India sitting on water disaster….Chetan Chauhan
Action Plan – With demand outpacing supply, govt is readying plan to promote water efficiency
Action Plan – With demand outpacing supply, govt is readying plan to promote water efficiency
Kalka Devi in Uttarakhand’s remote Rudraprayag district lives in a perpetual water paradox. From her window she can see the snow-laden Himalayan peaks almost round-the-year, but she has to trek 3-5 km everyday to fetch drinking water sourced from the same peaks. Till a few years ago her village, Arkund, had abundant supply but construction of the Singouli hydel project since the late 1990s has resulted in piercing of local water aquifers turning three villages into dry zones.
Now there is a proposal to pump water from the Mandakani for them.
“What a waste,” says Bharat Jhunjunwala, an activist fighting for the local residents suffering because of hydel projects.
In India — which has over 25 million water aquifers with just 40,000 monitored — there are many Kalka Devis whose main work in the day is to fetch water.
PARCHED INDIA
It has happened because the country’s supply has stagnated at 1,123 billion cubic metres (BCM) while demand has risen by over 800 BCM. Most parts of Rajasthan, Vidharba, Bundelkhand and Uttar Pradesh have been categorised as water-deficient. A NASA study in 2008 showed groundwater level depleting at a rate faster than it could be replenished in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
It has happened because the country’s supply has stagnated at 1,123 billion cubic metres (BCM) while demand has risen by over 800 BCM. Most parts of Rajasthan, Vidharba, Bundelkhand and Uttar Pradesh have been categorised as water-deficient. A NASA study in 2008 showed groundwater level depleting at a rate faster than it could be replenished in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
“Between 2002 and 2006, over 17,500 farmers committed suicide, most of which were in water-deficient areas,” says a report on Water Conflicts in India brought out by Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflict in India.
URBAN NIGHTMARE
Water riots are not new to cities but they are likely to aggravate. In Delhi, about 30% of the population get less than 30 litres for each person per day while 5% get about 200 litres. In Mumbai, 34% of the population get less than 75 litres, while 8% get more than 175 litres. The situation is unlikely to improve with demand set to outpace supply in the next decade. By 2020, India’s water demand is expected to be around 1,000 BCM against the supply of about 700 BCM.
Water riots are not new to cities but they are likely to aggravate. In Delhi, about 30% of the population get less than 30 litres for each person per day while 5% get about 200 litres. In Mumbai, 34% of the population get less than 75 litres, while 8% get more than 175 litres. The situation is unlikely to improve with demand set to outpace supply in the next decade. By 2020, India’s water demand is expected to be around 1,000 BCM against the supply of about 700 BCM.
GOVT’S REPORT CARD
The track record on spending on irrigation has been dismal. Despite an expenditure of R1,20,000 crore since Independence, only 30% of cropped land is irrigated.
The track record on spending on irrigation has been dismal. Despite an expenditure of R1,20,000 crore since Independence, only 30% of cropped land is irrigated.
“Efficiency of most irrigation systems is just 30% compared to the global average of 60%,” says Himanshu Thakkar of South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People.
India’s poor record has struck the UPA-2 government with the water resources ministry deciding to set up a Bureau for Water Efficiency along the lines of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.
Appliances such as washing machines, water filters, showers, toilets, pumping systems and dams will get rated on the basis of efficiency in usage of water — higher the rating, more water-efficient the appliance.
“It will help consumers make a better choice and create awareness on the need to save water,” says water resources minister Salman Khursheed.
Will this approach help Kalka Devi? May be not, as India wants to tap water resources to generate power.
“It is a big challenge for the planners,” says Mihir Shah, member in-charge of water in the Planning Commission, who has been asked by PM Manmohan Singh to draw a up water management policy.
SHOWING THE WAY
Through Pani (Water) Panchayats in Maharashtra, lives of several farmers in drought-prone areas have changed. Vilasrao Salunkhe of Gram Gaurav Prastishan prepared a watershed management plan to improve levels in each aquifer and ensured its equitable distribution through tankers.
Through Pani (Water) Panchayats in Maharashtra, lives of several farmers in drought-prone areas have changed. Vilasrao Salunkhe of Gram Gaurav Prastishan prepared a watershed management plan to improve levels in each aquifer and ensured its equitable distribution through tankers.
To each person 1,000 cubic meter is allocated every year for an area of 0.5 acres with a maximum of 2.5 acres per family. “The Pani Panchayats are the ultimate regulator,” says KV Joy of the forum.
Gujarat segregated the source for drinking water and irrigation to bring efficiency in both sectors.
Crystal – clear water
Innovative Idea – A housing society is Mumbai is using biosanitisers to treat and reuse kitchen waste water
At a glance, they look like insignificant tiny black crystals. But when put in water, these tiny biosanitisers made from processed soil extract, have the ability to disinfect waste water.
Residents of Arunodaya housing society in Andheri starting using these crystals to scientifically treat sullage or wastewater from their kitchens to tide over water shortage six months ago. Impressed with its efficacy, they now use the crystals on a regular basis and the treated water if filled in the overhead water tank used for flushing toilets. They have also reduced their society’s monthly water bill by 50% from Rs 3,500 to about Rs 1,700.
“Since residents didn’t want to recycle sewage, we decided to treat the sullage. In fact, sullage is more toxic than sewage because of high amounts of inorganic chemicals from detergents and soaps,“ said Janak.
Daftari, a resident and water conservationist who suggested the technique. About three lakh housing societies in the city are supplied with 3,450 million litres of water every day. There is a still a shortage of about 1,000 million litres.
Adopting such a technique will help the city conserving water especially for drinking purposes. The Nashik Municipal Corporation is using biosanitisers in its three sewage treatment plants.
At Arunodaya the sullage from 18 flats makes its way to an open treatment pit that’s dug in the compound. The 200 milligrams of bio-sanitiser crystals clean the water.
The open pit sucks in carbon from the air, the biosanitiser crystals break up complex inorganic molecules in the sullage such as carbon, nitrates and heavy metals, rendering them chemically inactive.
When oxygen starts getting released, the remediation process of the sullage begins.
Daftari said that the sullage is partially treated before it reaches the sanitising pit because five years ago, two grams of crystals had been dropped into the water tank that supplies water into the kitchen.
Daftari said that the sullage is partially treated before it reaches the sanitising pit because five years ago, two grams of crystals had been dropped into the water tank that supplies water into the kitchen.
This sanitised water gets further treated when it passes through a rainwater percolation pit comprising rubble, sand, gravel, stones, coconut shards and neem leaves, before it finally reaches the holding tank and then pumped into the overhead flush tank.
“Flushing needs a lot of water.
So treating our kitchen water will ensure that we are self-sufficient with regard to drinking water during a water shortage,“ said Subodh Chitnis, building secretary. “Most important of all is a significant drop in water bills.“