Stewardship and the groundwater crisis

Stewardship is the chapter's word for the right relationship with Nature. A steward looks after something that is not simply theirs to spend.

It means using resources so that renewables can restore and regenerate, and using non-renewables responsibly and judiciously.

Scientists warn that careless use of resources has led to pollution, biodiversity loss (the decline in the variety of life on Earth) and climate change, all happening faster in recent years.

The first example is groundwater. Many farmers pump it up for their fields, and in most states it is taken out faster than the water table is refilled.

That shortfall builds up. First, getting the water costs more, because you must dig deeper. Then the water is simply not there. Many of our growing cities are predicted to run out of groundwater soon.

Efforts to raise groundwater levels have begun:

• traditional water harvesting;
• reviving ponds and tanks;
• cutting down on wasting water;
• processing and reusing water.

Soil has suffered too. Wrong use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides has damaged it. Traditional farming treated soil as part of Mother Earth: cow dung and other natural fertilisers, mulching and growing many crops together kept the soil healthy as a whole. We must learn from these practices.

Now Punjab, the chapter's most careful example, because it does not make anyone a villain. Punjab was home to the Green Revolution, which fed a large part of our population and helped India grow enough food for itself. Three things followed:

• In the 1960s farmers switched to high-yielding wheat and paddy, which need more water than traditional seeds.
• Free power led to over-pumping.
• Modern methods needed chemical pesticides and fertilisers.

The combined effect: in much of Punjab, groundwater is now out of reach until about 30 metres down, and chemicals from pesticides and fertilisers have dissolved into it, causing health hazards. Almost 80% of Punjab's area is classed as 'over-exploited'. The book's summary is fair and hard: "food security was ensured for the short term, but the long-term consequences will take time and effort to heal."