2.

Gase Study: Water Grisis ln Indla

\Water is the biggest crisis facing India in term of spread and severity affecting one in thrce
people. i00 million (10 crore) people in 35 big cities face a 30 percent cut in water supply. The
demand for water in these top 35 cities is expected to double to 12,9A6 million cubic meters as the
population of these cities shoots up from 107 million (10.7 crore) today to 202 million (20.2 crore)

in 2021 while availability stay at 2001 levels. The result: over 200 million (20 crore) people are
vulnerableto water wals. In Neemuch in Madhya Pradeshin May 2003 one person was killed and
six injured people fbught fol water with swords and knives. Such sporadic incidentscould become
routine. The short gfall for water supply in Mumbai is 4000 million lrter a day which is enough tt-r
filt 4 lakhs water tankers. Indeed water tankers and water trains are the majors' sources fbr rvater
water form Jodhpur for the
in many towns. Every day four railway trains fetch 6 million
'the liters of
liters lifelines for 12 town and 128
four lakh people in Pali, Rajasthan.These trains ale also
villages in the desert state of Rajasthan.
Many cities are now being forced to get water from over 100km away. Delhi's irony is
unmistakable. Despite being one banks of the Yanruna, it dependson the Ganga water fbrm Haryana
and Uttarachal.The water supplied to ilangalore - across 100km from the Cauveri and lifted over
a 1,000 meter gradient is perhaps the most expensive.
.
Contrary to popular percelrtion,water sliortage is not just an urban problem but is, in fact
worse in rural India. As basin and rivers di'y up, it also threatens in the countries food security.
According to data available to the Ministry of Water Resources,eight out of twenty river basins are
water defic,it. It is observed that 9A7o percent of the water is consumed by the agriculture sector.
The future is also not encouraging. According to fbrecast of the Ministry Agriculture by 2025,
eleven river basins - including the Ganga - will be water deficit threaiening900 million lives.
On the face of it, India has 45 pelcent of the earth's land and 4 percent of its fresh water
resources.India's annual precipitation(snowfall and rainfall) is 4,000 billion cubic meter 690 bcm
of water in rivers, which merely 690 bcm of water in rivers is used. In other words, 1,197 bcm
of water (roughly two rivers of the size of Brahmaputra)flows into the sea. Add 432 bcm would
be 1,122 cubic metre, per person in the country.
Theoretically, there should be no shortage,but the reality is ditferent. Firstly, rainfall is skewed
geographically,with the averageranging from l00mm in the west to 1,170 mm in the east.Besides,
while the rainfall takes place in just 100 hours spread over 100 days, the requirement is spread over
365 days. Thus every summer on an average 91 district in hit by draught and 40 million hectors
in 83 districts are submerged in flood waters. Of Cherrapunji which has the highest rainfall in India
- buy water at Rs.7 per bucket.
Secondly, west-flovving rivers of Kutch and Saurashtra,Sabarmati, Tapi and Ir{ahi spill their
water into the Arabian Sea. East-flowing rivers drain into the Baby of Bengal.
Thirdly, insteadof focusing or long-term solutions,every governmentfound it easierto allow
exploration the ground water. Wrile for the government it means less investment, for the farmer
it was free water. True, India's food security was propelled by the "tube-well revolution" but tt led
to long-term damage.

DlgglngDeeper
The 56 lakhsborewellshave pusheddown the groundwaterlevelsand new tubewallsare being
dug to a depth of 200m.
wroughthavocon the hydrologicalcycle.Groundwaterlevels
Diggingdeeperfor groundwater
'total'
Maharashtra,
haveplungedin 206 out a
of 591 districtsin India.Nice statesincludingRajasthan,
Gujarat,Haryana,Karnatakaand Punjab,are facing major water deficits where demandsexceeds
supplywith 1.5 million handpumpsand 56 lakh tubewellsin operation,pumpingof underground
water is now nearly double the rate of equit-errechargefrom rainfall.

Fourthly, in a country which is adding l8 million peopleper year,Indias population is expected

