(a) whether farmers are facing lot of problems due to water logging in lands in irrigated areas;
(b) if so, the area of land affected due to water logging in the country including Krishna basin in Karnataka;
(c) whether the Government has assessed the decline of agricultural productivity in these areas due to water logging; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER FOR WATER RESOURCES (SHRI HARISH RAWAT)
(a)&(b) Yes, Madam. With the start of the planned irrigation development in the post independence era, farmers started using irrigation water in the irrigated commands. In areas, where rainfall is high and the drainage is deficient, this results in the inundation of adjoining areas and rise of ground water table. The seepage from unlined canals further aggravates the problem. The rise in ground water table brings the excessive harmful salts on the land surface causing salinity. As per the Study Report, January, 2009 on “Assessment of Water logging and Salt Affected area in the Major and Medium Irrigation Projects in the country†undertaken by the Central Water Commission in collaboration with Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre, Jodhpur, State-wise details of water logged and salt affected areas in major and medium irrigation commands including Karnataka are given in Annex-I.
There is no specific information available about area of land affected due to water logging in the Krishna basin in Karnataka. The command of 85 major and medium irrigation projects comprising 26 major irrigation projects and 59 medium irrigation projects were studied in the State of Karnataka having CCA of about 4013 Th. ha. The water logging in the major and medium commands are mostly dependent upon annual rainfall and its distribution pattern. Remote sensing based water logging analysis for the year 2002-03 reveals that the water logging problem does not exist in any major and medium irrigation project command in the State of Karnataka. This is because of consecutive drought years during the investigation period of remote sensing studies. However, the analysis of data of December, 2004 (normal rainfall) shows water logging problem exist only in few commands and about 11,974 Ha area is under seasonal water logging.
(c)&(d) There is no specific information available on decline of agricultural productivity in irrigated areas due to water logging. However, a recent study conducted by the World Bank showed that India loses 1.2-2.0 million tons of food grain produced every year due to water logging.