JHANG, March 12: Revival of Scarp tubewells is the only solution to the ever-increasing problem of irrigation water shortage.
This was stated by Jhang district Kissan Board president A.D. Sail and Anjuman-i-Kashtkaran president Sheikh Naseem while talking to Dawn here on Monday.
Shortage of canal water and high prices of electricity and diesel, rendering it difficult for growers to use the two means of irrigation, are already having a telling effect on wheat crop.
Scarp tubewells were installed in the late 1960s to combat the menace of waterlogging and salinity. They were installed along the canals and distributaries on the outlets. Some tubewells were installed at some distance away from canal outlets in the areas uncommanded by canals.
These tubewells were commissioned for a different purpose but after sometime, with the canal water becoming insufficient to meet irrigation needs of farmers due to manifold increase in the area under cultivation, the growers started to depend on Scarp tubewells. The scheme brought a green revolution and ushered in an era of prosperity in the 1970s and 1980s. The area under cultivation was more than doubled during this period and per acre yield of all major crops registered a marked increase, giving a boost to the financial condition of farmers.
The scheme was extremely economical as the farmers had to pay only the usual Abiana and no electricity bill. The scheme worked for 20 years, but the things started deteriorating in the late 80s, with the number of out-of-order tubewells increasing as the department had no funds for their maintenance.
Rampant corruption was also a major cause of its failure and ultimately winding up of the scheme. Stealing of tubewell parts and deliberately engineered faults in the machinery to extricate money from farmers for their repair, by irrigation officials and the subordinate staff, expedited the closure of the scheme. By the year 1995, almost half of the tubewells had been closed down.
In 1997, the government decided to dispense with the scheme through a phased programme. The closure of the scheme was to be completed in the year, 2000, but the government tried to give alternatives to the farmers by providing them with peter engines at nominal prices through cooperative societies and offering them to purchase Scarp tubewells which were still in working condition. But both these incentives failed to materialize as middle class farmers were not in a position to maintain and run 50KW motors at a high electricity tariff.
On the other hand, peter engines could irrigate only eight to ten acres.
With the closure of Scarp tubewells and acute shortage of water in rivers and dams besides low rainfall, the area under cultivation is decreasing, leaving the government with the only option to consider the revival of Scarp tubewells.