SOCIO-ECONOMIC INTERACTIONS AMONG MULTIPLE USES OF WATER IN HIMACHAL PRADESH-INDIA

摘要

'Water' the most essential input in bio-world has relatively been becoming more scarce with anrnincreasing number of its users and uses. There is no absolute scarcity of water only the relativernscarcity exists due to improper management practices while putting water to various uses. Thisrnpaper has been developed with objectives (ⅰ) to highlight availability of water and its' differentrnuses at existing level of use (ⅱ) to find out gaps between supply of and demand for water amongrncompeting uses with emphasis on irrigation and drainage (ⅲ) to suggest remedial measures forrnimproving interactions of irrigation and drainage systems with psycho-socio-economicrnparameters in the light of environmental considerations. An economic analysis of gettingrneconomic optima through maximum sustainable yield and scoring technique reveals mainlyrnproductivity levels of food crops 4-5 times less than global levels. Although State receives, onrnthe average, 152cms of rainfall and has many rivers, tributaries and lakes, yet only 20 per cent ofrntotal cultivated area has been found to be irrigated. The most of area in the State faces deficientrnrainfall by –20 to –59 per cent of the normal, leading thereby to low productivities in agriculturernfrom small holdings (1.2 hectare). The State consumes about 92 per cent of utilizable water inrnagriculture and remaining portion in other uses like power generation, industry and domestic.rnThe demand for water amongst these uses has been found to increase by about 3 to 4 times in thernnext twenty years, therefore an increase in gap between supply of and demand for water hasrnbeen observed in future. Interactions among psycho-socio-techno-economic parameters revealrnindividual's attitude towards developmental efforts in water related projects which should bernimaginative and creative on technical lines.