Political Diary
New
Delhi, 20 February 2018
Court
Charts New Water Course
WILL
IT QUENCH INDIA’S THIRST?
By
Poonam I Kaushish
In dull political Delhi there is a deluge via a Supreme Court order on the Cauvery
water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which is all set to chart a new
course for riparian disputes. Underscored by a no nonsense message to our netagan: Water is not a State property,
it belongs to all, don’t politicize it.
Notably, it increased Karnataka’s water
allocation by 14.25 tmc from 270 to 284.25 tmc, reduced Tamil Nadu’s from 419
tmcft to 404.25 tmcft and allowed it to draw additional 10 tmcft 'groundwater'
from total of 20 tmcft beneath the Cauvery basin. The tribunal award of 30
tmcft to Kerala and 7 tmcft to Puducherry stands.
Predictably, while Karnataka is over the
moon, Tamil Nadu is “disappointed”. Citing figure to buttress its claim: The
State houses 6% of the country's population but has only 3% water resources,
per capita availability is 800 cubic metres, a third of the national average
and gets annual rainfall of 792 million metres compared to the national average
of 1,250 million metres.
Undoubtedly, the verdict’s timing could not
be better. As the search for water has become the most harrowing and
frustrating task for 21st Century India and Cauvery is only the tip of the
iceberg. Inter-State disputes over water-sharing have grown over the years and
become major politically volatile issues. More so, post bifurcation of big
States, leading to inter-State political and legal battles wherein no State
wants to release water to another.
Worse, instead of finding a durable and
sustainable solution to the problem, the Centre has taken recourse to
short-cuts and quick-fix remedies which have compounded the mess. Resulting in States
taking independent action in brazen violation of the Constitution.
Already, the Centre is embroiled in sorting
out water-sharing disputes between Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka over Krishna
waters, Maharashtra-Karnataka over Godavari, Goa-Karnataka over the
Mandel-Mandovi Basin and Madhya Pradesh-Gujarat over Narmada etc. Despite the
Inter-State Waters Dispute Act 1956 setting up five tribunals to go into the
matter.
Alongside, Parties rake up water issues for
their political survival, failing to realize that our rivers are being
over-exploited and increasingly polluted by being used as dumping grounds for
industrial waste and garbage. Notwithstanding, crores being spent on cleaning
rivers like Ganga and Yamuna and on rural water schemes, wells are dry and
women continue to trek long distances for water.
At other times, State interests override
national concerns. Many times a State refuses to honour a tribunal award or
rescinds its agreement. Telengana has asked the Centre to relook the River
Krishna water-sharing award as it is being unfairly treated by Andhra,
Maharashtra and Karnataka through which the river flows.
This at a time when 11 river basins including
Ganga will be water deficit by 2025, threatening over a billion lives with the
challenge getting graver by 2050 as demand will rise to 1,180 million cubic
metres, 1.65 times the current levels even as fresh water resources dwindle.
Think, India has 18% of the world's population but only 4% usable water, wastes
more than it produces and spends billions on inane projects instead of focusing
on water conservation.
The Government’s solution? Look skywards to
ward off the crisis and ignoring that due to global warming glaciers are
melting rapidly. Questionably, where will India get its water in the coming
years? Realizing the gravity Modi has unveiled his dream project Ganga
Rejuvenation and River Development plan. It now remains to be seen whether his
proposals are implemented and, if so, how fast?
Perhaps he can take a leaf out of Ambedkar
plan to encourage a permanent solution between States: ‘Water sharing equity’
through a Constitutional mechanism by allocating autonomous governance rights
to the Centre to ensure water sharing equity is met even in distressed years.
Happily, after years of foot-dragging India
will begin work on an $87 billion plan to connect some big rivers to end floods
and droughts. As States which were not flood prone are now witnessing calamity
and those which flooded, the situation has deteriorated. All thanks to
accumulation of silt in huge quantities in rivers.
Modi’s mammoth plan entails linking 60 rivers
including Ganga which the Government hopes will cut farmers' dependence on monsoon
rains by bringing millions of hectares of cultivatable land under irrigation.
It constitutes two main components connecting Himalayan Rivers and Peninsular
Rivers. When completed, the project would consist of 30 river links and 3000
storage structures to transfer 174 billion cubic meters of water through a
canal network of about 14900 km, flood control and generation of 34000 megawatt
of power.
The project’s first phase involves a dam on
the Ken river in north-central India and a 22-km canal connecting it to the
shallow Betwa which would set the template for other proposed river
inter-linking projects. Next are projects in the West linking the Par-Tapi with
the Narmada and the Daman Ganga with the Pinjal.
Proponents of rivers interlinking projects
claim this would end our water misery as it would help conserve abundant
monsoon water, store it in reservoirs, deliver it using rivers inter-linking
projects to areas which are water scarce and facilitate navigation and fish
farming to broaden income in rural areas.
Further, the surplus flood waters from
Brahmaputra Mahanadi, Ganga and Godavari could be diverted through a network of
canals and dams to water deficient rivers in south India. This would help boost
agricultural production, increase forest cover and bring down pollution.
Already, six intra-State river linking
schemes, including Sujalam Sufalam, Sabarmati-Saraswati and Bhadar-Mahi links
have started yielding positive results and mitigated potable and irrigation
water woes in several parched and drought-prone areas in Modi’s north and
central Gujarat, increased greenery and improved the environment.
Inter-linking of rivers would also raise the
irrigation potential to 160 million hectares for all types of crops by 2050 and
India would be better off investing in water conservation and improved farm
practices nonetheless environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts warn of
ecological damage.
Simultaneously, States need to maximize a
fair distribution of water and minimize its use as a weapon of conflict.
Concerned States must show magnanimity and adopt a give-and-take approach
instead of rushing to courts. Rivers need to be seen as a composite whole that
includes forests, environment, watersheds, seepage, evaporation, crop patterns,
irrigation etc.
True, inter-linking of rivers is not a
panacea for all issues as water cannot be created, manufactured in a factory
nor imported like oil. Therefore, management of available water resources
becomes vital for catering to a growing population and changing lifestyle.
Time now for the Centre to treat water as a
national asset and go in for durable long term solutions which needs national
planning geared for local solutions. Else, India will face a severe water
crisis within the next two decades and have neither cash to build new
infrastructure nor water for its growing economy and people.
In sum, our leaders need to end their
reckless drift offering pies in the sky. Pragmatic
competence is the need of the hour. Let us keep our fingers crossed that the
waters are not muddied further and our netas
don’t leave us high and dry. Zabaani jama
khurch will not quench India’s growing thirst! ---- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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