Events & Issues
New Delhi, 12
January 2015
‘Our
Water, Our Life’
JUDICIOUS
USE IMPERATIVE
By Dhurjati
Mukherjee
The Government has announced the
Water Week (from January 13 to 17) to launch a Central initiative called Hamara Jal-Hamara Jeevan (our water, our
life) to make people aware of the need for water conservation in view of the
increasing demand for this vital natural resource. Since the sources of water
in the country are limited to cope with increasing demands in the agricultural
and industrial sectors with the result that per capita consumption has been
dwindling over the years, future demand can only be met through judicious use
of the available resources.
With a burgeoning population and a
high growth rate, India’s
demand for water has been growing whether in industry or agriculture. What is
not increasing is the natural supply of water. Rather climate change may also
mean that there will be less supply of water in the not-too-distant future. In
fact, the availability of water per person has come down from 6500 cubic metres
to 2500 cubic metres, according to Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) survey.
Even the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute has predicted that India will be a
highly ‘water stressed’ country from 2020 onwards. It may be pointed out here
that water stress means less than 1000 cubic metres of water will be available
per person per annum.
Already many of the States have been
facing acute scarcity of water, specially of safe and treated drinking water. A
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) survey showed 50 lakh households in
Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad,
Kanpur and Madurai
are water deficient. WHO specifies that minimum water requirement should be
100-200 litres per person per day. That is way above the average Indian figure,
90 litres.
In another recent study, it was
revealed that in 300 districts water levels have declined by over four metres
in 20 years. The biggest problems are in States like Delhi,
Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat though the
situation in Tamil Nadu is also deteriorating. A common reason for urban water
shortage is falling water tables. Due to supply shortages from centralized
water distribution systems, groundwater extraction is increasing. Nearly 40 per
cent of water demand in urban India
is met by groundwater, though water tables are falling at an annual rate of
5-10 feet.
Herein comes the relevance of
reusing waste water, specially in urban areas. However, planners haven’t been
able to set up treatment plants where they were needed and with the right
technology. In the case of Delhi
they were built where plots were vacant, implying huge transportation costs.
Moreover, investments in treatment plants didn’t go along with adequate
spending on drains. A report by the Central Pollution Control Board found in
2004 that 73 per cent of Delhi’s
treatment plants were functioning below design capacity whereas 7 per cent were
simply defunct. As regards the other cities, there have been very little
efforts to set up treatment plants to restrict the use of water.
Apart from reuse of water, watershed
management has gained some momentum and this effort needs to be intensified
further. The Centre and States should come up with time-bound plans to protect
watersheds, rivers and wetlands and work with local bodies to establish
distribution systems. Several thousand wetlands that constitute the water
security of vast areas do not enjoy legal recognition and are being filled or
severely polluted. A statutory right of water being a basic/fundamental right
will compel local governments to take better care of their water utilities and become
more transparent and accountable.
While there has been talk of
public-private partnerships, it has to be ensured that the poorer sections are
not deprived of water. However, it is a fact that most water or waste water
systems are not run efficiently and do not meet the needs of the people.
Enlisting the private sector in the waste water sector may help bring finance,
reduce waste and lower costs when supported by effective governance and
transparency. .
A total rejection of private sector
in the area of water supply management may not be possible at this point of
time. The cost of providing such water has been increasing steadily and most
municipalities and water boards are struggling to meet such expenditure. Water
is priced abysmally low in the country compared to global standards. Residential
users are charged Rs 1.5 ($ 0.05) per cubic metre. The tariffs are so low or
virtually non-existent that they don’t meet that operation and maintenance
costs. In the mega cities namely Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi,
Chennai and Hyderabad
the operating ratio varies from 0.66 to 1.89.
The challenges before the country in
the water sector are indeed too serious and need rethinking and examination of
the problem by experts at the highest level. The quantity of blue – fresh
surface or groundwater -- and green water – rainfall on land that does not run
off or recharge the groundwater – is logically difficult to adjust and the
quality should be improved through legislative and monitoring measures such as
protection from overuse, depletion and pollution. The reuse of grey water –
wastewater generated from household usage – is where there is immense room for
improvement lies.
The recycling of grey water would
help in fulfilling two objectives: it will not pollute the canals and water
sources in the rural areas while after cleaning, it can be gainfully used for
non-potable purposes. Separating grey from households and leading it back into
houses after treatment to be reused would not only help the environment but
also make better use of the precious fresh water reserves that we have. The
procedure for such utilization is already being adopted in many Western
countries with great success.
Experts feel that a much higher
allocation on water supply, sanitation and public health sector – close to 4
per cent of GDP – is very much needed. Moreover, water consumption by all
stakeholders has to be judicious but what is most important is water management
and supply. Water intensive industry and water intensive agriculture may have
to be curtailed and recycling options popularized and incentives given for
their adoption.
The report titled Water Vision 2025
prepared by India Water Partnership (IWP 2000), which considered the emerging
challenges out of growing urbanization and industrialization, concluded that
the scenario by 2025 would involve serious threat to health and ecological
security. The prescription for averting the crisis included the following: private
sector participation in water management; promotion of watershed management
which have proved to be effective in recharging groundwater, soil fertility and
enhancing productivity; stricter enforcement of
environmental laws; specific and stringent steps in pollution control;
promotion of water conservation
policies, specially of rivers, lakes and coast lines; changing agricultural
practices to reduce non-profit pollution and large investments in this sector.
Water and sustainable development
are inextricably linked. The varied uses of water: for drinking, industry,
irrigation, a healthy life are essential for human sustenance. It is as if all
these are competing and not the inherent part of maintaining the whole
ecological system and complementing each other for sustainable development. A
holistic and judicious approach relying not on Western models but on local
solutions in an integrated manner for effective management must replace the
current confused policies in managing water.---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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