India is undergoing a water crisis. Nearly half of India already experiences drought during the summertime. Groundwater levels are falling in over half of the country, meaning that millions of people get insufficient or poor quality water. By 2020, 21 Indian cities are expected to reach groundwater levels of zero, which will affect 100 million people.
The new government appears to be taking this crisis seriously. Its newest ministry, “Jal Shakti” (Water Power), promises to bring all water-related departments under one minister. According to its manifesto, the new ministry will work to link the rivers of India and to ensure piped water in every Indian household by 2024.
This is not a new concept; many state governments have tried providing running water to households, without much success. That’s because approximately 85 percent of current rural water supply schemes are based on groundwater sources that are not perennial. A drinking-water tank constructed by the government is still vacant in my neighbouring village, Gopalpura in Rajasthan. It is connected to a dried borewell through a pipe-line. As a result, communities rely on a single or remote source of drinking water, often resulting in disputes and increased discrimination against major water fetchers, such as women and girls.
The new ministry needs to think ‘small’ in order to really provide water security for India. It must restore the bodies of water and recharge its groundwater. Only when our drinking water supply is based on perennial surface water sources can our drinking water-security be achieved. Rural India still has enormous potential for soil and water conservation. The government should encourage CSOs and CSRs to play an active role in managing rainwater at the farmer and household level. Panchayat or District authorities should restore water resources at the community level.
Water Literacy Is The Need Of The Hour
In addition, the general public tends to waste tremendous amounts of water, including in water-stressed regions. The government also needs to seriously invest in educating the public on proper uses of water, and the dangers of wasting water.
Currently, water transport from water-rich districts or states is presented as a water crisis solution. I believe that this is a short-term emergency solution, but not a sustainable solution. For a decade, the city of Jaipur imported water from Bisalpur in Tonk, nearly 150 kilometres away. Now, however, the Bisalpur dam itself is not getting filled— and plans are being made by the local govt to bring water from the Brahmani and Chambal Rivers there.
Who knows if these rivers will need water from somewhere at some point. It’s an endless game that will definitely result in disputes between donors and recipients. Misuse of this imported water is one of the most serious offences. Often, users in cities don’t value this water and use it in excess to wash cars, clean roads, and water lawns, when it could otherwise be used more productively to water farmland.
The government must concentrate on managing demand. It should be three pronged strategies, first controlled-supply, second demand-control, and third long-term awareness. In the first step, the government must ensure a timely, leak-proof and safe-water supply rather than promising 24* 7 supply.
Second, the government should encourage and assist consumers by subsidizing products such as sensor-tap accessories, automatic motor controller etc. at the household level and drips/sprinklers for farmers. Current public subsidy systems are inefficient, require enormous paperwork and a lengthy process that discourages farmers from adopting new irrigation techniques. Controlling the water consumption at irrigation level is the most important factor as it consumes 85% of groundwater without inflicting food security of the country.
I work with more than a thousand farmers in Rajasthan who in the last four years have effectively implemented sprinkler techniques. We’ve achieved a 40% reduction in water consumption for irrigation per acre, 30% reduction in loss of water during conveyance for irrigation (which in turn requires less energy for pumping the water), and 80% reduction in human labour time required during irrigation per acre. This has improved crop yields and quality through less soil salinity, attacks from pests and diseases, and weed competition.
Third, water-literacy at the national level should be the primary focus, which has not been seriously done so far. It is high time to introduce special modules on water saving, conservation, and utilization—starting in school. Youths at higher-secondary and college level can inform and influence their parents and become concerned themselves. Effective water literacy should be a regular part of our education system.
The Government of India should mandate all local authorities to publish maps of water bodies under their jurisdiction within six months. These documents should be demarcated, notified and gazetted by the revenue department. “No-change in land use” for these water bodies, lakes, rivulets, rivers, drains etc. should be permitted at any cost. The government should also limit the use of waterfront and water bodies, along with rules for the extraction and recharge of groundwater. It should list all forbidden operations, such as unscientific sand mining, dredging and embellishment, etc. that could endanger a water body, should be recognized as offences charged with maximum penalties under the appropriate Indian Penal Code.
Rivers are being murdered because of their sand. The government must identify the sand’s alternative as a construction material. Imports of sand may be a short-term solution if realistically possible. After all, we don’t want our rivers last pictures to be hanged on our home walls.
The new government needs to launch an aggressive program of nature-based solutions, ecological restoration, ideally to build resilience and generate livelihoods. To preserve river catchments, curb pollution load on the river, and establish a balance between aquifer recharge and discharge should be the philosophy of Jal-Shakti Mantralaya.