RUDRAPUR: In Udham Singh Nagar district, considered the rice bowl of Uttarakhand, thousands of farmers are dependent on groundwater resources for irrigating water-hungry crops such as rice, maize and other kharif crops. Since the past decade, this area has been grappling with intense and rapid depletion of groundwater reserves largely due to over-extraction in the industrial area set up at different cities in the district and the cultivation of nonseasonal crops. The consequences, experts say, can be far-reaching especially since water shortage can hit production of rice and other grains.
Anil Hafeez, an agronomist, told TOI, “There are more than one thousand industries in the district alone which use enormous volumes of water for daily purposes. They deploy highly sophisticated water-drawing machines which are leading to depletion of water level.”
Balvinder Singh Virk, a farmer from Bigwara village, said that the problem has been festering for a long time. “Groundwater is increasingly used for farming when monsoon rains do not deliver sufficient level of precipitation. I would estimate that the problem of depleting groundwater has been persisting for at least 15 years.”
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