Urban News

The Hindu 14.08.2009

Groundwater vanishing in North India, says NASA

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Groundwater levels in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi are falling dramatically — by one foot a year — a trend that could lead to “extensive socio-economic stresses” for the region’s 114 million residents, says a scientific paper based on the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s satellite imagery.

A staggering 109 cubic km of groundwater has been lost in just six years (2002-08) — a figure twice the capacity of India’s largest surface reservoir Upper Wainganga and “much more” than the government’s estimation, says the paper published in the latest issue of international journal Nature.

The depletion is caused entirely by human activity such as irrigation, and not natural climatic variability, concludes the study co-authored by Matthew Rodell, a hydrologist with NASA. Groundwater is being pumped out faster than it is being replenished.

The finding is based on images from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a pair of satellites that sense changes in Earth’s gravity field and associated mass distribution, including water masses stored above or below the Earth’s surface.

Between August 2002 and October 2008, the region lost 109 cubic km of groundwater, almost triple the capacity of the largest man-made reservoir in the U.S., Lake Mead. If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater use, consequences may include collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water, said Professor Rodell.

Depletion is likely to continue until effective measures are taken to curb groundwater demand which could propel severe shortages of potable water, reduced agricultural productivity, conflict and suffering, the research paper added. Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi are semi-arid or arid. The region has benefited from the Green Revolution “fuelled largely by increased production of groundwater for irrigation.”

The Hindu 14.08.2009

Inflation dips further

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The rate of inflation dipped further to minus 1.74 per cent for the week ended August 1 from (-)1.58 per cent in the previous week despite soaring prices of essential commodities such as cereals, pulses, sugar, fruits and vegetables.

According to the official wholesale price index (WPI) data released here on Thursday, the annual point-to-point inflation has strayed deeper into negative territory mainly because during the like week a year ago, the price spiral was pegged at a 16-year high at 12.91 per cent.

Even as the government is drawing up contingency plans to tackle the adverse impact of the deficient monsoon rainfall on kharif production and foodgrain prices, the WPI inflation is expected to remain in the negative zone for another two months on account of the high base effect.

And this is despite the fact that on an annual basis, the prices of cereals have soared by 12 per cent, pulses by 18 per cent and fruits and vegetables by 18.4 per cent.

During the week, prices of coarse cereals such as barley and jowar went up by two per cent each, while arhar, spices, and fruit and vegetables turned dearer by one per cent each. Imported edible oils were five per cent costlier while unrefined oils and sugar were up three per cent and one per cent, respectively over the previous week.

Manmohan’s call

Taking stock of the impact on kharif production owing to the deficient rainfall last week and its fall-out on prices of essential food items, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said: “Agricultural operations have been adversely affected in several parts of the country, causing distress to farmers. A deficit of more than six million hectares has been reported in paddy, which is the worst-affected crop…In order to contain increase in prices of essential commodities, the Central government and the State governments will have to work together and activate the public distribution system which is an important safety net especially for the poor.”