Water crisis ahead

The World Bank's report on India's water economy is not the first treatise to caution the country about its turbulent water future. Several global as well as domestic organisations have studied the issue and warned that the water crisis will become insurmountable if remedial action is delayed any longer.

The problem is not confined to the limited availability of water, and extends to its indiscriminate use and the rapid deterioration in its quality.

The World Bank report rightly warns that if the apathy towards this problem continues, the country will be left with neither the water required by people and for economic growth, nor enough cash to maintain and build new water-harnessing infrastructure.

The critical aspect of the Indian hydrological cycle is the seasonal pattern of rainfall, which, if not stored in suitable structures, flows down wastefully to the sea, eroding precious soil and causing other damage in its wake. About 50 per cent of the total annual rainfall occurs in only about 15 days and a sizable part of the rest in just four months.

Fortunately, the strategy needed to cope with the skewed rainfall pattern has been known to traditional communities for long and has even been implemented quite effectively in the past by investing in constructing ponds and dams to impound water. Unfortunately, the post-Independence approach to water management has tended towards the creation of irrigation and hydel power production potential, rather than conservation and the efficient use of water.

Moreover, even the tempo of construction of major and medium water projects, built up in the beginning of the planned era, has been lost. As a result, the water storage capacity created so far falls woefully short of what is required.

The World Bank estimates the per capita water storage in India at a tiny 200 cubic metres per person, against 5,000 cubic metres in rich countries like the US and Australia, and 1,000 cubic metres in middle-income group countries like South Africa, Mexico and China.

What is worse, even this extremely limited infrastructure has become an economic burden, rather than an asset, as it is not yielding returns good enough to meet maintenance and operational expenses on account of illogical and unwise water pricing.

Till Independence, the irrigation sector was a net revenue earner for the government. But now the government has to spend even on the upkeep of this infrastructure.

The predominantly mega dam-oriented strategy outlined in the World Bank report to ward off future water shock seems only partially suitable for Indian conditions. Dam construction concerns itself essentially with the management of surface water. But in a country like India, where most rivers flow across several states and cause inter-state water disputes, and where groundwater is an equally important source of water, the strategy for managing water has to rely on the conjunctive development and use of surface water and groundwater. From that point of view, a watershed development approach is more suitable.

Based on the concept of conserving rainwater where it falls, the watershed development system is economically cost-effective and ecologically sound. Besides, by involving the stake-holders in building, maintaining and operating watershed development projects, issues concerning water pricing, distribution and wastage can be taken care of.

Of course, water sector reforms aimed at curbing the indiscriminate exploitation and degradation of both surface water and groundwater are indispensable.