Impact of Preservation of Subsoil Water Act on Groundwater Depletion: The Case of Punjab, India

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1 Impact of Preservation of Subsoil Water Act on Groundwater Depletion: The Case of Punjab, India Amarnath Tripathi 1, Ashok K. Mishra 2, & Geetanjali Verma 3 1 FASAL Programme, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, India 2 Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA 3 Research, Analytics, & Knowledge, KPMG Global Services, India

2 Background Early transplanting of rice has been noticed widely due to availability of irrigation based on ground water. The above phenomenon, particularly during periods of high evaporative demand, resulted in the increased mining of groundwater. Increasing temperature because of climate increases evaporative demand. The Government of Punjab enacted the Preservation of Subsoil Water Act in 2009, which mandated delayed paddy nursery and sowing activities by farmers in Punjab.

3 Objective and Methods Evaluation of the impact of the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act on the level of groundwater depletion in the state. Groundwater level was regressed on a policy dummy variable indicating the above act by controlling other covariates of groundwater levels. Covariates were decided based on both demand and supply aspects of groundwater. This regression model based on panel data of districts of Punjab for the period to was regressed using the GLS estimation procedure.

4 Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 Its main purpose is to save groundwater by prohibiting sowing and transplanting paddy before specified dates in the hot and dry summer period. It prohibits farmers from sowing nursery of paddy before May 10 and from transplanting paddy before June 10 in a given year. Any farmer who contravenes the provisions of the act shall be liable for a penalty of Rs. 10,000 for every month or part thereof, per hectare of the land until such contravention ends.

5 Results

Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh

6 Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Tripura Arunachal Pradesh Stage of groundwater development (Percent) across Indian states Data Source: Ground Water Year Book , (CGWB, Ministry Of Water Resources & GOI)

1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992

7 Changing irrigation pattern for period to Percent Area Irrigated by Surface Water Percent Area Irrigated by Groundwater 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Source: Directorate of Economic and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.

8 Area under Paddy (000 Ha) Trend in cultivated area under Paddy in Punjab Year moving average acreage Yearly acreage Linear (Yearly acreage) Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi. Year

9 Decline in water table (in meters) in Punjab ( ) Year Average Annual Rate (m) Source: Centre Ground Water Board, India.

10 Parameter estimates of three models, panel ( ) Variable Share of tube wells to total cropped area (RTUBEW) Share of surface water irrigation (SWI) Crop diversification (HHI) Rainfall level, June (Rain_J) Rainfall level, October (Rain_O) Model A (Pre-monsoon) Coefficient (Std. Dev.) 2.40 *** ** *** NA Model B (Post-monsoon) Coefficient (Std. Dev.) 2.77 *** ** NA *** Model C (Annual) Coefficient (Std. Dev.) 2.68 *** *** Rainfall level, Annual (Rain_A) NA NA Population density (PD) *** *** *** River dummy (DUMMY_R) Policy dummy (DUMMY_P) *** *** *** Constant N R Wald chi-square *** *** *** NA NA

11 Conclusion and Policy Implications A robust effect of the 2009 act in reducing groundwater depletion. A higher share of tube wells and increase in Population Density have significantly reduced the groundwater table. On the other hand, rainfall and the share of surface water used for irrigation have had an augmenting effect on the groundwater table. Seasonality also plays a key role in determining the groundwater table in Punjab. Monsoon rainfall has a very prominent impact on groundwater.

12 Thanks for valuable time

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