| The Directorate of Land Reclamation (DLR), which was set up in 1945, is a special unit of Punjab's Irrigation and Power Department for undertaking research and field operations to combat the problem of salinity. Approaching the end of five decades of existence, the directorate is yet to demonstrate its effectiveness in its assigned task; its inability to fully cope with the conditions of a fast changing irrigation environment makes this rather an illusive goal. In the selection of lands for reclamation, the Directorate is heavily dependent on the visual salinity survey (Thur Girdawari) carried out every year by the Irrigation Department's field staff. This visual survey appears to be a quick and cost-effective method of assessing surface salinity, but... |
