Canal project heats up contest in desert state

In Kasauli village in Rajasthan's dry district of Karauli, the prospect of a poor monsoon scares Sita Meena. "Scant rain means we have to leave our village for work," she said. Fortunately, 2023 was better in terms of monsoon rains in eastern Rajasthan and Meena's family did not have to migrate to Gujarat for work. Some others from the village did, though, as growing two farm crops in a year is difficult in the region compared to well-irrigated western Rajasthan.

- Chetan Chauhan

Meena said water for drinking and irrigation is a poll issue and admitted that the level of ground water, extracted through borewells, is getting lower. In villages across eastern Rajasthan such as Bharatpur's Sunari village, locals complained of the government not taking care of water bodies to improve falling groundwater levels. "One-fourth of the village pond has been encroached by village strongmen. We have complained several times but nothing has happened," said Bekhu Ram Jatav, 74, a Dalit.

According to the central ground water board, 90% of the blocks in Karauli district, where Meena lives, were overexploited in 2022 with average water available at 550 feet below the surface. Of the 270 blocks in Rajasthan, the board declared 70% as overexploited. "In our village, water is available at 600 to 800 feet," Meena said. Except Dholpur, which falls in the catchment area of river Chambal flowing from Madhya Pradesh and has the Ram Sagar Dam, the groundwater level in most districts of eastern Rajasthan is low, according to the board.

The Rajasthan government's data shows that the state's total irrigated farm area in 2021-22 was 11.76 million hectares as compared to 10.71 million hectares in 2018-19 with the maximum increase in western parts of the state. For instance, the total irrigated land in Bharatpur division that falls in the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project area and covers six districts, increased from 1.43 lakh hectares to 1.45 lakh hectares during this period. In the same period, irrigated farm land area in Sikar division having five districts increased from 8.8 lakh hectares to 9.8 lakh hectares.