Water crisis looms over India

After gaining independence in 1947, India gave considerable priority to water, particularly irrigation-related projects. The impact of the irrigation projects has been spectacular, nationally, through higher production of foodgrains and electricity, and regionally, through generation of large direct and equally-large indirect economic benefits.

At present, India has a capacity to store approximately 213 billion cubic metres of water, and a gross irrigated area of approximately 90 million hectares. Yet, we are struggling today to meet the growing demand for water, and resolve a growing number of conflicts involving various users. The water sector is beset with inter-state river disputes, and increasing droughts and floods. Meeting the water needs of Indian society, business and the environment in future will be heavily constrained by the quantity and quality of water.

WATER BALANCE

The National Commission on Water of 1999 has already admitted that overall water balance in the country is precarious. It states that a crisis-like situation already exists in different parts of the country, and by 2050, India's total water demand will exceed all its available sources of water supply. Rapid growth in demand for water due to population growth, urbanisation and changing lifestyle present serious challenges to water security.

A higher GDP growth during the past decade has led to a rapid increase of the Indian middle class, which has more consumer choices such as washing machines, dishwashers, car washes; lifestyle changes — swimming, golf and better diets. All of this has put even more stress on the available water resources.

Let us take the example of a dietary shift towards higher consumption of meat and meat products. To produce 1 kg of meat, the poultry industry requires more than 3,900 litres of water. This is 3 times more water as is required to produce one kg of wheat. Fifteen per cent of all aquifers in the country are in critical condition, a number which will grow to 60 per cent in the next 25 years, unless there is change.

Approximately 15 per cent of India's food is being produced using non-renewable groundwater. Since aquifer depletion is concentrated in many of the most populated and economically productive areas, the potential social and economic consequences of continued unbridled exploitation of water are huge.

Higher economic growth and rapid urbanisation means higher growth in industries and cities. They require more water and produce huge wastes. A new manufacturing policy is on the anvil to provide more thrust to industrial growth, with a view to increasing the share of the manufacturing sector from a little more than 15 per cent to 25 per cent of GDP by 2022. While this may be the right strategy, it may not come without further straining the already-stressed water resources.

China is a case in point. Rapid industrial growth during the last two decades in China has taken its toll, as two-thirds of China's cities are now suffering from water shortages, with the situation in 110 of them termed ‘severe'. With 20 per cent of the global population, and only around 7 per cent of global freshwater supply, China is on the verge of an impending water crisis.

RESOURCES AND DEMAND

The overall water balance in India also looks unsustainable. India has 17 per cent of global population, and only 4 per cent of global freshwater supply. Till now, the response of the state with regard to the water stress/challenge has generally been to look for ‘quick fix' solutions.

And these solutions are — a new dam, inter-basin transfers, or a desalination plant, etc. However, what is becoming increasingly clear is that, in many cases, such solutions are actually a zero sum game. Often, they solve one person's problem at the expense of someone elsewhere.

Moreover, such measures are generally expensive and seldom generate sufficient revenue to cover their cost. Thus, the fiscal burden for such interventions inevitably falls on taxpayers, adding more pressure to public budgets. Also, development of water resources in this manner runs the risk of locking countries into patterns of development that rely on ever-increasing water supply.

The growing demand for water is, therefore, unlikely to be met by primarily focusing on either the new water resources, or expanding the existing water resources. The need is to change the way water resources are used, consumed, priced and managed, as the societal needs change. It is high time that the water-related risks are identified first, and public policies are framed accordingly, so that it stimulates efficient use of water amongst its various users/stakeholders.

Therefore, it is indeed heartening to see that the Draft National Water Policy 2012, released recently by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, saying, “given the limits on enhancing the utilisable water resources… meeting the future needs will depend more on demand management.”

In fact, at the core of the way water resources are currently developed and used is the issue of water pricing. So far, water tariffs don't reflect what it costs to get, develop, transport, treat and deliver water to the users.

Since pricing of water requires maintaining a balance between multiple goals like revenue sufficiency, economic efficiency and social equity, any change in water pricing will have to be a judicious mix of full and part-cost recovery models, depending upon who the end-user is.

The way forward is to set up a Water Regulatory Authority like the Electricity Regulatory Authority at the national and state levels, to address this vexed issue.