Solarisation plan — a silver lining for Punjab’s farmers?

LAHORE: As the deadline for applications under Punjab chief minister’s solarisation plan for tube wells ends on Monday, the department is already overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of applications as over 450,000 have been received so far.

According to the plan, the Punjab would subsidise 8,000 tube wells to shift to solar energy in the first phase and another 10,000 tube wells with the help of federal government in the second phase. Some 67 per cent of cost would come from the provincial government and the rest from farmer.

There is confusion about the eligibility criteria, indicating haste with which the scheme is conceived and implemented.

Deadline for free solar registration scheme ends today

The department concerned says that there are only two criteria: applicant must have one acre of land and a resident of the Punjab. The official website, on the other hand, puts six qualifications: limiting energy requirement of the tube well up to 15kW, water table depth of 60 feet and installed before March 31, 2024. This is in addition to proof of residence within the province and revenue of the area.

Ground realities

Apart from this confusion, the plan has also rekindled debate among water experts what would it mean for provincial aquifer, which is already dwindling fast, threatening agriculture, food security and life itself. Those favouring the project draw their support from deteriorating socio-economic conditions of the agrestic areas, and minor relief that it could bring in a short term.

The critics, which are many and equally spirited, oppose it on technical and long-term impact grounds, pleading for aligning “populism with ground realities” before conceiving and implementing such initiatives. They maintain that instead of mitigating impact of climate change, the project could actually worsen it by further destroying aquifer. The debate goes on along with the implementation — the first stage of applying for it expires on Monday.

Water table, withdrawal cost

“By making water withdrawal cost free, the province runs the risk of making subsoil realities worse,” concedes an irrigation officer, who did not want to be named because of political sensitivity of the project — the plan is linked to the chief minister’s office and being monitored from there.

Farmers, especially smaller ones, would not only draw water for themselves but may also be selling to the neighbouring ones. High diesel prices and exorbitant electricity prices have worked as a deterrent, forcing growers to pump water out only to meet bare minimum irrigational requirements. With this restriction gone, they may go for over-drawing, tipping the balance further; the difference between bare minimum needs and careless withdrawal means a lot in wretched scarcity regime, which the Punjab is facing, he fears.

Rana Tajmal Hussain, director general of water management and head of the programme, concedes continuous degradation in water levels, but does not link it to the mode of energy being used for the extraction.

“Solar or no solar, the farmers have been pumping out water to meet their needs. The provincial irrigation was planned at 65pc usage of land in the beginning of the last century, which now has gone up to 300pc. Even if 200pc is taken as an average, 135pc water has already been coming from ground — the main cause of depleting aquifer.

“This is first solar initiative, but groundwater has been declining and has reached the stage where it is now. Thus, linking it to solar energy is not appropriate. But, yes, the province needs a ‘groundwater management plan’ and institutional mechanism to implement it. It is the absence of such plan that has led to situation, where even a small change in mode of energy for running tube wells is igniting fears. Only a management plan with its legal, social and institutional trappings could help prevent exhaustion of groundwater and that is where the debate should focus,” the DG suggests.

Social spirit, without any impact

On their part, farmers think that the solar enterprise of the CM should be taken in social spirit — a bid to help farmers, nothing more, nor it has any impact. “The province has more than 1.3 million tube wells. Even if excess withdrawal is factored in, how much difference 8,000 tube wells can make,” wonders Naeem Hotiana, a farmer from Central Punjab area. A recent survey found over 47,000 tube wells already shifted to solar. So, the process is already on, regardless of official scheme, and it would go on. It is beneficial for farmers having up to 12 acres because of its limitations of restricted day light, smaller size of tube wells and winters reducing efficiency. This is in addition to problems like theft of equipment left in the field unattended. However, they found solution in mobile solar units, where they mount it on a trolley, take to the spot and bring it back home. The government seems to have woken up to a process already well underway, rather than leading it, he explains. He suggests the government to allow net metering to these tube wells and let them sell excess energy to the distribution company concerned.

Dr Mohsin Hafeez, head of International Water Management Institute (IWMI), also stresses need for an elaborate water management regime rather than fearing subsoil disaster when he tells Dawn that his institute has already developed a system for measuring solar (tube well) size and suitability for different areas of province, assessing groundwater level and information system to process it all. It is already implemented in three districts (Chakwal, Okara and Rahim Yar Khan). The Punjab government would do a service if it implements it in the rest of the province and equips itself with all the information required to take informed decisions. He also claims to have studied such solar schemes in other countries, saying he did not find any evidence of water tables ruined because of it.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2025