Kaushalendra Singh -- @patkaushal
With technological advancements and policy transparency India is working on water conservation and making it a mass movement of its own.
Water resources in India, directly linked to conservation and utilities, occupy a challenging domain that focuses on affordable and safe water while maintaining environmental quality.
The NITI Aayog's latest estimates hint at the availability of about 1140 cubic metres of water per capita in India by 2050. In itself, an annual per capita water availability of less than 1700 cubic metres is considered enough to warrant a situation of water scarcity. In addition, estimates peg a 6 per cent loss in GDP due to water scarcity alone in a country with a population of approx 1.4 billion individuals.
Therefore, the data seems to be warning India of a possible situation of acute water scarcity, which could easily snowball into a deeper socio-economic and humanitarian crisis.
"However, with the strong emphasis within our culture on the idea of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' – the world as one family' – cross-border environmental issues have always formed an integral part of every Indian's life. Inspiring people to live environmentally responsible, these issues have come to occupy the mainstream narrative," said a social worker who is pursuing the cause of water conservation in a remote Indian village.
Addressing significant environmental issues and moving towards developing an ecologically-sound framework, India has remained at the forefront of many such global initiatives. The government has been taking up multiple such steps to accord the topmost priority to the concept of water governance.
From creating a focused ministry for water resources to implementing a holistic conservation approach, the government has taken numerous measures in this direction.
Some of these measures are refined versions of schemes that were announced much earlier, while some are unprecedented and entirely novel.
Water conservation has not received much detailed action over the past few years despite the hullabaloo surrounding the need. With the renewed emphasis of this government, the issue received a shot in the arm with the boost to the cause in the last few years.
Apart from the river interlinking projects, the government has supported an innovative approach towards schemes with the 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana', 'Per Drop More Crop', 'Namami Gange and Jal Jeevan Mission'. With the Jal Jeevan Mission's launch in 2019, around 90 million households have been provided with similar water connections at a rapid pace over the last two years alone.
At this stage, around 125,000 villages in 100 districts can boast of adequate infrastructure to have enabled water supply in every household. Therefore, one could state with confidence that India has been able to manage the tough balancing act of meeting the expectations and well-being of over a billion lives as well as ensuring ecological advancement.
An interesting initiative to help with such conservation has been the newly-launched campaign 'Catch the Rain.' Simply put forth to prepare public awareness programmes and special action plans for rainwater conservation in the country, the emphasis is laid on ensuring arrangements for rainwater harvesting before the onset of the monsoon. Tree plantation, cleaning, puddle construction and other awareness related drives are conducted as part of this campaign to create a mass movement of its own.
Efforts have been made to make proper and judicious use of water through the dam safety rehabilitation programmes. With about 5000-odd dams in India, these infrastructural tools possess the power to play a significant economic, political, geographical and social role to play in the region.
However, due to the lack of regular maintenance until now, water was wasted/improperly utilised, life and property were at risk, crops were damaged, and villages were inundated. With that in mind, a Dam Safety Bill has also received the seal of approval from the Indian Parliament to ensure that necessary steps towards safety are undertaken along with better utilisation of water resources.
It is important to note the peculiarity of the fact that water bodies are often frozen in areas with freezing temperatures. This forces people to dig ice and drink it after melting. However, the usage of High-Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) pipes in place of the normal GI pipes has ensured a constant water supply chain to people's homes, schools, and Anganwadis.
Apart from the conservation and usage of water that would have been otherwise wasted, these technological advancements also ensure water quality safety with the deployment of Field Test Kits.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
