Watershed Management and Mitigation Strategies: A Case study of Sahibi River (Haryana)

Sahibi, originating in the northern section of Aravalli Range in Rajasthan, is an ephemeral stream and forms and inland drainage basin covering sandy surface in the lower reaches. In Haryana, it does not have a definite channel particularly downstream of Masani and its water traverse down slope in the form of sheet flow. Sahibi is notorious and sorrow for the people when it is in spate during monsoon period. Inundating vast tracts of land, it causes damage to crops and property and brings in misery to the community including epidemics and loss of life. Measures adopted for mitigating such floods include the construction of earthen bunds, barrage at Masani near Rewari and flow diversion towards Yamuna through the artificial drains. Sahibi River is blessing the disguise for the farmers of this region, for it recharges the area with good quality water over the brackish groundwater. In the recent years, however, a large number of checkdams have come up along the course of Sahibi in the Arvalli hills. This has resulted to the non-replenishment of groundwater in the lower reaches by the Sahibi during the periods of normal rains. The increasing depth and decreasing quality of groundwater over the years has considerably affected the agricultural practices of this part. Besides the problems of flooding in the river plains, heavy intensity rains could cause local flooding in certain areas where the drainage is either naturally poor or the drains are choked due to various reasons such as careless dumping in the drains and lack of maintenance. To overcome the problems, a rational and alternate plan of floodwater management is required which could better suit to the physio-cultural environment of this region. The period of flood occurrence and the mapping of the flood prone areas is a primary step involved in reducing the risk of the region. Water Shed Management, Reservoirs and construction of Natural water retention basins are some effective measures, which can reduce the chances of lower plains getting flooded.