Maharashtra is facing a water emergency of unprecedented proportions. Following years of drought, the rivers’ currents have ebbed, water in dams and reservoirs has depleted and over-exploitation of groundwater has raised concerns over the long-term availability of water. Our water crisis is turning more structural and stems from mostly man-made factors.

Body:

India receives 4000 bcm rainfall every year. Out of this, 1869 bcm is left after evaporation and the actual availability is 1137 bcm. There is a lot of temporal and spatial variation in the availability of this water. There are water surplus states and water scarce states like Maharashtra (Vidarbha, Beed), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, parts of Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana.

Issues with long term projects:

• Interlinking of rivers is a long-term project. It is almost 20 years now and the groundwork has not started for Ken-Betwa project. There is a lot of political opposition and there are ecological concerns as well. Half of the Panna tiger Reserve will be submerged.
• There are floods in Brahmaputra river at the time of monsoon but water is required in Assam during dry months.
• There is the problem of storage and transfer of water as well.

Major issues:

• Delay in monsoon and change in pattern.
• Management of both supply side and demand side of water.
• India’s availability of water at present is 1700 cubic ft per person, which was 5000 cubic ft per person once upon a time.
• Unprecedented heat waves, which can become more persistent with climate change.
• Less pre monsoon rain.
• Reservoir levels are going down.
• 91 reservoirs in India are at 19% of their life storage.

Measures needed:

• India’s priority must be:
  • To make our irrigation and water systems amenable to modern concepts.
  • To complete irrigation and water sector reforms.
  • To implement improved water management, governance and regulation practices.
  • Pricing system for water: For making people use water efficiently
• Centre, states, people and all stakeholders need to take action in this regard.
• Vigorous programmes on water efficiency are required like energy efficiency.
• There is an urgent need for coordination among users for aquifers. There should be laws and contracts for sharing of aquifers.
• Groundwater mapping has started recently in India.
• There should be a River Basin Authority for sharing information among states as most of the rivers in India pass through different states focusing on conservation.
• At the village level, there can be decentralized management of water at community level.
• Charging money for efficient use of water (as in case of electricity). For example- Water ATMS at Marathwada provide water @25 paisa per litre a day.
• Changing the cropping pattern, crop diversification and encouraging water use efficiency in agriculture by moving towards food crops from cash crops.
• Coordinated efforts among states for management of ground water at a localized level.
• Encouraging rain water harvesting, check dams
• Comprehensive restructuring of India’s Central Ground Water Board and the Central Water Commission in order to create a new 21st Century management authority.
• Right to water should mean a high priority to drinking water
• India has so far seen the water sector in terms of irrigation projects or water schemes. We need to balance between our water-needs and that of the river itself.

Conclusion:

Fixing India’s structural water crisis will need a balanced combination of saner policies, meticulous strategy, and a massive amount of public participation.