Sankalp Mains Integrated

Program
GS3_Lecture 07_Road accident (Infrastructure) & Micro-Irrigation

Q1. Road safety is a very serious issue and there should be zero tolerance
for road accidents. Enlist the causes for the the rise in cases and the steps
being taken to mitigate the road accidents.

Introduction:

Road Accidents is one of the leading causes of death, disability and hospitalization
of people worldwide in general and Indian particular. At least one out of 10 people
killed on roads across the world is from India, according to the World Health
Organization.
The situation is more alarming for low- and middle-income countries since 93% of
the world's fatalities on the roads occur in those low- and middle-income countries,
even though these countries have approximately 60% of the world's vehicles. The issue
of road safety becomes even more important for India, having one of the largest road
networks in the world.

Causes of the rise in cases:

 Unprecedented rate of motorization and growing urbanization fueled by high

rate of economic growth have compounded the problem

 Accidents caused by human error include

o traffic rule violations : Drunken driving/ consumption of alcohol & drugs,
jumping of red light and use of mobile phones taken together accounted
for 4.9 percent of total accidents
o driving without valid driver license and
o Non-use of safety devices: like helmets, etc.
  Road accident due to road features such as sharp curves, potholes and steep
grade tend to be accident prone because it takes skill, extra care and alertness to
negotiate these road features.

 Depending on type of neighbourhood: Residential area, institutional area and

market/commercial area tend to have traffic congestion and hence, higher
exposure to road accidents in comparison to open area, i.e., locations which
normally do not have any human activities in the vicinity.

 Depending on junction type and traffic control:Road junctions are points where
traffic merges and hence are prone to accidents. “T Junction” accounts for the
largest share of accidents, persons killed and injured. Highest number of
accidents, persons killed and injured took place on uncontrolled crossings.

 Prevalence of aged or over-aged vehicles on the roads: accidents due to vehicle

defects, since old vehicles tend to have more frequent malfunction.

 Due to load condition: Overloaded vehicles and vehicles with loads

protruding/hanging are road traffic hazard, risking accident for itself and also for
other road users.

 Poor weather conditions also accounted for significant number of accidents and
deaths.

 Steps taken to reduce accidents on road: Government has formulated a multi-

pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4E’s-on Education,
Engineering (both of roads and vehicles) , Enforcement and Emergency Care.

Steps taken:

Education Measures:

 A Road Safety Week and Month has been observed at massive level across the entire
NH network
 Road Safety Awareness Campaign - The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways,
implements a scheme for undertaking publicity measures through the electronic
media, print media, NGOs and other organizations, etc.

Engineering (both roads and vehicles) Measures:

 Categories of the Curved Road, Culvert, Potholes and ongoing road works/ works
under construction etc. need to be the focus of attention for the engineers
maintaining these roads at the National/State and local levels with safety signage
installed at the appropriate spots.
 The blackspots are being rectified by providing immediate short term measures such
as cautionary road signs and markings
 For long term rectification, measures such as Flyover, Underpasses, Foot over
Bridges, Service roads etc
 Setting up model Inspection and Certification Centres in the States/UTs to avoid
usage of old non-fitness certified vehicles

Enforcement measures:

 It is mandatory to carry out the Road Safety Audit of all highway projects at all
stages i.e. design, construction and operation & maintenance stages.
 e-Detailed Accidents Report (e-DAR) projects to provide a real-time causative
analysis of road accidents in line with the international practices
 Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019: Speedy assistance to Accident Victims,
Simplification and Citizen facilitation, Strengthening Public Transport,etc.
 Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) 2019, is now being supported by various other initiatives
such as the Integrated Road Accidents (IRAD) Project under World Bank assistance
 to provide a systemic solution to problem of accidents in line with international
practices,
 schemes to set up automated vehicles inspection centers and driver training
centers,
 publicity and awareness campaign to ensure road safety at the grassroots level
etc.

Emergency care:
 The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 inserted a new section for, "Protection
of Good Samaritans".
 Central Motor Vehicles Rules(CMVR),1989 amendments- giving specification for the
Tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) for vehicles up to maximum mass of 3.5
Tonnes. The TPMS monitors the inflation pressure of the Tyre or its variation while
on road
 Incident Management System & Incident Management Services like ambulances,
patrol vehicles, cranes are deployed at every toll plaza.

The cost of road accidents is borne not only by the victims and their family, but by the
economy as a whole in terms of untimely deaths, injuries, disabilities and loss of
potential income. Unfortunately, the worst affected age group in Road accidents is 18-
45 years, which accounts for about 70% of total accidental deaths. Timely enactment,
stringent implementation of policy initiatives should be ramped up. Efforts are being
made to reduce road accidents by 50% by the year 2025, as per the ministry.
Q2. Mention the different types of Micro-Irrigation practices and also
highlight the need of micro-irrigation in present circumstances. What are
hurdles in adopting the micro-irrigation technology?

Introduction:

Micro-irrigation, also called localized, low-volume, low-flow, or trickle irrigation, is an

irrigation method with lower water pressure and flow than a traditional sprinkler
system. Low-volume irrigation is used in agriculture for row crops, orchards, and
vineyards.
The average penetration of micro irrigation in India is 19%, which is much lesser than
many countries.

Types of Micro Irrigation:

 Sprinkler Irrigation- It works in a pressurized form similar to natural rainfall.