to touch 1,650 rnillion (165 core) by the year 2050, which means that demand for water will rise
from 634 bcm to I,447 bcm. Nearly two-thirds of this will be for irrigation as India would need
to double its food production from the current 200 million metric tonne to 450 million' The
Inrernarional Food Policy Research Institute projects that India will step up its water demand by 50
per cent, over the next 20 years. Most of this increase will go to industrial and domestic users, with
each projected to quadruple its current demand.
Fifthly, considering that agriculture requires 90 per cent of the nation's water, pricing and
efficiency should have been introduced in irrigation managementschemes.Neither has been instituted.
Water subsidies now cost over 6,000 crore and efficiency is barely 30 per cent. Most major
irrigation projects ale funded not by the user but through budget allocation. Although six committees
lrave recommended that levies should be imposed, neither the Centre nor the states are willing even
to discuss it, because it will aff'ected the votebank. More impor-tant is the lack of a national crop
pattern policy. The effect is thirt drought-hit Marathwada, farmers grow sugarcaneand in the waterscare Cauvery delta, farmers produce paddy, both water-guzzling crops.
Sixthly, there is need to increase efficiency. India should shift from the concept of yield per
hectare to yield per cubic metle. While water-scarce regions. worldwide adopt micro-and dripirrigation, in India micro-irrigation accounts for only 0.43 per cent of irrigated area compared to 49
per cent in Israel. The argument that it is expensive has been long disproved by farmers in
Meghalaya, who have devisid a drip irrigation method by stringing together split bamboo sticks that
carry water over hundred of meters to betel and black pepper orchards'
Some of the options available are given below:
1. Bring water policy under one Ministry insteadof the presentsix ministries that deal with
various aspects of water management. This will reduce red tapism and speed up
.
implementationof policies.
2. Invest in new and eristing water schemes. It has been observed that investment in
irrigation has dropped from 22.4 per cent in the First Five Year Plan (1955) to as low
as 6 per cent in 2000.
3. Transfer Water Management to communities. Local communities are those that are
immediately affected by scarcity of water. Consequently, they will show urgency in taking
remedial steps in managing resourcesand deciding on growing only sustainablecrops.
4. It is necessaryto have a new pattern for crops growth in view of water availability.
Insistence should not be to grow only cash crops if lvater is scarce.
5. It is necessaryto introduce and subsidiestechnology in agriculture,e.g., drip-and microi n ' i g a t i o ns y s t e m s .
6. Roof-water harvesting in cities and towns should be made mandatory to collect rain water
falling on roofs and terraces.
7. Water charges should be imposed on all users-urbanand rural. The rates should be
appropriate to cover cost of water supply.
8. Distribution of water in river basins could be over to the private sector for more economic
and efficiencv distribution.

9. It is necessary
to controlsupplyin the light of demandto avoid wastage.
10. The GarlandRiversSchemeof linking majorriversto preventriverinewaterto discharge
into the seasto a largeextent,shouldbe speedilyimplemented.
Salient Aspects
1. Two factors cause a demand for water rise in populationand increasedeconomic
development.
2. Certain types of water are consumed,while from other uses can be re-cvcledafter
treatment.
3. Many areasof the developingworld do not have safe drinking water or proper sanitary
conditions.
4. Many healthhazardscan be avoided,if safe drinking water is available.
5' Large-scalewater developmentprojectsbring both benefitsand environmentalproblems.
6. Beforelarge-scale
waterdevelopmentprojectsarestarted,a throughstudyof environmental
aspectsis absolutelynecessary.
The most dangerousfactor in the growth of the country'slandfill is its contaminationof the
nearbydrinking water supply. Toxic chemicalsbound up in the garbagewe throw up every day
entersfl'om landfills into nearbyaquifers,streams,andlakesand otherwaterbodies.Thesepollutants
further move through surfaceof drinking water. Plenty of toxic juices are pumped into water.
Examplesof such type of contaminationare aboundall over the world.
Anotherpopularmeasureof handlingthe garbageis throughincineration.This processsounds
good as it reducesthe bulk wastes;however,the air emissionsof chemicals,of chemicals,sulphur
and nitrogen oxide are as dangerousas the leachingchemicals.The toxic ash has to be further
disposedof since hazardouswaste in specialsites are earmarkedfor the same.
Studiesshow that incinerationplantsin United States,Japan,Swizerland,the Netherlands,
Germanyor Canada,emit dioxin gases.Severalharmfuleffectsto healtharefeareddue to inhalation
of dioxins.So thereare protestsin the communitiesand it is difficult to locatethe incinerators.

3. Case Study: Solid Waste Managementin Mumbal

The administrative institutions are created to meet certlin requirements and needs of the
society. The structure of such an institution is modeled after taking into consideration the duties and
functions to be assigned to each unit, the capacity of the People to generate financial resources for
meeting the obligations, and the local potential to provide the requisite leadership. For this purpose,
the state governments set such authority under the law promulgated by the state legislature,
The municipal authoritiesare in charge of waste managementfor the cities. The Municipal
Corporationis headedby electedMayors, consistingof three main executiveauthorities,i.e., (i) the
electedGeneraiCouncil of the corporation,(ii) the Standingand the functional committees,and (iii)
the commissionerwho is the Chief Executive of the Corporation.Such an institution is established
under a specific state enactment for major and important citie's and it is vested with a certain dgree
of independenceand autonomy in mobilizing the resourcesand providing local resources.