Southwest monsoon claims 227 lives

At least 227 people across the country have been reported dead in floods, lightning and landslides occurring due to the southwest monsoon. With 80 casualties, Kerala is the worst affected state in the south. Several parts of Gujarat, including Saurashtra and Kutch regions, have received heavy rainfall in the last few days and nearly 31 people have died in the state in rain-related incidents. In Karnataka, the death toll stands at 48 with 581,000 people displaced due to flooding since August 1. However, after several months of severe drought, farmers in various regions are rejoicing as reservoirs, including the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur, Tamil Nadu and the Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir near Mysuru in Karnataka are almost full. (Hindustan Times)

Government plans law to manage 13 river basins for flood management

To combat floods in the country, the Jal Shakti Ministry is planning a River Basin Management Bill to manage all 13 river basins in India by setting up exclusive umbrella authorities for each of them. The inter-state river basins for which authorities are to be constituted, include the Ganga, Indus, Godavari, Mahanadi, Mahi, Narmada, Pennar, Cauvery, Krishna, Tapi, Subarnrekha, Brahmani-Baitarini and Brahamaputra-Barak inter-state rivers of the North East.

Under the Bill, a master plan for all river basins will be prepared to help stakeholders collectively address larger issues of flood management, irrigation, navigation, water conservation and distribution without getting into the complexities of multiplicity at different levels. 

(The Times of India)

Dam mismanagement led to Maharashtra floods

As per a report,'August 2019 Krishna Basin Floods in Maharashtra - Karnataka: How dams are harming rather than helping' prepared by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), dam operators could have helped reduce the floods in Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara districts had they acted promptly. The report revealed that the dams should have started releasing water by July 25th, when the Koyna and Warna dams were already half full. However, dam operators refrained from releasing water in the context of recurring droughts that have also plagued this region. The report added that dam operators are never held responsible for mismanagement as they are protected by the big dam lobby. Moreover, dam operation rules are not put in the public domain and hence dam operators are not held accountable for their actions. (India Today)

Essar Energy fined for damage to crops, property in Singrauli

On August 6-7, ash-laden water from the Mahan Power plant ash dam spilled into over 200 acres of land after one of the walls of the dam breached while it was raining heavily in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh. Residents of two villages in the Singrauli district suffered heavy damage to crops and property and held Mauritius-based energy industry company Essar Energy responsible for the damage. A team of the pollution control board visited the spot to access the environmental damage caused by the ash-laden water and has asked Essar Energy to deposit Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the Singrauli district administration. (India Today)

Clinical ecotoxicology facility launched in Delhi

A first-of-its-kind clinical ecotoxicology facility has been launched in AIIMS, Delhi, to investigate increasing cases of diseases resulting from exposure to environmental toxins contaminating water, food and air. According to the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, contaminated water, air and soil are responsible for about nine million early deaths. The facility which will be the nodal point for leading research in clinical ecotoxicology in the country, will also provide diagnostic consultation to all the clinical departments dealing with diseases due to ecotoxicity. (The New Indian Express)

This is a roundup of important news published between  August 7 - 13, 2019. Also read policy matters this week.

Agricultural extension and advisory services facilitate the transfer of knowledge, information, improved technologies and practices to farmers, farmer organizations and market actors. Research has shown positive effects of extension access when it came to knowledge, adoption, productivity, and economic returns for farmers. The high cost associated with face-to-face extension constrains effective service delivery to farmers, who are often widely distributed spatially.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enabled services have been increasingly advocated by extension practitioners as an alternative to conventional face-to-face approaches. Although many extension and advisory service providers are using "e-extension" and mass media approaches to improve their outreach to farmers and to improve farmers’ access to information, most of these initiatives are at early pilot stages and limited empirical evidence is available on the effectiveness of ICTs in these sorts of approaches. Further, there has been some debate on how appropriate these ICT approaches are, specifically their effectiveness in stimulating learning and getting farmers to adopt new or different agricultural practices.  

