershed basis. |
*The role of civil society, which is crucial in making NREGA realise its potential. Whether it is grass-roots activists assisting PRIs in social mobilisation, developmental NGOs building capacities of panchayats and supporting them in planning and implementing NREGA works, academic institutions helping to improve the standards of evaluation or eminent citizens acting as ombudsmen, there is an urgent need to mandate civil society action in strengthening NREGA. TH 140809 |
7. CAG points out Rs.1846 cr irregularities in state-owned firms : |
The Comptroller and Auditor General has pointed out financial irregularities of Rs 1846.5 crore in public sector firms in its 2009-10 report, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister said. Replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, he said CAG in its audit observations has pointed out financial irregularities of Rs 1404.32 crore in its 2008 report and Rs 4547.63 crore in the 2007 report. PTI-040809: |
8. Revenue foregone: An analysis of revenue-foregone shows that for corporate taxpayers, the effective tax rate is 22.24 per cent, as against the rate of 20.60 per cent clocked in during 2006-07. Sample companies with profits before taxes (PBT) of Rs 500 crore and above accounted for 54.98 per cent of the total PBT and 54.02 per cent of the total corporate income tax payable. However, their effective tax rate was only 21.85 per cent, in comparison to an effective tax rate of 24.04 per cent for sample companies having PBT of up to Rs 1 crore. An important fact, which needs to be noted, is the discrepancy in effective tax rates between the manufacturing sector and the service sector, at least in regard to the companies analysed in the survey. The effective tax rate for almost all industries is below the statutory level, but the statistics disclosed in the Revenue Foregone Statement reveal that it is especially low for IT-enabled and BPO service providers, at 15 per cent, and for software development agencies, at 12 per cent. These numbers are attributable to the tax concessions, which these industries currently enjoy. BS 020809 |
