Where have all the water bodies gone?

On September 6, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court gave a landmark ruling directing the Government not to grant layout approval or building plan permission on lands located on water bodies. It was responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the subject.

This historic judgment is not only a wake-up call for Tamil Nadu, but for other States as well where a significant number of small water bodies are dying.

The judgment comes close on the heels of the Delhi High Court’s grave remark that the depleting water level will lead to water wars soon.

Earlier, in 2013, the Supreme Court directed authorities in Kanpur Dehat District to check encroachments on the water bodies in their jurisdiction. The Rajasthan High Court in 2012 also came down heavily on the State government over the illegal allotments and encroachments in the catchment area of water bodies.

Traditional water bodies (mainly tanks) generate innumerable benefits to the farmers and society. It is a low cost source of irrigation and also predominantly managed by the farmers themselves. The command area of most tanks is small and therefore, the problems associated with irrigation management are less. Being a less capital-intensive source of irrigation, tank irrigation is considered to be user-friendly with fewer environmental problems.

Tanks help capture, conserve and store what little rainfall the region receives. They help recharge groundwater aquifers which are stable and reliable source of irrigation for millions of farmers. In years of high rainfall tanks do provide some protection against risk of floods by allowing surplus rainwater flow into it. In years of low rainfall, the stored water in tanks provides some protective irrigation as well. Should we sit back and watch the alarming destruction of these natural reservoirs?

Many initiatives have been taken over the years to protect and sustain small water bodies in India. In his Budget for 2004-05, former finance minister P Chidambaram proposed launching a massive scheme to repair, renovate and restore (RRR) all water bodies that are directly linked to agriculture.

Following that announcement, during the Tenth Five Year Plan, the Government of India launched a pilot scheme for RRR of water bodies. The Eleventh Plan saw an enhanced allocation of funds towards this scheme.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has been implementing the centrally sponsored scheme of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) since June 2001. This scheme also received substantial funds during the Eleventh Plan. The Twelfth Plan, too, accorded high priority to watershed restoration, groundwater recharge and groundwater law to tackle groundwater related problems.

But urbanisation over the years has turned these community resources to dumping grounds. The Standing Committee on Water Resources (2012-13) on “Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies” underlined in its 16th report that most of the water bodies in the country were encroached upon by municipalities and panchayats. How do these civic bodies remain silent to encroachments?

Uttar Pradesh has reportedly lost more than one lakh water bodies to the hands of illegal encroachments within a year.

The Centre for Science and Environment reports that out of about 1012 water bodies in Delhi, about 70 are under partial and about 98 are under total encroachment. Encroachments severely reduce the water holding capacity of the natural reservoirs. This results in outflow of water during monsoon, leading to widespread floods.

The Standing Committee on Water Resources (2012-13) also highlighted that out of 5.56 lakh tanks in the country, only 4.71 lakh tanks are in use. This effectively implies a loss of about one million hectares of irrigation potential. Tanks irrigated more than 50 per cent of the agriculture lands in many States in India until 1950s.

However, with the introduction of Green Revolution during the sixties, the area irrigated by tanks fell from 4.63 million hectares (mha) in 1960-61 to 2.04 mha in 2010-11.

The scenario in water starved Tamil Nadu which is home to about 41,127 tanks is just as gloomy; its area under tank irrigation declined gradually from about 9.36 lakh hectares in 1960-61 to 5.28 lakh hectares in 2011-12. Are water users aware that if tanks continue to be neglected, the recharge mechanism will come to a halt? Even wells will cease to have water and diesel and electric powered pumps will be rendered useless. Isn’t this a fine example of ‘Tragedy of the Commons’, wherein everybody chases short-term wealth at the cost of destroying their long-term collective asset?

Recently, farmers across the country are bemoaning the escalatiWon in overall cost of cultivation brought about mechanised pumping. While the Central Groundwater Board estimated that out of the total 5,824 blocks in India, 1494 are either semi-critical or over-exploited; most wells in certain parts of the country have reportedly gone bone dry.

Policymakers have come to realise that water bodies need to be repaired, restored and renovated.

It is high time that the government realises the gravity of the situation by setting up a separate ministry for small water bodies with adequate funding to conduct periodic repairs. A new legislation should be urgently enacted to make encroachment on water bodies a cognisable offence.

As suggested by the Nobel Laureate Ellinor Ostrom, to avoid a tragedy of depletion, individuals should be entitled to use and run the common property resource, and set clear boundaries to keep out those who aren’t entitled. Farmers voluntarily must come forward to organise themselves into tank users’ organisations which will enable them to undertake repairing of tanks under State sponsored programmes.

This can lead to the revival of the traditional method of community maintenance namely Kudimaramathu. In order to rekindle the sense of responsibility towards preserving the common property resource, the State can also reward the best managed tanks in a locality.

'While the Jal Marg Vikas project is aimed at reviving the country’s inland water bodies, a similar effort should be made with respect to small water bodies. Observing ‘Small Water Bodies’ Day’ along the lines of World Water Day will make all stakeholders aware of the far reaching benefits of tanks, and save our age old oases.

Narayanamoorthy and Alli are teachers at Alagappa University, Karaikudi and Vellore Institute of Technology, respectively