Digitalization in agriculture has the potential to support agricultural transformation for millions of farmers. The paper‘Effectiveness of mobile agri-advisory service extension model: Evidence from Direct2Farm program in India’ examines the effectiveness of mobile as a novel approach to providing targeted and equitable agri-advisory services to farmers at scale. A cross-sectional survey of farmers registered on Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI's) Direct2Farm (D2F) user database was undertaken using a combination of telephone interviews, household survey and focus group discussions covering six states in India. 

CABI has been involved in using mobile technology to support farming in India since 2008. Their mobile agri-advisory services helped complement and extend the reach of existing extension efforts. The D2F service is a content repository containing agricultural fact sheets and short advisory voice and text messages for a range of crops and livestock. This repository is used (and can be used in future) to feed short, credible SMS and voice content to mobile Value Added Services (VAS) Providers and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in India, which can be delivered directly to smallholder farmers via their mobile phones. Content is developed and translated into local languages by the CABI content team and validated by the Subject Matter Expert (SME) before being fed into the content management system.

This paper presents the results of an effectiveness assessment of this D2F service at CABI. Effectiveness was measured on different parameters: farmer awareness of new practices, knowledge acquisition and retention, uptake of new technologies, and knowledge sharing. Proxy measures and anecdotal evidence were used to measure technology uptake and behaviour change, based on self-reporting from farmers during the study.

In this study, the effectiveness of D2F mobile agri-advisory services was estimated using four proxy measures:

• Awareness was measured by the number of farmers reached by information on new practices and technologies through D2F;
• Knowledge acquisition was measured by farmers’ reporting of understanding of information, and their perception of information relevance, timeliness, and reliability;
• Uptake of new technologies was measured by the number of new practices and technologies farmers applied after receiving messages - a measure of the proportion of knowledge put to use from what they learned through received messages; and
• Knowledge sharing was measured by the proportion of farmers who shared information with other farmers within their community, and their willingness to share information they received - an indicator of trust in the information source and content received.

Farmers adopted new practices

Results indicate that the majority of farmers receive information from various sources, most notably from fellow farmers (73%) and government extensions (58%). Mobile services were ranked fifth as a source of information, out of a total of seven identified. Nonetheless, there was evidence that CABI-D2F mobile services reached a large number of farmers in a short time compared to what could be achieved by traditional extension approaches, and the services significantly influenced farmers to take up new agricultural practices.

CABI D2F service analytics revealed that a core of around 40% of the initial 400,000 registered farmers became active users of the service, regarding it as a valuable and credible source of agricultural information. Small-scale farmers, women, and the elderly were less likely to use mobile service, showing a preference for traditional extension approaches. This digital divide may be attributed to low literacy levels, and/or ownership or control of mobile phones. Results raise two issues:

• How mobile services can be customised to differences in gender and social realities; and,
• How mobile services can be effectively monitored to ensure messages are being received by targeted users.

Through the telephone survey and from community visits, the study gathered qualitative insights of farmer perceptions of information relevance, timeliness, and reliability.

There was evidence that farmers were willing to take action and adopt new practices based on the information they received through mobile services. 

However, due to the number of other service providers and people's difficulties in recalling the exact origin of messages, it is still problematic to definitively associate reports of action with a specific service, although the telephone survey provided a somewhat more nuanced picture.

Conclusion

Despite the digital divide, results confirm that once messages reached service users, there was good evidence of the service being effective and well received, leading to users implementing the new evidence-based farming practice. The mobile service is clearly more than capable of providing timely, relevant and accessible advice and is valued by those who have engaged with it, but it needs to be made more interactive with a clear monitoring system to ensure the messages reach the intended audience.

The propensity demonstrated by farmers to share CABI-D2F messages and recommend the service, is a useful insight into the potential for the service to ‘reach’ far beyond direct service users, given enough time. However, farmers expressed a preference for text messages over voice messages, because they could consult technical experts if the messages were not clear.

