Need for Blue Revolution in India

A Pond

The term "blue revolution" refers to the development of lakes and ponds with rapid introduction of aquaculture as an important and productive agricultural activity.  Aquaculture has long been practiced in China where freshwater fish have been grown as food in managed ponds for thousands of years. In recent decades, however, the practice of aquaculture has spread around the world and emerged as a profitable new introduction to agricultural activities

“The rapid development of aquaculture in recent years has been likened to a Blue Revolution that matches the Green Revolution of higher grain yields from the 1950s onward.”  

J. D. Sachs, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/promise-of-the-blue-revolution-july-2007/

Why a Blue Revolution is urgently needed

The New Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi has emphasized the need for such a blue revolution in India. Aside from its agricultural contribution, there is an even more urgent reason for the introduction of a blue revolution in India. With rising population, fresh water consumption has increased in India. Most fresh water in India is drawn from sub-soil sources and with over use, the water table is falling rapidly. When ponds and lakes are created on land to capture rain water in the monsoon season, surrounding water table then begins to increase again. Precious fresh water is then conserved on land instead of flowing back to the oceans from whence it arose, especially during the rains. Lakes and ponds improve the soil quality in its and surroundings and the sight of one adds joy to the heart of the beholder. Trees around its edge do not soak up excess water except in the initial years of rapid growth but rather shade the pond from evaporation losses and add to organic food for fish and plant life in the pond.

Why some Modern Practices of Rain Water Harvesting are dangerous

A second alternative for trapping rain water that has been suggested and used in recent times is the direction of this water directly to sub soil reservoirs through deep bore wells, a practice called rain water harvesting. While storing water underground does avoid evaporation loss that takes place in surface lakes, it has a very dangerous and tragic consequence. This practice carries surface pollution to ground water directly, thus ruining its potable quality. The natural process of seepage into sub oil reservoirs on the other hand does not cause this pollution because of filtration through the ground and also aerobic plus non-aerobic purification of water in the process. Rain water harvesting through use of ponds and lakes mimics this natural process.

Conclusion

A Lake

The straightforward and simple conclusion of the present note is that there is an urgent need for creating many more lakes and ponds across the length and breadth of the country to store rain water at least for some of the months of the year since such ponds may dry up in the months after monsoon recedes, especially summer, in order to raise ground water levels. With addition of fish farming and/or other aquatic food crops these ponds can become profitable and make a valuable contribution to the economy.

Image: from   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vielsalm_050710_%2814%29.jpgThis illustration was made by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

A pond near a Lake