How jal can become Shakti

While the debate on air pollution peaks only during winters, especially in the National Capital Region (NCR), thoughts on water contamination and wildlife protection largely remain under the radar in the country, with no visible concerns being expressed either by government functionaries or the citizenry. Debate on these issues remain in the periphery, and certainly outside the NCR.

That said, the BJP’s manifesto promise of providing safe drinking water is being speculated to be the reason that a Jal Shakti ministry was formed. This year, when the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted 47 per cent deficit or below normal rainfall in its second forecast, how Jal Shakti rolls out will be important.

The newly christened ministry is expected to work on harnessing the potential of rivers, settling inter-state water disputes and other functions of the erstwhile water resources ministry. Added to these will be the larger work of managing demand and supply of water as a resource. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as the Union minister of Jal Shakti, who after taking charge said, “All the water related works will be merged under one ministry.”

Another step taken earlier, before the ruling alliance took the break for elections, was to have a hydropower policy in place which again banks on rivers. This policy was necessitated by a growing mix of renewable power, which remains largely intermittent in nature due to lack of storage. Hydropower generation capacity stood at 45399.22 MW on April 30, 2019, while renewable power was about 3 per cent higher at 77,642 MW. The capacity addition in hydropower had been stagnating largely because of rehabilitation and resettlement, and land issues for a decade now. 

Though from the planning point of view, merging the water-related works spread across environment,  drinking water and sanitation, urban development and rural development ministries in Jan Shakti seems the best thing to do for better execution, it is the conservation of river and water bodies that seems to have fallen between the creases over past few decades. Why it is that conservation is secondary to meeting the immediate requirements of people, when it is conservation alone that can ensure future requirements are provided for in the present itself?

India has eight major Himalayan and peninsular rivers and an endless number of smaller and seasonal rivers. Putting everything concerning them under the Jal Shakti umbrella might in the immediate course lead to a tussle among ministries because of administrative legacy. But if this ministry has to be relevant, it needs to focus on macro-level river conservation which is beyond just Swachh Bharat. Agreed, treating sewage and preventing dumping of waste into rivers is important, but equally urgent is a big plan for conservation. 

The plan should mean not just seeing a river in a completely traditional sense but preventing over harnessing, right from the mouth till its tip. This should translate into counting the number of planned megawatts on a river or putting in pump storage capacities within existing hydropower projects to match renewable power generation. It means ensuring that the health of aquatic life is maintained, if inland water transport is to be promoted. And, most importantly drinking water projects for rural areas under Swajal Yojana where the drinking water and sanitation ministry pays 90 per cent of the cost and the panchayat concerned bears the remaining 10 per cent, has a robust user charge structure to prevent wastage and ensure viability.

Now, projects will be scaled up under “Jal se Nal” programme, but these should come up without harm to the local population which will see its resource being transported to other areas. The erstwhile union ministry of water resources had estimated the country’s current annual water requirement to be around 1,100 billion cubic which is estimated to go up to around 1,200 billion cubic metre by 2025 and 1,447 billion cubic metre by 2050. For this, banking on public private models or panchayats will not be enough since it would need constant oversight and regulations coupled with viability gap funding. 

Jal can become shakti only if it is revered, not just on religious grounds but also with conservation in mind.