TR-158 : Soil salinisation and reclamation in command areas

Abstract

Land drainage is large scale drainage where the object is to drain surplus water from a large area. Efficient use of land and water resources is to a greater extent dependent upon the control of salinisation problem. It is a well known phenomenon that, when an area is irrigated excessively over an extended period of time, the ground water level rises. When the water table reaches a height, which is within the capillary lift of the soil, the soil moisture is brought to the surface. When water evaporates, salts, which were originally present in the irrigation water or which were dissolved in the rising ground water, get concentrated on the land surface. Similar problem has been reported in the coastal. area Pan De Azucar This study deals with the design of subsurface drainage system for an area suffering from the problem of shallow ground water table. A case study on the reclamation of strongly salinised sodis soil is also dealt with here.