The slides describes the need of rain water harvesting with special reference to drought prone zones of Assam

1. Water Conservation in Lower Brahmaputra
Valley Zone of Assam - Need, Prospects and
Problems with special reference to Kamrup
(Rural) District
ByManoshi Goswami
&
Purabi Bharali
Gauhati Commerce College, Guwahati

2. Introduction
 Water is crucial for growth & development of crops.
 Availability or scarcity of water in crop fields effect the
success of crops.
 Thus it plays a vital role in agricultural prosperity.

3. Indian Agriculture- an Overview
 Mostly RAINFED,
 Depends mainly on MONSOONAL rainfall to meet the
demand of water
 Monsoon period – high rainfall with excess of water
leading to Flood
 Post Monsoon and winter season experience very less
rainfall causing water scarcity in agricultural areas.

4. Objectives
 Why we need water conservation?
 What are the most important resources available?
 What are the prospect of successful water conservation
measures?
 What may be the problems?

5. Study Area
Kamrup (Rural) District is
situated between 25.460 and
26.490 North Latitude and
between 90.480 & 91.500 East
Longitude.
It has a total geographical area
of 4, 34,500 acres.
Agroclimatically the region
falls
under
the
Lower
Brahmaputra Valley Zone
The dominant farming system
of the district include paddy
cultivation with all the three
crops during the year i.e.
Sali, Ahu and Boro paddy.

7. Parameter
Value/Details
Rainfall
1700mm
Temperature
Maximum- 31.3 – 33.0 0C
Minimum – 8.0 -13.5 0 C
Relative Humidity
78-80%
Soil type
Alluvial, Sandy (18.08%)
Sandy Loam (39.28%)
Total cultivated area
2,51,156 ha
Net Irrigated area
58,239 ha
Source: www.kamrup.nic.in
www.aau.asc.in/dee/kvkkamrup/agril_in_kamrup.html

8. Why………….
(Need of Water Conservation)
 Mostly under rainfed agriculture
 Irrigation is available at only 19-23% of the area
 Post monsoon and winter period receive very less
amount of rainfall than the monsoon season.
 Soils of the district have lower water holding capacity
 Identified as one of the potential drought prone areas
with the probability of moderate to severe drought.
 Depletion of ground water level

9. Seasonal Variation of rainfall over the years
Season
Year
2006
mm
Pre
Monsoon
Monsoo
2007
% to
annual
RF
mm
2008
% to
annual RF
mm
2009
% to
annual RF
mm
2010
% to
annual RF
mm
% to
annual RF
472.6
39.75
541.1
28.6
441.4
27.6
372.3
25.8
849.8
40.1
570.8
48.01
1097.1
58.1
997.0
62.3
939.5
65.2
1190.3
56.1
127.2
10.7
161.1
8.5
115.6
7.2
122.7
8.5
81.0
3.8
18.2
1.53
90.1
4.7
45.6
2.9
5.8
0.04
0.5**
0.02
n
Post
Monsoon
Winter
Total
Annual
Rainfall
1188.8
1889.4
1599.6
Source: Hydromet Division, Indian Meteorological Dept.
1440.3
2121.6

10. Prospects
 The region is having a rich source of water resources
in terms of perennial rivers, tributaries, minor
streams and wetlands which have the potential to
supply sufficient amount of water to the needy
areas.




Five major rivers
Highest area under wetlands
Highest area under marshy/swampy land
Significant number of pond/tanks
 High amount of rainfall is received during the
Monsoon season

11. Rain Water Harvesting
 Is the system of collecting and storing excess amount of
rainfall received during the high rain period
 Utilizing the same in the lean period
 Water harvesting is a directly productive form of soil and
water conservation. It can also be regarded as a traditional
form of irrigation.
 Two semi-urban areas Hajo and Sonapur in the district
have been reported with successful installation of Rooftop RWH for meeting daily consumption needs.
 Various traditional systems of RWH exist in the district.

12.  Traditional systems are cost effective and viable
 These traditional methods can be used to meet the
demand of water in the agricultural sector
BAMBOO DRIP IRRIGATION
APATANI

13. ZABO
DONG*
POND*

14.  Needs sufficient modification and scientific
renovation.
TARPOULINE SHEET
COVERED POND
INJECTION WELL
PERCOLATION PIT

15. Problems…………
 Environmental Factors
o Gradual decline of surface water resources – shrinking of
area, pollution, eutrophication, decline of reservoir
capacity
o Climate change and reported decline of monsoonal
rainfall
 Socio-economic Factors
o financial condition of the farmers
o conservative attitude and resistance to adopt new
technologies
o lack of awareness

16.  Small land holding and other infra-structural
problem
 Lack of govt. initiatives
 Lack of financial support
 Inadequate agricultural policies
 Inappropriate market economics

17. Conclusions & Recommendations
 Onsite rain water harvesting systems
 Community based harvesting structure construction
and maintenance
 Training and skill enhancement programmes
 Improvement of existing RWH systems
 Adoption of modern methodologies

18. References:
1.Water-The India Story; Report of Grail Research, LLC, 2009.
2.District Report, Kamrup, Baseline Survey of Minority Concentrated Districts,
www.icssr.org
3.Official Website of Kamrup District, www.kamrup.nic.in
4.Official
Website
of
Krishi
Vigyan
Kendra,
Kamrup,
www.aau.asc.in/dee/kvkkamrup/agril_in_kamrup.html
5.Directorate of Extention Education, AAU in www.aau.ac.in/dee/annextures6.php
6.Ranfall Data of Kamrup District, Hydromet Division, Indian Meteorological
Department
7.Soil Water Plant Relationship, Irrigation Engineering Principles, Version 2CE, IIT,
Kharagpur
8.Gore P.G, Prasad T and Hatwar .H.R., Mapping of Drought Areas Over India,
National Climate Centre Research Report, 2010

19. 9.Faster, Sustainable & More Inclusive Growth, An Approach to the 12th Five Year
Plan, Planning Commission, 2011
10.Select Case Studies, Rain Water Harvesting & Artificial Recharge, Central
Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resource, 2011
11.Borthakur S, Traditional Rain Water Harvesting Techniques and its
Applicability, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, Vol.8(4),2009
12.Environmental Information System –Assam, Assam Science, Technology and
Environmental Council,
13Report on Wetlands, Planning Commission, India, 2008
14Gogoi R, Conserving Deepar Beel Ramsar Site, Assam, Current Science, Vol.93(4),
2007
15.ENVIS Newsletter, July-September, 2007
16.Bhowmik B.C, Sarma A.K. and Talukdar K.C, Farming System in Assam, 1999.