First of all , we
have to understand the magnitude of problem
related to fresh water in India. Is there water- stress in India or is
it water scarcity? The reports available are contradictory and confusing.
Central Water Commission report ,
prepared with inputs from ISRO
says that we have a condition of
water stress in India , which if not controlled
may result into a state of water scarcity in a few
decades. But Niti Aayog ‘s Report released
in June ,2018 said;” 21 major
cities will have zero Ground water level
by 2020”. In other words , it is a state of water scarcity , a crisis
situation.
Which Report to
believe ? I was in a state of quandary when
I stumbled on the scrutiny done
on Niti Aayog’s report by Joanna Slater
of Washington Post . In 22 tweets that she published on June 28,2019, she
mentioned “ Zombie Statistics given by
Niti Aayog tell a tale”. Briefly ,Niti
Aayog cited in a footnote three sources
of data;
1.
World Resources Institute.
2.
World Bank.
3.
The Hindu; The Hindustan Times. Both the World Resources Institute
and the World Bank
had not published any such data. Even the Central Ground Water
Board denied having published any
data leading to the conclusions drawn by
Niti Aayog. In other words, Niti Aayog
had not quoted its sources correctly . In
other words, It is not correct to say that 21 major cities of India will have
zero water level by 2020.
Thus our first question is settled . Going by the report of
Central water Commission , we can say that India is in a state of water stress
and needs better water management, failing which we shall have water scarcity. We
also need to do something about the
growth of our population.
Our water is
of poor quality and is contaminated at various places. India ranked 120
out of 122 countries in Water Quality Index. This again is a cause for concern.
It is not that no efforts were made in the past towards water
conservation. In fact , U.P. Soil and Water Conservation Act of 1963 shows the
concern of our legislators since
about 56 years ago. It envisaged watershed development, intensive
afforestation, renovation of bore-well
structures, renovation of water bodies and tanks and rain water harvesting. But
still, there is an urgent need to conserve water more now. There is a need to reclaim ,
maintain and improve water resources. Rain water harvesting in India is only about 10 percent and this
needs to be increased to 100 percent, as is prevalent in many countries.
Government of India has created a
new ministry called Jal Shakti (Water Power) in May ,2019 integrating the departments of water resources
, river development , Ganga rejuvenation , drinking water and sanitation . The
U.P. state government has followed by
creating a new Jal Shakti ministry on August 22,2019. Let us hope , other
states will also take similar steps and these ministries become integrated and
powerful enough to take the country out of the problem of water stress and poor
water quality.
In India, agriculture consumes 90 percent of fresh water. We have to pay
more attention to save water use in agriculture. One way is to improve water
use efficiency through drip and sprinkler irrigation. Other is to grow water
consuming crops like wheat and rice in Eastern India ( where we have abundant
rainfall) and maize and millets in North
western India. In addition , we should review our policy of exporting rice ,
which amounts to exporting fresh water.
Singapore reclaims water
from waste water and reuses it. It has
also installed energy efficient
desalination plants. We have to
follow these practices.
Most important is the creation of
public awareness that we have to conserve water. We have to develop
better technologies than present water
purifiers (R.O. based) which waste
three litres of drinking water to purify one litre. We have to take care
of leaking pipes and leaking taps. We have to obey the laws and policies
related to water conservation. And last but not the least, we have to control
our population growth.
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