Law, policy enforcement can help plug water crisis

Sunita Mishra

New Delhi: As the country waits with bated breath for a normal monsoon this year, experts believe that not only India, but the whole South-Asian region at large, has not realised the gravity of falling water tables and is yet to frame a comprehensive law on water management.

In a discussion on ‘Water Security In South Asia’, organised by public policy think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on Tuesday, Suresh Prabhu, an MP from Rajpur (Maharashtra), said there was no law to name on water management till date. Surface water, as well as ground water management had been a matter of personal manipulations in the country, he said.

India, with agriculture as the backbone of its economy, would be the worst-hit in the case of a water crisis. Currently, India has the world’s second-largest population, at 1.15 billion, and this is increasing pressure on water resources.

In 2006, between the domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors, India used approximately 829 billion cubic meter of water. By 2050, the demand is expected to double and, consequently, exceed the 1.4 trillion cubic meters of supply.

Prabhu, who was also the chairman of the task force on river interlinking and instrumental in preparing ground for reaching a consensus with the states concerned on water issues, said it was high time the government started working towards bringing all stakeholders together—lawmakers as well as the common man who is the most-affected —to frame the guidelines to tackle the issue.

There is an urgent need to sort out differences among different states within the country and among various nations within the sub-continent to fight the problems which might sooner or later affect the globe, he said. According to researchers, the South Asia, region would be worst-hit in the case of a climate disaster, he said.

“This is going to be a century of water wars, unless we sit together and give a serious thought to the problem. India, as the largest country in the region, has a more crucial part to play,” Bangladesh ambassador Tariq Ahmad Karim said. Karim has played a critically important role in negotiating the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India (signed in December 1996)—a turning point in relations between the two neighbours.

Karim also emphasised the need for government policies to promote sub-regional cooperation between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal—as a means of working towards economic development and security.

Climate change is exacerbating the depleting supply of water. “Dealing with the climate is the most crucial task India is confronted with today. Unlike Europe—where there is not much variation in weather patterns—India has an ever-changing climate. Due to this, controlling flood and drought-like situations remain a challenge for the country,” said Clare Shakya, senior regional climate change & water advisor with the Department of International Development, India.

Nearly 70% of the discharge to the Ganges comes from Nepalese snow-fed rivers, which means that if Himalayan glaciers dry up, the Ganges would run dry. The glaciers, which regulate the water supply to the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Thanlwin, Yangtze and Yellow rivers, are believed to be retreating at a rate of about 33-49ft every year.

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