Access the full paper here

Floods are an annual phenomenon in Assam. They are as integral to the state as the Brahmaputra River is, and each monsoon, we are reminded that Assam exists (or is drowning). As I write this piece, Assam is slowly recovering from the first wave of flood this monsoon. For several weeks, the entire state was paralyzed; the death toll was reportedto be 69 (although it is likely to be higher); hundreds of wild animals have drowned, many in the Kaziranga National Park; and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across 33 districts of the state were affected at large. 

It is interesting to note that flood damages are often reported in the form of statistics, and at a macro scale. So, we refer to death toll, number of families affected, the area (hectarage) of cropland destroyed, and so on. This, however, misses out on the invisible everyday violence that floods inflict in their wake – violence that is so banal that it escapes flood meta-narratives, their statistics, and the attention of technocrats. Yet, such violence is extremely intimate, and its effect on people continues long after the floodwaters have receded. This article highlights such everyday experiences of flooding among rural communities in Assam, with a special reference to Majuli river island.

Loss, the fear of loss, and trauma 

I was sitting with Pulin from Salmora village, Majuli, listenng to his account of a recent flood on Majuli island and how his family struggled to survive. The following is an excerpt from his long account:

The floodwater rose so fast and furious that we had to quickly decide what to protect and what all to let go [of]. We [i.e. the three brothers] worked all night, on empty stomachs, with tears in our eyes, loading the paddy grains onto our boat and transporting to the embankment, our temporary shelter. No light, strong water currents, snakes moving around, and we carried on like machines. My parents were both bed-ridden, and by midnight, the water level already touched their bed. We raised the bed by about two feet. By dawn, we were done transporting only about half of our grains, and all of a sudden, our parents screamed for help – we did not even realize when water level reached their bed again and they were about to be drowned. At that point, we gave up saving our grains - our hard-earned two seasons' harvest, and rushed immediately to rescue our elderly parents. I do not want to remember that night ever again, yet I cannot forget a single moment of it. I can’t get over that scream, and the very thought that my parents could have drowned still haunts me.

While all this was going on, Pulin’s small aluminum trunk was also washed away, along with some of his valuable possessions, including his favorite books (one of them being APJ Abdul Kalam’s autobiography, Wings of Fire, he emphasized), school prizes, letters, and other such irreplaceable items.

Sumoimari is another flood-ravaged village in Majuli, located alongside an embankment. I was sitting at Robiram Kutum’s house listening to his daughter’s tale of another major flood in the past and how it had left her father traumatized and literally speechless since. In that historic flood, Kutum lost over two hundred cattle overnight, all washed away in front of his eyes. For someone who depends on livestock rearing primarily as a source of income, this loss – and the very sight of his livestock washed away – was unbearable. It left Kutum so traumatized that he has since stopped socializing, talking, and stepping out of his home. The trauma was vivid on his face.

Flood and the everyday plight of women

In rural communities, women tend to bear the major brunt of flooding, and it is especially the case in the Brahmaputra Valley. Once again, some of these challenges are so mundane that they are hardly talked about. Nonetheless, these mundane, everyday challenges put the womenfolk through uniquely vulnerable positions. I highlight a few here: 

When the toilets are submerged…  

Most rural households in Majuli, especially among riverside communities, lack pukka toilets. The makeshift toilets, often located slightly away from the house, are submerged even in a low-intensity flood, making it extremely challenging for the population to defecate. While this poses inconvenience for both men and women, the latter suffer the most. In the absence of toilets, people rely on boats to go out and defecate. But defecating from a boat is neither simple nor does it allow for any privacy. It invariably requires an additional person on the boat who can hold the boat safely stationed in one location (sometimes against the current), with one side slightly tilted towards the water so that the other person can easily defecate and wash himself/herself.

For men, it may be possible to maneuver this task alone, given the kind of clothes that they wear, or at least they have the liberty to wear in public. But for women, often in mekhela-chador or other such elaborate attires, going out alone on a boat to defecate is next to impossible. Thus, women have no choice but to sacrifice their privacy. "Beyond inconvenience, it’s simply embarrassing for us, and it gets worse if we are on our period, too," said one woman in Salmora. Further, when an entire area is submerged, defecating from a boat is "open defecation" in its literal sense since there's really no place to hide. For women, surviving a flood is therefore a compromise with their everyday privacy, and a loss of basic dignity.

