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Apr-30-2009
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As the World Water Day passed by, almost unnoticed, I recall a seminar I attended last month. Programmes like these are held by concerned leaders of society off an on in major cities across the world. But is anybody listening?
Today, we are in a situation of water scarcity. Deaths due to water scarcity and water-borne diseases are increasing day by day.
Water, water, everywhere,/Nor any drop to drink
These words of Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," resurfaced in a more riveting context in the seminar on "Integrated Water Resource Management for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation", organised by the Karnataka Environment Research Foundation (KERF), Bangalore and National Institute of Engineering - Centre For Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (NIE-CREST), Mysore, last month. The event was presided over by M Sreepada Rao, Hon Secretary, NIE-MC.
Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is the practice of making decisions and taking actions while considering multiple viewpoints on how water should be managed. It means putting all of the pieces together: social, environmental as well as technical aspects. Issues of concern include providing the fora, reshaping planning processes, coordinating land and water resources management, recognising water source and water quality linkages, establishing protocols for integrated watershed management, addressing institutional challenges, protecting and restoring natural systems, reformulating existing projects, capturing society"s views, articulating risk, educating and communicating, uniting technology and public policy, forming partnerships and emphasising preventive measures.
Mitchell (1990) wrote that integrated water management concerns three aspects: dimensions of water (surface water and groundwater, their quantity and quality), interactions with land and environment, and inter-relationships between social and economic development. The need for multiple viewpoints is caused by competition for water and by complex institutional constraints. The decision-making process is often lengthy and involves many participants.
In the present situation of water crisis, the seminar served as a good platform for interaction between teachers, students and NGOs, notable among them being Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) and Chaitanya Rural Education Society. The seminar consisted of 5 lectures highlighting various aspects of integrated water resource management.
Speaking on the issue of "IWRM for urban Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation," Dr Rajashekara Murthy, president KERF, Scientist Emeritus, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, began with history of water management - from water withdrawing without changing natural sources before 2000 BC, to single-purpose water storage and withdrawal system around 500 BC to full effects or water storage, withdrawal and socio-economic impacts of dams and large scale water diversion schemes, environmental ecological impacts and science and technologies of present age. He pointed out that throughout human civilisation, human beings have manipulated and exploited water resources. He demonstrated how localised water problems (epidemic, sewage) have aggravated as globalised problems like pollution, acidification and global warming. He stressed on the need of new ideas and methods to deal with water scarcity, which is increasing day by day due to industrialisation and urbanisation. People are only concerned about supply and utility of water but they don"t pay enough attention to its management and effective utilisation.
1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water and 2.4 billion people worldwide do not have access to sanitation (most of the suffering lot being from Africa and Asia). Nearly 30%-40% of the world population uses less than 50 litres per head per day to meet fundamental human needs. We must therefore cover every aspect of the water scenario: human health, ecosystem health, sustainable use and economy, hazards and environmental prediction, global water commitments, following Agenda 21 http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/english/agenda21chapter18.htm and Dublin principles http://www.gwpforum.org/servlet/PSP?iNodeID=1345 .
Dr Murthy spoke about government"s efforts being not sufficiently integrated and a lack of accessible, policy-relevant science and information. He charted out his alternative approach to water management which he called the "soft path". Some important points of the approach are:
. Attempts to improve the overall productivity of water use rather than to seek endless sources of water supply
. While relying on centralised infrastructure, compliments it with extensive investment in decentralised facilities: efficient technologies and human resources
. Needs and works with stakeholders at the local and community levels
. Demand management: End use efficiency affects" both ends of the pipe": water supply side and wastewater discharge and treatment side
. Utility based measures: Leak detection and repair water mains, promote conservation based price structures, effective watershed management to reduce water losses and water reclamation
He demonstrated how by using the "soft path" and technologies, we could reduce water consumption from 72 gallons per head per day to 49 gallons per head per day. He also spoke about introducing conservation-oriented pricing, which means raising the price, which in turn has reduced water use. He explained source water protection plans. Finally he discussed privatisation of water and water systems and its societal, financial and commercial benefits but did not forget to quote the contrarian view. "Water should not be privatised, commoditised, traded or exported in bulk for commercial purposes," (borrowing the quote from Maude Barlow of The Blue Planet Project fame) before ending.
Dr PS Srikantamurthy, Professor, Dept of Agricultural Economics, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore, speaking on "Water Management for Food Security, Sustainable Rural Development, Socio-Economic Issues", used anecdotes and made the session interactive and, thus, interesting. He started with the explanation how changing dietary patters could help reduce water consumption. For example, ragi consumes less water than rice, but is more nutritious. He spoke about virtual water (l/kg of crop) of beef being more (15,977) as compared to that of pork (5906) and that of rice (2656) being more than that of wheat (1150).
The current food production must double in the next 25 years and 60% of it must come from irrigated land. Due to unreliable supply of water, farmers use bore wells. India has 17 million irrigation wells and 70% of it uses groundwater. India withdraws groundwater at twice the recharge rate.
Dr Srikantamurthy charted out the aims of IWRM:
. to provide sufficient domestic water all round the year, especially in peak summer, for all sections of rural and urban population;
. to provide as much irrigation as possible with the remaining water; and
. to minimise losses, as far as possible, of both water quality and water quantity
He busted some popular myths like planting trees increases local rainfall and that runoff rainfall has decreased in recent years or aquifers are underground lakes. He demonstrated his opinions by taking examples extensively from Rajasthan.
India requires accurate assessment, planned, developed and adaptive multi-user water management. He ended his lecture by mentioning about groundwater acts for IWRM should result in social justice.
Prof M Shekar, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, started his lecture on "Groundwater Management for Water Supply and Sanitation", giving detailed analyses of groundwater and its role in irrigated agriculture and water supply. He spoke at length about depletion and contamination of groundwater. Depletion of groundwater results in damage to eco system increased pumping and usage costs and dame to infrastructure. Total number of mechanised wells rose from 1 million in 1960 to 21 million in 2005.
There is a need for micro-scale mapping, collecting data and analyzing them at micro levels. There is also a need for collaborative initiatives, basic research and rethinking of our approach to groundwater. His was the most professional presentation in the whole seminar; he successfully answered all the questions put to him.
After this, two short lectures were delivered. One was by Prof. M. Sudhakara Rao, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on "IWRM and Water Pollution "and the other by Mr. C J. Jagadeesha, Secretary, KERF, and Bangalore on "R&D in IWRM for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation". Prof Sudhakara Rao started with the explanation of water quality deterioration due to domestic, agricultural and industrial pollution and geological contamination. He covered most of his time explaining the presence of excessive fluoride in water, the consumption of which may cause fluorosis. He rounded up his lecture by explaining about the Nalgonda Technique, Activated Alumina Technique and IISc technique of treatment of fluoride http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr-public/cr-se-wes-13120601-public.pdf containing water. Mr. Jagadeesha"s lecture lasted just 15 minutes which he utilised to praise one person, Mr.Gangi Reddy from NGOs and blaming democracy for water problems. He finished his lecture by making repeated reference to his 30 pages notes on the topic.
After this, there was a talk by Dr. Seetharam, Secretary, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, Sargur about FANSA (Fresh Water Action Network South Asia). This was followed by an interactive session and vote of thanks by Mr. M. Mohan Ram, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Industrial and Production Engineering, NIE.
At the end of the day, seminar fulfilled its purpose of enlightening public about water related problems and a need for integrated water management satisfactorily.
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