Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Dire need for managing water crisis' that was published in Newsband

Dire need for managing water crisis

There is acute water stress in most of India. According to the Composite Water Management Index developed by Niti Aayog, 70% of the water resources are identified as polluted. The system of ratings for States is based on their performance in augmenting water resources and watersheds, investing in infrastructure, providing rural and urban drinking water, and encouraging efficient agricultural use. It presumes that this ‘hall of fame’ approach will foster “competitive and cooperative federalism”.

Maharashtra and some other states have initiated reforms for judicious water use. Two areas that need urgent measures are augmentation of watersheds that can store more good water, for use in agriculture and to serve habitations, and strict pollution control enforcement. Awarding an index rank makes States feel the need to be competitive. Yet, such approaches may not resolve seemingly intractable inter-State river disputes. As the Cauvery issue has demonstrated, State governments would rather seek judicial intervention.

Less than 5% of about 12 million wells are now under study. Steady urbanisation calls for a new management paradigm, augmenting sources of clean drinking water supply and treatment technologies that will encourage reuse. Pollution can be curbed by levying suitable costs. The first step in solving the crisis is fair charging of water supply to every segment of society be it household / agriculture/ industrial. The water intensive crops like sugarcane should be slowly phased out since apart from being water guzzler, sugar cultivation is also turning lakhs of acres of fertile land into barren land. Recycling of water should be given prime importance. Illegal drawing of water from the river-bed should be banned forthwith, this is rampant throughout the country under political patronage.

Water, except those flowing rivers, are coming from ground water reserves, which is local to certain area or region. First of all one cannot fit water into the view as we do for air pollution, rather it has to view from source to sink pattern. Local solutions and conservation measures have to be advocated and not a follow blanket approach as in being done now. If India, its states, towns and communities that depend on local water resources do not find ways to handle locally the issues related to water, the so called crisis will be out of control.

Water crisis is not new in India nor is the government’s apathy toward the areas with shortage of water. When the crisis is at its peak, rules devise temporary solution to tide over the crisis, when it subsides, the matter passes into state of oblivion

The problem is we don't work in tandem with Mother Nature. This may be one of the reasons of this humongous crisis. In the name of development we are clearing green jungles to create concrete jungles. Water purification by the biodiversity should be augmented with traditional water conservation systems like ahars, johads, Katta, baolis. Only about 30 percent of waste water generated in India is treated, this is ridiculous. General awareness is the key, ' Jal Panchayats' can he held. Atul bhujal yojana, PMKSY, NWMP, all these government schemes should work coherently. At last we as citizens have the responsibility of judicious use and conserving the 'liquid gold' without which all will perish.

There is dire need for managing water crisis in an agro based country which needs water for agriculture, industries and general consumption. Eradicating manmade pollution to water and augmenting the sources of water is a must to avert a major water crisis in the near future. Inter-state disputes in sharing river water are to be resolved and legal measures must be taken to prevent manmade water pollution. Above all inter linking of rivers and diligently preventing river water flowing waste to sea are the major reforms in managing water sources. But the State Central misunderstanding and strained relationship among states in sharing river water are the chronic diseases in water management without panacea.

One big challenge will be to retain more of the rain which falls, now in even more concentrated bursts, and to use this both for surface storage and recharge of aquifers. The investment this requires should be a higher priority than farm loan waivers. It would also help farmers more sustainably. 2. There is scope for more frugal use of water for irrigation, partly through better practices like drip irrigation, partly through change in cropping patterns. 3. Excess drawal of groundwater in urban areas is close to a tipping point.