Poonam Yadav, an 18-year old girl who lives in Indore, 200 km from here, was stabbed to death last year when she reportedly refused to let her neighbours draw water from a tap in her home.
Stray incidences over water crisis are now common in Madhya Pradesh. Not only crime, labourers, farmers and even professionals are migrating from those areas affected by water crisis.
Almost all its tributaries that contribute to the main artery of river Narmada have dried up with the mercury soaring to 47 degree in some areas. Let alone villages, even the state capital has no prominent source of water, the main water source is the upper lake in Bhopal, which has almost been reduced to a pool. The water level has reached to an all-time low of 1,648 ft against the minimum required 1,652 ft. The main sources — Uljhawan and Kolans rivers that feed this lake now have turned into a polluted nallah.
A project to fetch water from the Narmada river, 79 kms away from the state capital, is yet a distant dream for a larger population as there is no political will to complete the project. A major portion of the city’s water distribution system is at the hands of private suppliers who are largely dependent upon ground water, which has reached an alarming low of 800 ft in some areas like East and West Bhopal.
Bhopal is dependent upon the upper lake for 45 per cent of its water supply need and the rest from nearby Kolar dam. Authorities are however confident of restoring water supply to normal, “We will restore regular water supply once the Narmada water project is completed, we are expecting to supply water by June 1 this year,” said SPS Parihar, secretary Urban administration department.
But Narmada project cost has been escalated from Rs 415 crore to Rs 1,000 crore and the consortium of companies led by M/s Koya Constructions have different issues pending with the government. “It is unlikely to reach Bhopal before the next year,” a source closed to the project told Business Standard.
If the source is to be believed, of the total 339 local bodies like municipals and panchayats, 120 are facing sever water shortages. “Half of the local administrative bodies have no source of water to supply on regular basis in the state. “Hardly 50 per cent of the population gets sufficient water,” said the source.
The water supply in almost all residential as well as industrial areas has become costlier as the state has imposed section 144 to control the water supply. It has taken over all private bore-wells and has restricted creation of new dug-wells and bore-wells till June 30. The private suppliers, in view of this control and restriction on construction activities, have increased water supply charges on demand from 10 paise per litre to 25-50 paise per litre. Towns like Indore is also suffering and facing severe water crisis.
“Indore Municipal Corporation has yet to transport water through tankers to ensure drinking water supply,” Ashish Nair, who recently settled in Indore told Business Standard over telephone, “I have to shell out Rs 300 per month to receive regular tap water supply from the municipal corporation and additionally I pay Rs 1,500 to buy water from private suppliers.”
The Municipal Corporations of Bhopal and Indore have also raised water supply charges from Rs 60 to Rs 180 though water supply is restricted to alternate days. “Further increase cannot be ruled out if we supply Narmada waters,” a senior official in Municipal Corporation Bhopal said.
According to a government estimate, Bhopal will have severe water crisis by 2022. The total demand will reach 500 million litres per day if consumption stands at 150 litres water per person per day. Bhopal has a population of 2.1 million by 2011 and water requirement is 362 MLD (million litre per day) against the supply of 95 MLD from Kolar river reservoir and 155 from upper lake (which has reduced to 100 MLD now).
“The rest of the water will be supplied from Narmada river (at 112 MLD,” said another senior official in Urban Administration department but has no answer what will happen to the project when the supply source Narmada will run dry after few years.