Devices used in this irrigation include high pressure sprinklers sprays or guns.
 Drip Irrigation – In this the water is directly supplied to plant roots through
emitters
 Spray Irrigation – It utilizes the jet spray to deliver water and it is widely used.
 Subsurface Irrigation – In this method the water is applied to the plants from
below the soil surface. The tubes and pipes are hidden below the soil for water
delivery.
 Bubbler Irrigation- It is installed in areas where water requirement is high. Water
is applied through small streams and fountains.

Need for micro-irrigation:

 Helps in saving water requirement in drip or sprinkler irrigation is much less as

compared to any other conventional method of irrigation. This is because of
irrigation of a smaller portion of land, decreased evaporation from the soil
surface and reduction or elimination of run-offs. Micro irrigation can reduce
water usage by 25–40 per cent.
 Uniform water application Therefore, all plants in a field receive equal amount of
water. Higher uniformity results in efficient irrigation, thereby, causing less
wastage of water, power and fertilizers. Consistent water application results in
better and uniform crop yields
 Helps in saving electricity Micro irrigation systems require less electricity as
compared to other systems. Usually, delivery pipe in micro irrigation systems
operate at low pressure (2–4 bar). Therefore, these require less energy for
 pumping.
 Improves chemical application Micro irrigation system can apply chemicals to
plants through fertigation. ‘Fertigation’ is the application of fertilizers used for
making soil amendments in order to improve plant growth. Since the fertilizers
are applied directly to the root zones of the plants, a reduction in the total
amount of fertilizer applied is possible. Herbicides, insecticides and fungicides can
also be applied through micro irrigation systems
 Reduces weeds and diseases Weeds are the unwanted plants that grow and
compete with the crops for nutrients, moisture and sunlight, which can reduce
the crop quality and the yield. These also serve as a habitat for diseases and
insect-pests, which attack the main crop. Weed growth is inhibited in areas
irrigated by drip irrigation as only a limited area gets irrigated.
 Improves tolerance of crops to soil salinity due to high moisture content in the
root zones of plants. micro irrigation (especially, drip irrigation) keeps the soil
moisture continuously at a high level near the root zone, and thus, maintains a
low level of salt concentration.
 Suitable to various topography and soil type micro irrigation systems can
function efficiently on any topography, if appropriately designed and managed.
 Regulates water through automation micro irrigation system can be semi or fully
automatic. It uses automatic controller, which can be simple mechanical clocks or
timers that open or close the valve on a pre-set time schedule. This allows the
system to operate at any time of the day and for any duration.
 Reduces labor costs One of the major advantages of micro irrigation system is
that it reduces labor costs. Labor requirement is reduced as it is an automated
system and does not require labourers to irrigate an area. A large area of land
can be irrigated at once with microirrigation system.
 Improves quality and yield Crop quality as under microirrigation system because
of slow, regular and uniform application of water and nutrients. Besides,
damages and losses due to the contact of water with fruits or foliage’s are
practically eliminated.

Challenges for Adopting Micro Irrigation:

 Non availability of uninterrupted electric power. Farmers tend to keep pumps

turned on 24/7. Such actions deplete both electricity and groundwater resources.
 Inadequate water availability at farm level. As water-levels drop owing to
aggressive withdrawal, in a vicious negative feedback loop, it demands for
irrigation pumps run round the clock to tap deeper reserves, thus straining both
power and water sector to the limits
 Policy concerns: For example, micro-irrigation schemes have repeatedly changed
 outfits (or been ‘subsumed’ under multiple schemes) over time – beginning with
the Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Use of Plastic in Agriculture (1992) and
followed by Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program (AIBP, 1996), to others and
now Pradhan Manti Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in 2015. Such transitions
may have kept us from desired level of capacity building.
 Agriculture contributes around 20% of India’s net GHG emissions annually. The
direct use of diesel and indirect use of electricity in irrigation are major
contributors towards this. The twin objectives of meeting irrigation water
demand with reduced energy footprints cannot be materialized, without working
out a strategy.
 The Thornton report suggests that at the current coverage rate – 0.5 million
hectare/annum – it will take another 100 years to provide ‘nationwide’ micro-
irrigation support.
 Economic viability:
o It has high cost of installation and maintenance, plus complicated
procedures to redeem subsidies provided by the government for
installation of Micro Irrigation.
o With effective farm-sizes diminishing and farm output/income
depreciating, chances of nationwide adoption of micro-irrigation is limited
by financial constraints of potential users
 Other challenges:
o delays in subsidy disbursement in some states
o lack of widespread private financing in micro-irrigation projects (NITI
Aayog only began inviting proposals from private sector in 2016);
o No ‘easy’ financing mechanism for farmers to adopt micro-irrigation,
where collateral stays within the farmers’ means.
o Inadequate focus on nationwide micro irrigation technology.

Way forward may include:

 thorough re-appraisal of farmers’ subsidy/credit schemes

 capping central subsidies to states doing well while hiking them for those lagging
behind
 Encourage private financing; increase support staff, both at central and state-
level, and jack up IT support (a key propelling force for Haryana, AP, etc.
 Make provisions for year-round operational support.
 Attempts to subsume micro-irrigation schemes under other agrarian schemes
should stop.
Conclusion:

It is time to realize the need to make micro-irrigation the core of future rural economic
growth and developmental paradigms. The Indian microirrigation systems market
is projected to record a CAGR of 10.9% during the forecast period (2022-2027).
Development strategies in agriculture need to be centered on regional water
availability, water budgeting and its efficient use- to feed the teeming billions.