In 7 years, surface flow irrigation schemes down by 9000: Census

New Delhi: The number of surface flow minor irrigation schemes dropped by nearly 9,000 in seven years since 2006-07, resulting in growing dependence on groundwater for agricultural purposes, a government census has found.

According to recently released fifth minor irrigation schemes census, "The number of surface flow minor irrigation schemes has declined from 6,01,000 in 2006-07 to 5,92,000 in 2013-14."

These schemes are located in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand and irrigate about 4.89 million hectare of land, the census has found.

Under the scheme, rainwater is used for irrigation by storing or by diverting it from a river, stream or nala. While permanent diversions are constructed for utilising the flowing stream or river water in some areas, temporary diversions are also constructed somtimes that get washed away during the rainy season.

The decline in the number of surface irrigation schemes has led to growing dependence on groundwater schemes causing depletion of underground water table, the study says.

It has suggested that steps should be taken to restore surface water sources in order to continue to derive benefits from them and stop further depletion of water table.

Tanks/ponds form the largest share (41 per cent) of all the surface flow irrigation schemes, while 14 per cent and 10 per cent of the schemes are reservoirs and temporary diversions, respectively.