Isn’t it bizarre that in the same country where cities are inundated during the monsoon, there is a danger of massive water scarcityij

For at least 20 years now, every year since 1997, this writer has been witnessing one compelling visual during the monsoon — a near-drowned bus or a car under the Minto Road bridge, a vital road connecting Delhi’s iconic Connaught Place market to the New Delhi railway station. It is baffling to see successive Governments sitting idle over something as basic as ensuring an effective drainage system. This is the same Government which does not lose any time in telling the citizens about the virtues of water harvesting during monsoons even as it fails miserably to constructively store and channelise the same. Isn’t it bizarre that in the same country, whose cities are inundated during monsoons, there is a lurking danger of massive water scarcityij

The NITI Aayog, in June 2018, released a report titled, ‘Composite Water Management Index’ that brought out some startling facts on impending water scarcity. According to the report, 50 per cent of the country or about 600 million people in the country face high to extreme water stress. About three-fourth of the households do not have drinking water at their premises. “With nearly 70 per cent of water being contaminated, India is placed at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index,” CEO Amitabh Kant wrote in the Foreword.

“The crisis is only going to get worse. By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and an eventual — six per cent loss in the country’s GDP,” said the report. Citing a National Commission report on Integrated Water Resource Development, NITI Aayog noted that water requirement by 2050 in high use scenario is likely to be a milder 1,180 billion cubic metres, whereas the present-day availability is 695 billion cubic metres. The total availability of water possible in country is still lower than this projected demand, at 1,137 billion cubic metres. The report also highlighted that an estimated 54 per cent of wells in the country are declining due to rampant withdrawals for agriculture. K Kasturirangan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said that agriculture’s share in India’s total water usage needs to be brought down to below 50 per cent and indiscriminate exploitation of ground water must be controlled. The Niti Aayog recommended that States need to establish a strong regulatory framework for managing and using groundwater through “market-based interventions, such as impact bonds that can also be explored to incentivise community institutions and users to recharge groundwater.” The water quality is also a major issue and so is the water treatment. The Aayog said that about 70 per cent of the States treats less than half of their waste water.

Meanwhile, the fact is that water is a State subject and its optimal utilisation and management lies predominantly within the domain of the States. There are some efforts underway in conservation and management and in August 2017, the NITI Aayog had published Selected Best Practices in Water Management. In one such intervention for Narmada (Sanchore) in Rajasthan, use of micro irrigation technologies, like sprinkler and drip irrigation, were made mandatory and 2,236 Water Users Association (WUA) were formed. “The culturable command area (CCA) increased from 1.35 lakh hectares to 2.46 hectares with same quantity of water by adopting sprinkler system in the entire project. There has been significant reduction in losses, both in cultivation and land loss,” said the report. Similarly, in a Participatory Water Management scheme in Waghad in Maharashtra, WUAs were formed to cover around 10,000 Ha. “The overall irrigation area increased from 7,885 Ha in 2004 to 9,354 Ha in 2014-15. The water saving was 27 per cent. In addition to this, drip irrigation coverage increased from 25 per cent in 2004-05 to 40 per cent in 2014-15 with approximately 100 per cent recovery of water charges. The area saw an increase in average income from Rs 60000 to Rs 2,92,139,” as per the report.

In Jodhpur, the Umaid Heritage Real Estate implemented a rainwater harvesting system in Birkha Bawri, a traditional step well for catching rainwater from the site catchment area. “Apart from storage and conservation of rainwater, the project also highlights sustainable stormwater management in the housing complex, as it collects runoff and minimises water-logging in the area. The rainwater is collected from open areas through natural slopes as well as from the rooftop of the house connected through drainage conduits. The water enters from both sides of the underground longitudinal storage structure (bawari) and holds 17.5 million litres of harvested rainwater annually and serves as a reliable source of water for meeting landscape requirements,” said the report.

The system has greatly reduced dependence on municipal water supply and groundwater extraction by 50 per cent leading to an estimated savings of Rs 2.36 crore annually. Given the grim scenario, it is time for all to address the problem, as highlighted by the Aayog, and also respond to it by emulating best practices that it has documented. Who knows, next monsoon could bring some good news from Minto Road bridge.

(The writer is a strategic communications professional)