UP: 23 check dams & 12 ponds built this year, farmers get bumper crops as groundwater level improves

New Delhi: Known for insufficient supply of drinking water and unavailability of water for farming, the reorganised Chinhat and Sarojini Nagar blocks of the state capital have undergone a massive change over the last four and a half years, thanks to the improved groundwater table and efforts of the irrigation department.

Chinhat and Sarojinigar Blocks of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh had been suffering from the major problem of depletion in groundwater level. Neither the area had enough water for drinking nor for farming purposes. The Water level in the block was also in the over-exploited category.

In the 8 development blocks of Lucknow, there used to be dry ponds, and the area was not equipped with less water-consuming methods of farming. To address the problem, from 2017 onwards, rapid efforts for rainwater harvesting started. The old ponds were renovated along with the construction of new ponds.

With the plantation of around 2093581 saplings, the water condition in these blocks started improving. The government has also installed water harvesting plants in around 446 government and semi-government buildings of the rural as well as urban areas for rain water harvesting.

2093581 saplings planted, water harvesting plants installed

According to Lavlesh Singh, former Gram Pradhan of Papanamau Panchayat Chinhat, “The increasing exploitation of water and the falling groundwater level was the major concern of the Chinhat area. With the efforts of the government, rainwater harvesting is starting to pay off the area.”
Poonam Singh, the former Gram Pradhan of Uttargauna in Chinhat, told that less water-consuming methods like drip and sprinkler systems have been promoted in agriculture. Due to this, the use of water has been reduced.

Sushil Kumar Singh, a resident of Sarojini Nagar block, said that for the first time, work has been done for water harvesting at such a fast pace.
In the current year, the Minor Irrigation Department has completed the construction of 23 check dams and 12 ponds in all the 8 development blocks of Lucknow. It is worth mentioning that in the last 4.5 years, the government has constructed 319 ponds in all the development blocks of Lucknow.

Dinesh Sharma, another resident of Sarojininagar informed that the Minor Irrigation Department has promoted rainwater harvesting and water harvesting naturally. With the continuous efforts made for water harvesting and augmentation, now all the development blocks of Lucknow have started reaching back to the safe category.

Anurag Srivastava, Principal Secretary of Namami Gange informed that an action plan has been made, and based on that, the schemes are being run for groundwater conservation across the state. Water harvesting arrangements are being made according to geographical conditions. Local people are also cooperating in this, due to which the results are also getting positive.