Our water challenge requires commitment, an appreciation of the complexity of the matter and periodic doses of realism to make sure that we catch on right.
It often seems, as if the basis explanation for our water woes is really a health issue. STM loss. The onset of monsoon wipes out our memory of water scarcity within the summer. Floods make us forget that our water woes don’t just pertain to scarcity but excess also . LTM loss. We never seem to recollect that this is often a cycle repeating itself per annum , and has been progressively getting worse over the past seven decades.
The acute shortage of water in a number of our cities has overshadowed scarcities in several parts of rural India. Scarcity within cities or across rural India isn’t new, since inequity in access and availability of water may be a reality that the urban poor and people in drought prone/water scarce parts of rural India have had to find out to deal with over years. Not just within the summer, but during the year too, with women and adolescent girls having to endure the worst of this.
Our cities may alright run out of water, but will the rich residents of urban India run out of water? No. Our planners and governments will still transport water from rural parts to our cities to provide subsidised water, at increasing costs. Urban versus rural. Urban will win!
Water a national priority
Clearly, the new government has recognised the enormity of the matter and made water a priority. The formation of Jal Shakti Ministry, letters by the Prime Minister to the elected head of each Gram Panchayat exhorting them to specialise in conservation , the recently launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan and therefore the budgetary allocation of INR 10,000 Crores for this year, are clear signs of the intent. If a movement on conservation were to be launched country wide, involving the typical citizens of this country, rural or urban, then this is often the instant . a major Minister who can make sanitation everyone’s business, will surely find it easier to mobilise people around water.
The policy emphasis on water seems to possess two dimensions. First, on conservation with an instantaneous push to conserve the maximum amount of the rainfall from our monsoon this year, as possible. the next plans to sustain this aren’t clear, but time will tell. The urgency to reply is obvious . Second is that the ambition to make sure that each household within the country has access to piped water system by 2024. a huge undertaking as long as the proportion of rural households with piped water system is currently estimated at 18%.
Groundwater extraction and its price
We are the most important extractor of groundwater within the world. a big portion of the requirements of urban India is met from groundwater. a touch over 80% of spring water in India is employed by agriculture alone. Can water security in rural India improve without ensuring efficiency in water use by agriculture? No. this may require significant political will and incentives or penalties to drive this efficiency. Even attempts at regulating groundwater extraction are going to be a challenge without administrative and political will.
Groundwater is free. the value of water doesn’t figure within the value of products produced using them. There are not any incentives to use it judiciously. For the remainder , we are all beneficiaries of subsidised water, which inhibits both conservation and efficient use. one among the explanations why rainwater harvesting has not grown is due to this. Until we recognise truth cost of water, we’ll not value it and conserve it.
Large cities in India have utilities liable for water and sanitation. In other towns, municipalities are liable for these services. In rural India, it might be the general public Health Engineering Department or Rural Development or Panchayati Raj departments. Are the institutions liable for delivery of sanitation and water related services financially viable? No. Do they need the talents and capacities to deal with complex challenges of ensuring access to assured water – whether from water found on the surface, groundwater, and harvested rainwater or through recycling or reuse? No. can we invest adequately within the skills and capacities of our urban local bodies or gram panchayats to be ready to plan, design, implement and manage conservation or beverage projects? No. within the absence of an investment within the institutions that are responsible to make sure safe and guaranteed water, we cannot solve this problem.
Piped water system by 2024
The ambition to supply every household in India with piped water system by 2024 is an audacious goal. Getting the pipes in situ is that the least of our worries. In attempting this, six key areas will need focus:
The source of water has got to be sustainable. to make sure this, we’d like to reap rainwater and store it for our use or use it to recharge our aquifers. Restoring lakes, tanks and ponds not just by desilting them appropriately, but also by clearing their drainage channels and removing encroachments are crucial for decentralised storage and groundwater recharge. The catchments of our aquifers and comes (in hilly areas) need identification, protection and will be the focus for our conservation efforts. Not just engineering measures but by using vegetation – grasses, shrubs and trees.
Without an idea and adequate investment operational and maintenance, schemes will fail. There must be clarity on which institution will do so and that they got to have the people and therefore the finances to be ready to manage these. The electricity requirement for ensuring piped water system to each household goes to be massive and can require recurring costs. Pricing of water will become crucial to make sure management of systems.
Piped water system that’s not safe makes little sense. Robust systems to treat chemical and bacterial contamination and monitoring of water quality are going to be required.
If every household receives piped water system , then the quantity of wastewater generated will increase exponentially. Water from bathrooms, kitchens etc. within the absence of measures to treat this, our existing low-lying areas will become sinks for this water and therefore the risks of further contamination of our groundwater will increase.
We need measurement and standards. Meters to supply assurance that households are literally receiving water as per the standards. within the absence of measurement, the performance of service providers can’t be assessed and citizens cannot hold the service providers accountable.
Given the complexity of the problems around water, to make sure piped water system to each household by 2024 would require significant investment in building capacities in the least levels, in generating demand, in mobilising communities for collective action around conservation, management and monitoring. this is often a task that the voluntary sector can play, like has been wiped out the past with the Adult Literacy Campaign, Lok Jumbish or Shiksha Karmi and therefore the Water and Sanitation Management Organisation’s efforts.
Big, hairy audacious goals, a decent time-frame and a campaign mode backed by political commitment at the very best level make a difference in India. However, we also got to remind ourselves constantly of another peculiar ill health that we are susceptible to – Targetitis. during a federal structure and a rustic the dimensions and variety of India, this results in all types of perverse incentives downstream. Our water challenge requires commitment, an appreciation of the complexity of the matter and periodic doses of realism to make sure that we catch on right.
The article was first published in The Quint
The article is taken reference from wateraidindia
