As temperatures get unbearably high with only first half of April over yet, those living above ground as well as underwater are looking for respite from soaring mercury levels and the resultant water scarcity.
Aquaculture, a sector booming in Jharkhand recently, has also been hit hard as water levels continue to fall in water bodies around the State with increase in temperature. If the situation of weather stands to worsen, the State might not even have any brood to cultivate after summers are over, agriculturists fear.
“As water levels are going down everywhere, from hatcheries of Fisheries Department to private ponds, even protecting the brood stock is getting difficult to achieve this summer. If the brood is damaged, we will be hard pressed to even find new batches of fishes to rear in the next season,” stated Director (Fisheries) Rajiv Kumar.
One more problem agriculturists are facing in Jharkhand due to high temperatures is rising temperature of water in its sources. Owing to low tolerance of fishes for high temperatures, this change in water bodies is resulting in losses in produce.
“If the temperature below water surface remains below 30 degress C, it will not matter even if the temperatures go up to 45 degrees C. But with only few feet of water remaining in water bodies, all of it getting heated up to 35 degrees C to 36 degrees C. Unable to cope up, fishes are dying,” stated Kumar.
Even the very successful innovation of Jharkhand, cage culture in fisheries, has been affected to some extent this summer. The batteries of cages installed in Hatia Dam can be seen peeking out of water almost up to half their height due to declining water levels in the reservoir.
This has not translated into loss to produce though, assured the Director, as the cages stand empty after the last batch of dishes has already been harvested. Cage batteries in other reservoirs are in good condition, he stated.
Surveying land plots before using them for fish ponds has helped a great deal in mitigating the impact of water shortage. “We choose areas with least seepage loss in water bodies. This leaves loss of water through evaporation which is inconsequential,” stated Pradeep Singh, Instructor at Fish Farmer Training Centre, Ranchi.
He further added, constructing rearing ponds to help fish fingerlings to marketable size has also helped in stopping losses to produce and income of fish farmers.
“We have sent proposals for deepening 2,000 ponds across the State to prepare for the new batch by next season. We are also looking up to the ambitious project of State Government to construct numerous dobhas as we have plans to utilise them for pisciculture too. Three months worth of produce can easily be harvested from these dobhas,” Kumar said.
But merely deepening the water bodies will prove fruitless without clearing their catchment area, he added. “If the present depth of the water sources cannot be filled properly in absence of proper inlets taking water to them, then deepening them will not help either. The issue will be taken up with concerned departments so that they pay heed to it,” said Kumar.