\-2. Gase Study: Water Grisis ln Indla

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

in 2021 while availabil ity stay at 2001 levels. The result: over 200 mill ion (20 crore) people arevulnerable to water wals. In Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh in May 2003 one person was kil led andsix injured people fbught fol water with swords and knives. Such sporadic incidents could becomeroutine. The short gfall for water supply in Mumbai is 4000 mill ion lrter a day which is enough tt-rfilt 4 lakhs water tankers. Indeed water tankers and water trains are the majors' sources fbr rvaterin many towns. Every day four railway trains fetch 6 million liters of water form Jodhpur for thefour lakh people in Pali, Rajasthan. These trains ale also

'the l iters l ifelines for 12 town and 128

vil lages in the desert state of Rajasthan.Many cit ies are now being forced to get water from over 100km away. Delhi's irony is

unmistakable. Despite being one banks of the Yanruna, it depends on the Ganga water fbrm Haryanaand Uttarachal. The water supplied to i langalore - across 100km from the Cauveri and lifted overa 1,000 meter gradient is perhaps the most expensive.

. Contrary to popular percelrtion, water sliortage is not just an urban problem but is, in factworse 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 arewater 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 - wil l be water deficit threaiening 900 mill ion l ives.

On the face of it, India has 45 pelcent of the earth's land and 4 percent of its fresh waterresources. India's annual precipitation (snowfall and rainfall) is 4,000 bil l ion cubic meter 690 bcmof water in rivers, which merely 690 bcm of water in rivers is used. In other words, 1,197 bcmof water (roughly two rivers of the size of Brahmaputra) f lows into the sea. Add 432 bcm wouldbe 1,122 cubic metre, per person in the country.

Theoretically, there should be no shortage, but the reality is ditferent. Firstly, rainfall is skewedgeographically, with the average ranging 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 over365 days. Thus every summer on an average 91 district in hit by draught and 40 million hectorsin 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 theirwater into the Arabian Sea. East-flowing rivers drain into the Baby of Bengal.

Thirdly, instead of focusing or long-term solutions, every government found it easier to allowexploration the ground water. Wrile for the government it means less investment, for the farmerit was free water. True, India's food security was propelled by the "tube-well revolution" but tt ledto long-term damage.

Dlgglng DeeperThe 56 lakhs borewells have pushed down the groundwater levels and new tubewalls are being

dug to a depth of 200m.Digging deeper for groundwater wrought havoc on the hydrological cycle. Ground water levels

have plunged in 206 out a 'total' of 591 districts in India. Nice states including Rajasthan, Maharashtra,Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Punjab, are facing major water deficits where demands exceedssupply with 1.5 million handpumps and 56 lakh tubewells in operation, pumping of undergroundwater is now nearly double the rate of equit-er recharge from rainfall.

Fourthly, in a country which is adding l8 mill ion people per year,Indias population is expectedto touch 1,650 rnil l ion (165 core) by the year 2050, which means that demand for water wil l r isefrom 634 bcm to I,447 bcm. Nearly two-thirds of this will be for irrigation as India would needto double its food production from the current 200 mill ion metric tonne to 450 mill ion' TheInrernarional Food Policy Research Institute projects that India will step up its water demand by 50per cent, over the next 20 years. Most of this increase will go to industrial and domestic users, witheach projected to quadruple its current demand.

Fifthly, considering that agriculture requires 90 per cent of the nation's water, pricing andefficiency should have been introduced in irrigation management schemes. Neither has been instituted.Water subsidies now cost over 6,000 crore and efficiency is barely 30 per cent. Most majorirrigation projects ale funded not by the user but through budget allocation. Although six committeeslrave recommended that levies should be imposed, neither the Centre nor the states are willing evento discuss it, because it will aff'ected the votebank. More impor-tant is the lack of a national croppattern policy. The effect is thirt drought-hit Marathwada, farmers grow sugarcane and in the water-scare Cauvery delta, farmers produce paddy, both water-guzzling crops.

Sixthly, there is need to increase efficiency. India should shift from the concept of yield perhectare to yield per cubic metle. While water-scarce regions. worldwide adopt micro-and drip-irrigation, in India micro-irrigation accounts for only 0.43 per cent of irrigated area compared to 49per cent in Israel. The argument that it is expensive has been long disproved by farmers inMeghalaya, who have devisid a drip irrigation method by stringing together split bamboo sticks thatcarry 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 instead of the present six ministries that deal with

.

various aspects of water management. This wil l reduce red tapism and speed upimplementation of policies.

2. Invest in new and eristing water schemes. It has been observed that investment inirrigation has dropped from 22.4 per cent in the First Five Year Plan (1955) to as lowas 6 per cent in 2000.

3. Transfer Water Management to communities. Local communities are those that areimmediately affected by scarcity of water. Consequently, they will show urgency in takingremedial steps in managing resources and deciding on growing only sustainable crops.

4. It is necessary to have a new pattern for crops growth in view of water availabil ity.Insistence should not be to grow only cash crops if lvater is scarce.

5. It is necessary to introduce and subsidies technology in agriculture, e.g., drip-and micro-in ' igat ion systems.

6. Roof-water harvesting in cities and towns should be made mandatory to collect rain waterfalling on roofs and terraces.

7. Water charges should be imposed on all users-urban and rural. The rates should beappropriate to cover cost of water supply.

8. Distribution of water in river basins could be over to the private sector for more economicand efficiencv distribution.

9. It is necessary to control supply in the light of demand to avoid wastage.10. The Garland Rivers Scheme of linking major rivers to prevent riverine water to discharge

into the seas to a large extent, should be speedily implemented.Sal ient Aspects1. Two factors cause a demand for water rise in population and increased economic

development.2. Certain types of water are consumed, while from other uses can be re-cvcled after

treatment.

3. Many areas of the developing world do not have safe drinking water or proper sanitarycondit ions.

4. Many health hazards can be avoided, if safe drinking water is available.5' Large-scale water development projects bring both benefits and environmental problems.6. Before large-scale water development projects are started, a through study of environmental

aspects is absolutely necessary.The most dangerous factor in the growth of the country's landfill is its contamination of the

nearby drinking water supply. Toxic chemicals bound up in the garbage we throw up every dayenters fl'om landfills into nearby aquifers, streams, and lakes and other water bodies. These pollutantsfurther move through surface of drinking water. Plenty of toxic juices are pumped into water.Examples of such type of contamination are abound all over the world.

Another popular measure of handling the garbage is through incineration. This process soundsgood as it reduces the bulk wastes; however, the air emissions of chemicals, of chemicals, sulphurand nitrogen oxide are as dangerous as the leaching chemicals. The toxic ash has to be furtherdisposed of since hazardous waste in special sites are earmarked for the same.

Studies show that incineration plants in United States, Japan, Swizerland, the Netherlands,Germany or Canada, emit dioxin gases. Several harmful effects to health are feared due to inhalationof dioxins. So there are protests in the communities and it is difficult to locate the incinerators.

3. Case Study: Solid Waste Management in MumbalThe 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 andfunctions to be assigned to each unit, the capacity of the People to generate financial resources formeeting 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 authorit ies are in charge of waste management for the cit ies. The MunicipalCorporation is headed by elected Mayors, consisting of three main executive authorit ies, i.e., (i) theelected Generai Council of the corporation, (i i) the Standing and the functional committees, and (i i i)the commissioner who is the Chief Executive of the Corporation. Such an institution is establishedunder a specific state enactment for major and important citie's and it is vested with a certain dgreeof independence and autonomy in mobil izing the resources and providing local resources.