Deepening water crisis in Indian cities
Acute scarcity of drinking water in Bengaluru has attracted national and international attention. It is facing the worst crisis in decades. The Silicon Valley of India, the IT capital is being compared with Cape Town which was declared a, zero water city. It did manage to survive with some drastic measures. The situation, however, may not be that dire in Bengaluru, well, as yet. There are ominous signals of impending crisis in several Indian cities and urban centres. There is excessive dependence on groundwater and that has clearly compounded the problem of adequate supply of fresh water. The Centre for Science and Environment finds that 48% urban water supply comes from groundwater. What is disturbing is that in 7 out of the 10 most populous cities the groundwater table is receding for the last two decades. As per a Niti Aayog report 21 cities run the risk of running out of groundwater, even at great depths of the earth’s crust. Borewells have run dry, as in Bengaluru and other places. The state government has responded with an idea of drilling more borewells in summer months. Lakes have either dried up or have been usurped by unplanned, unbridled urban development. Out of 1,700 lakes in Bengaluru, just about 200 remain, some of them too have gone dry. This is the same story in every other city in India. According to a Niti Aayog report of 2018, 40 per cent of the population will have no access to drinking water. Global warming, climate change, weak monsoons et al, have contributed to the crisis in several cities. Unplanned, unregulated growth too has played its part. For example, from a population level of 96 lakhs or less in Bengaluru in 2011, the number has now touched 1.42 crore in a short span of time. Deficit in piped water has led to flourishing trade for packaged drinking water (PDW) in most urban areas. A recent study found that 38% of the households in Kolkata and 70% in Chennai depended on 20 litre water jars for their daily needs which is now developing as an alternative mode (to piped supply). They depend upon independent but groundwater sources. With little or no regulation, the efficacy of the model is a suspect. More problematic is the issue of quality standards. In a decentralized system, there is no way of ascertaining whether water is treated or otherwise. There are players that include multinational companies along with local operators at various levels of extraction and transportation. The model scores on quick response which is vital in a resource like water. Water mafias have erupted in several cities. There are reports of sudden spurt in demand for water tankers at the level of manufacturers. Quality concerns exist in the case of piped water systems, too. Samples collected from 21 cities last year did not meet the quality standards. According to Niti Aayog nearly 70% of the water supplied to households is contaminated. Worse, Jal Pey Survekhshan revealed last month that just 10% of Indian cities meet the drinking water standards. Old and leaky pipelines that run close to sewage pipes are a common problem in several cities. Fixing the water crisis problem needs a multipronged approach. Reuse of treated water is already done in cites. More needs to be done. For example, several industrial units can do with treated water. Accurate and reliable information needs to be given by authorities, even suggesting ways and means of using such water. In agriculture too, nearly 80% of the requirement is met by fresh water, suggesting the enormous scope for saving precious fresh water. Singapore is already using treated water for drinking purposes, of course, after due processing, testing and certification. ‘Ah! Drinking sewage water’-is the common refrain in India as we are not psychologically tuned to the idea nor is the level of general awareness good enough. Secondly, every effort must be made to conserve water. Various studies and reports suggest how a huge quantity of water is wasted. Water is a finite resource. Incentives for conservation and penalties for excessive usage have to be put in place. Free or near free electricity in rural areas in several states is the root cause of depleting groundwater resources. Governments and major political parties must come to terms and refrain from competitive populism. Farmers will resist and they have shown their collective ability in blocking roads and mobilizing mass support. But they may be compensated differently, say by factoring it in MSP or cash transfers by other means. Thirdly, pricing of water needs an overhaul. Presently, there is a huge gap in cost and price charged by government agencies. In several urban centres, water is fetched from distances as far as 100 kms, as in Bengaluru. Pricing based on costs incurred will encourage savings. Cost recovery will improve finances that can be used for enhancing efficiency. Fourthly, it is time for establishing a water regulatory authority on the lines of power or electricity. Due to political compulsions, state governments will be averse to taking hard pricing decisions. An independent regulatory authority will view the issue holistically and act in a sustainable manner. Finally, it boils down to urban planning, proper regulation and sustainable development. Patently illegal constructions put pressure on water consumption. There is a suggestion that apartment buyers obtain some sort of a water bond from the builder to secure their requirement. But the buck does not stop there; if there is no water, no bond or surety will come to rescue. There are enough powers already in the hands of municipal and local bodies to deny permission for construction where no thought is given to source and supply of water to the occupants. Till such time that the water infrastructure is improved to tide over rain deficit periods, the state should adopt a calibrated approach to granting of new licences and permits. The author has four decades of experience in higher education teaching and research. He is the former first vice-chancellor of ISBM University, Chhattisgarh.
