Munawar, Hassan Zia
; i he water
Necessity of remote sensing to improve the LN
= a s Gross A
management system in Pakistan . us
wer
5
t TI 3 Divers:
Pakistan has an area of 79.66- Water Management Problems - Ignorance of modem rion X
Mha. Nearly 13.55Mha can be technology and watering PO. terc
| : blems are faced in cesses or practising not accord- mem
brought under plough for all kinds Many problems à C SIC eds ie
of crops. 78% of the cultivable ar- dealing with irrigation schemes ing to scienti e
ea is irrigated by canal and ^ and water management. The prob- cm
groundwater and the rest of the lems must not necessarily berelat- problems discussed n
land is rainfed. ed to distributaries, minors or wa- P vie
Pakistan has to encounter the ter courses etc. but are also Irrigation water inust reach at mm
floods of severe, high and medium connected to water quality, type of each and every field. In Sn ar- oh
intensity every year during the soil, kind of crop and area, level eas, farmers who own wi: se gem
monsoon due to heavy downpour ^ and situation of field. of land cannot cultivate all of it hy
over catchment areas of the rivers Soil and crops are closely inter- — due to shortage of water and till fs
and north eastern plains. The linked with water management only small parts in view of the m
floods inundate numerous villages problems. A summing up of some availability of water. In winter the mum
causing loss of hundreds of valu- ^ characteristics which form that water supply position worsens due Le
able human lives, property and linkage: to further shortage in canal water T
livestock and bring damage to the — - Lack of quantity of water at and dry weather so that timely a
large areas of standing crops. Apart proper place and proper time watering for rabi crop is consid- tends
from other miseries of flood disas- — - Lack of repair, maintenance ered impossible. D res
ter the soil and water resources are and de-silting of canals, outlets Scarcity of water may be made Figur
seriously and badly effected.
To obtain maximum benefit out
of our irrigation resources it is nec-
essary to stop the seepage, leakage
and wastege of water through dif-
ferent stages of irrigation. This
way not only can we provide the
requisite quantity of water to ob-
tain bumper crops but also supply
water to additional areas and re-
ceive increased agricultural prod-
ucts at country level.
The canal irrigation system of
Pakistan is spread over a laige area
but it lags behind in regard to its
working, service and benefits. Out
of 17.5 million hectare metre of
water diverted and received from
rivers only 5 million hectare metre
and other structures etc. of the
network
- Defective routine patrolling
and negligence towards, on the
spot, emergent repair of the
system
- Waste of canal water in large
“ quantity due to seepage
- Lack of education or informa-
tion of farmers in the use of ir-
rigation water
- Non-existence of well estab-
lished and forceful Water User
Associations
- Negligence of the governmental
agencies
up with groundwater but admin-
istrative and financial problems
impose difficult obstructions such
as drilling of bore holes, provision
of pumping equipment and sup-
ply of electricity etc.. Then not all
of the groundwater is fit for irriga- '
tion due to injurious chemical
contents. The quality of water
however, varies according to con-
centration of chemical contents in
different areas. At places facing a
dearth of water people are com-
pelled to use even unfit ground-
water. At some places where a di-
minished quantity of water is
Water is essential for life, may it be mankind, fauna or crops. When there is m
water, there is no life. Where there is plenty of water, life fourishes. Scarcity of
water withers life and, in case of extreme excess floods devastate.
Ours is one of the oldest and largest canal irrigation networks but we have not
been able to obtain and- enjoy all its benefits. In order to ultilise our water re
sources in a scientifically and methodically correct manner, improving the cand
irrigation system and increasing the agriculture produce, it is of vital importance
to introduce and put into function remote sensing technology at broad spectrum
throughout the country. Remote sensing is a satellite-related technology. Space
craft fitted with remote sensing cameras generate and transmit images of tht
Earth in black and white or multi colours. Imagery thus received is made to inter
pret much information about land, soil, water resources and crops, etc.. With the
help of remote.sensing techniques we can set, improve and develop the wate
management which is of paramount importance for agriculture.
is supplied for irrigation purposes
and all the rest is not only wasted
and lost to leakage and seepage
due to defects at any stage but also
causes serious harm. Waterlogging
and salinity are the biggest agents
plaguing and causing most injuri-
ous damage to our highly fertile
land. The aforesaid defects origi-
nate from obsolete and outdated
methods or irrigation. Conse-
quently the farmer not only fails to
bring extra land under plough but
is also sometimes deprived of the
tillage of legitimate cultivable areas.
928 International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000.
