Planning Commission, S&T ministry to form committees to save water ecology in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: The Planning Commission on Monday decided to set up a committee of experts from departments of earth sciences, science and technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Central Ground Water Authority and relevant departments of Punjab government to restore and conserve Punjab's water ecology.
The decision was informed during a meeting the Planning Commission had with the Punjab government, official sources in the Planning Commission said.
The decision was taken to address issues related to deteriorating quality of sub-soil water, inadequate treatment of sewage in rural areas, purification of drinking water, around 10,396 village ponds and water logging in some areas.
This committee will be in addition to the one the Planning Commission is also planning to send to the state.
"Effective management of water resources for Punjab is critical for health of Punjab's agriculture and for dealing with problems of falling ground water levels in several districts or water logging in others," the commission observed.
The top planning body of the country felt that contaminated water in village ponds had affected the quality of drinking water and sub-soil water reserves.
But the Planning Commission help is accompanied by an advice to rationalize water usage and take steps towards this end. Though the official spokesman has not said anything on pricing of water, yet pricing of water is known to be a measure to regulate water use.
The Planning Commission, however, asked the Punjab government to enact a law for the purpose.
The plan body has instructed the department of bio-technology to ensure the early establishment of the bio-tech park being set up at the Knowledge City in Mohali. The Department of Bio-Technology (DBT) secretary will visit Chandigarh in this regard in the third week of May.
DBT has proposed to enter into a collaborative venture with the Ludhiana-based Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) for advanced research on plant, soil, water ecology, germ plasma, gene bank, bio-technology, bio-fuse and tissue culture, food processing and marketing, among others.
To save ground water being consumed by the paddy crop, the Planning Commission team will consider marketing of crops like maize to unleash diversification in Punjab.