India is an agrarian country with 70% of its population depending on agriculture and related sectors. 60 out of 80 million people in the state of Andhra Pradesh are working in agriculture sector. This indicates the economy of the country depends very much on the agriculture sector.
Water is life….and it is more important to agriculture than other sectors. Water is wealth…the prosperity of the village is measured by the amount of water available in the village. The average annual rainfall in the region is but the rains are some times heavy and very irregular. Therefore, there is a need to store the water for irrigation in times of need to protect the crop.
Recognizing the importance of agriculture sector and the need for irrigation facilities, the visionary dynastic rulers of the region like Kakatiyas, and Vijayanagara empires have constructed thousands of small, medium and large scale traditional irrigation tanks centuries ago. Even now these traditional village-level water tanks play a vital role in irrigation in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Every village in Andhra Pradesh will have at least one traditional tank dug during the centuries-old dynastic rulers. These tanks are like the heart beat of the villages. If the tank is dry the village economy is dry and if the tank if full the village economy is good.
The Kakatiya kings are popular for their irrigation engineering technology in the country. They have built thousands of tanks in the region to conserve maximum amount of rain water. They used a technology called “Chain of Tanks” in which the water overflowing from one tank goes into another tank in a chain of 7 to 15 tanks in about 5- 10 villages which enables to retain maximum rain water without letting into the rivers.
Technically these tanks were designed in such a way after delivering the water for irrigation during the crop season it can still retain about 15-20% water of its storing capacity year long facilitating the ground water recharge, water for cattle, fish cultivation, religious rituals etc.
Maintenance of the Traditional Irrigation Tanks:
Farmers used to maintain the tanks by themselves by excavating the silt deposit during the summer when the tanks are dry due to less annual rainfall. Every farmer used to have one or two sets of bullock carts and they used these bullock carts for transporting the silt from the tanks and apply it in the fields to make the soil fertile. It was a regular practice and was part of the village culture for centuries. In those days, due to application of silt in the farms the farmers were getting good crop and chemical application was not in use.
But in modern times as agriculture is becoming more and more mechanized changes took place in the attitudes of the farmers and also in the agricultural practices. Due to the mechanization, not many farmers have the bullock carts. Therefore, they have to pay the rent to tractors if they want to transport the silt. To pay the tractor rent and the labor to fill the silt is expensive to the farmers. In the present days farmers are looking for easy methods and using the chemical fertilizers. Gradually the silt application habit is almost lost in many villages.
As the tradition of silt application is lost, the silt accumulation increased at the base of the tank reducing the water storing capacity of the traditional tanks and hindering the process of water percolation. Due to decrease in the storing capacity of the tanks, the tanks are getting filled with few rains and getting drying fast before the crop season. The silt accumulation is leading to many interlinked problems like a web.
The Problems:
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Silt accumulation at the base of the tank reduced the water storing capacity of the tanks and also constrains the water percolation process to recharge the water table.
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Decrease in the ground water table decreases the output of water from the open wells and tube wells means less water for irrigation.
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Due to silt accumulation the tanks are not able to retain the water for long and the tanks are getting dry by December/January leaving the tank dry until June/July.
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When the tanks are dry there is no continues ground water recharge, fisherman cannot cultivate the fish, no drinking water for the cattle in the village etc.
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Decrease in the application of silt increased the utilization of chemical fertilizers.
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Due to lack of water for irrigation, area of cultivation is reduced which results in unemployment to farm labour and less income to the farmers
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Unemployment forces the villagers to migrate to cities and live in poverty.
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Due to lack of water in the villages the rural environment and economy is in danger.
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Decrease in the ground water table degrades the water quality by increased concentration of minerals such as fluoride which is not good for human consumption and crop cultivation.
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Number of quarrels and fights increased in the families and villages due to water scarcity for irrigation and drinking.
Agriculture once flourished in the country now unfortunately is in a very difficult situation. Due to natural and man-made conditions, the scanty rainfall and the scarce water resources endangered the agriculture activity thus threatening the very livelihood of crores of people and the country's economy itself. And Andhra Pradesh State is one of the worst-affected. Highest number of suicides committed by the farmer in the state indicate the difficult situation of agriculture in Andhra Pradesh.
