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Table 1.3: Incidence of Waterlogging and Salinity in Selected Irrigation Command Areas
Project Area
State
Area (000 hectares)
Waterlogged Saline
Sharada Sahayak Uttar Pradesh 7.0 6.7
Ram Ganga Uttar Pradesh 9.7 17.6
Gandak Bihar 20.1 -
Sriram Sagar Andhra Pradesh 27.6 0.8
Tungabhadra Andhra Pradesh
Kamataka
1.3 6.7
Ukai Kakarpar Gujarat 4.3 2.2
Mahi Kadana Raj astan. Gujarat 16.8 7.3
Chambal Madhya Pradesh, Rajastan 20.3 8.2
Tawa Madhya Pradesh - 3.8
Rajastan Canal Rajastan 8.0 5.4
N agarj unasagar··· Andhra Pradesh 5.7 2.3
Malaprabha· Kamataka 1.05**
Note: •• FIgures mclude waterloggmg and sahnlty.
Sources: Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Kamal, Haryana, cited in Smedema (1990).
*Raghuvanshi et al (1990). cited in Chauhan 1993 .
••• IIPA (1988).
The damage due to adverse effects can be formulated in terms of the costs of waterlogging
and salinity. The National Bureau of Soil Sciences and Land Use (1990) have estimated
the loss of production due to salinity at 25 percent across soil qualities and crops.
However, some individual estimates based on micro studies put the losses at about 50
percent on an average for ditTerent crops and intensities of degradation (Joshi 1987). At
the micro level, the losses due to waterlogging are estimated at 40 percent in the case of
paddy and 80 percent in the case of potato (Joshi 1987). Loss of production due to
waterlogging is estimated as 61,040 million hectares whereas loss of production due to
salinity and alkalinity is put at 26,600 million hectares (Sehgal & Abrol 1994).
Apart from degradation of soils, waterlogging and salinity have many indirect ill effects. As
fertile land become scarcer, people extend their farmlands and destroy the forests. Thus,
secondary salinization and waterlogging caused by irrigation indirectly contribute to the
local disappearance of forests and wild life. The disappearance of forest cover causes an
exodus of wildlife and nomadism amongst people. Migrant peoplc and livestock then prey
on the adjoining areas or region, bringing distress to both the natural environment and
society. Waterlogging also destroys natural vegetation, damages houses, buildings and
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