MITHI, THARPARKAR: The Tharparkar district, spread over 22,000 square kilometres, is a chronically poor area with an estimated population of 1.2 million people. Of these, 95 per cent live in around 2,000 villages. Water shortage is a major problem of the area as the limited groundwater is pretty much the only source of water for the people of the district. The groundwater that people here consume is saline to brackish, and has a high concentration of various salts and minerals, which are dangerous for human, as well as livestock health.
Generally, the total soluble salts of the groundwater in Thar Desert range between 636 parts per million (ppm) to 9,543 ppm. The water level varies between eight and 61 metres below the ground surface. The pH is reported to range between 7.1 and 8.6.
In Tharparkar, dug-wells have been found to be the only sustainable source of groundwater. The practice of installing tube wells, hand pumps and wind mills have also been introduced but such schemes have not proved to be entirely successful. Most such schemes are not functional due to social, economic, technical and other reasons.
During a normal day, villagers spend around four to six hours on average to fetch four to five pots (50 to 60 litres) of water from dug-wells. However, during the dry period, they collect water throughout the day, including at nights. At various places in Thar, continuous use has depleted groundwater reserves.
As mentioned earlier, groundwater has a high concentration of salts and minerals, which are not good for human and livestock health. Hence, the regular use of groundwater has led to the emergence of various health abnormalities in people, including kidney stones and joint pains, etc. The social life of villagers is also restricted due to lack of adequate water. This especially affects women, who are responsible for carrying water. Young children often have to forgo education as they are responsible for fetching water. Children remain a necessary part of the water collection process, which sometimes stretches late into the night.
Eighty per cent of the people in Tharparkar are dependenet on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods, as well as on livestock. To solve the water problem faced by the people of the district, billions have been invested in schemes focusing on groundwater exploitation, which have not been successful because of the highly prohibitive costs of these schemes and the technical expertise that is required to make them functional. That is why more than 70 per cent of such schemes are non-functional.
According to different studies, the total domestic water requirement of Tharparkar is 0.25 per cent of the total rainfall that the district received. It means that if we store the abovementioned amount, then Tharparkar can meet its domestic needs, which includes water for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes, etc. However, Tharparkar has a water harvesting capacity of only 0.6 per cent of the total water requirement. The water problem of the area could be solved by just enhancing rainwater, harvesting three times more than its current level. Rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging are more practical options to address the water issue faced by the area.
Mega and unmanageable water schemes will not solve the water problem of the local people. There is a dire need to promote local/indigenous technologies/practices and to promote solar, wind and gravity-based, community-managed water schemes to cope with water issues rather than spending huge amounts on overambitious schemes.
Mukesh Raja
Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2013.