Submerged tube wells

The plight of women is further exacerbated by the lack of access to potable water during floods. Again, lack of clean drinking water affects everyone, but it affects women the most because they are the ones who generally fetch water and cook for the family. Hence, they are doubly burdened when tube wells are submerged during floods. They have to either fetch water from someone else’s tube well that is not yet submerged or boil floodwater for drinking purpose. Either way, womens' workload increases, and in a flood situation, some of this additional workload may be dangerous, too.  

Human-animal conflicts during floods

While the drowning of wild animals in Kaziranga National Park makes it to the news, what is missing in the narrative is the escalation of human-animal conflicts in flood zones. Snakes are ubiquitous during floods. Although not all snakes are venomous, the very sight of snakes roaming around creates a deep sense of unease, sleeplessness and fear among people. With a couple of occasional deaths due to snake bites, this fear spreads like wildfire, at times causing more harm than good.

Sometimes, bigger animals such as wild elephants and rhinos also ended up in unusual habitats after escaping floods in Kaziranga. Again, these animals are highly stressed and unpredictable in such unnatural habitats, and the local people, too, are afraid with the sudden presence of such animals in their surroundings. Violent conflicts are imminent in such cases, and understandably so.

The impact of floods is multi-faceted. They can kill humans and animals, destroy property and infrastructure, and debilitate a population in the long run by wiping out their traditional livelihoods. All of this has been witnessed in Majuli, Assam at different points of time. At the same time, however, the impact of floods can also be mundane, felt at the level of the everyday. Flood events can cause all sorts of inconveniences, making daily activities near impossible; but they can also lead to excessive stress and trauma and they can cause daily indignities by compromising with one’s privacy. This everyday violence deserves as much attention as the catastrophic, headline-making attention that floods often get.

Mitul Baruah teaches Anthropology & Sociology at Ashoka University. Views are personal.

Government to spend Rs 3.5 trillion under Jal Jeevan Mission: PM Modi

In his first Independence Day address to the nation after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came back to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged the growing water crisis in the country and said that around Rs. 3.5 trillion will be spent under the ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission aimed at providing potable water. Under the Mission, the government will focus on rainwater harvesting and water conservation in 256 districts in the first phase and carry out several other water conservation initiatives. Apart from this, he also highlighted India's burgeoning population, which is adding pressure to the country's natural resources. (Livemint)

Government explores sustainable cultivation to reduce farm water use

As large parts of the country routinely face a water crisis amid groundwater levels deplete at alarming rates, the Centre is exploring more sustainable methods of cultivation to reduce agricultural water use.

The proposals under consideration include making drip irrigation mandatory for sugarcane and paddy. Along with this, the government is likely to formulate policies to shift a major chunk of rice cultivation out of Punjab and Haryana to rain-surplus regions of the country.

The government also plans to bring fallow land under cultivation of water-intensive crops in the rain-surplus eastern and northeastern parts of the country, and at how farmers can be motivated to shift to solar-powered farms. (Hindustan Times)

Maharashtra government plans for Marathwada Water Grid

The Government of Maharashtra has come up with a plan to connect 11 major reservoirs in the Marathwada region to provide piped drinking water to every village household within three years. The project, worth Rs 16,000, envisages connecting the reservoirs from water surplus dams to areas serviced by reservoirs with low storage levels. The aim of the project is to provide water security and optimal use of available water in the region which has been reeling under a cyclical drought. For now, tenders for the project will be floated for two packages - one contract will cover Aurangabad-Jalna and the other will cover Beed. (The India Express)

Centre eases green rules for projects near buffer zones

In an office memorandum, the environment ministry has published new rules for environmental clearances of developmental activities in the buffer zone of protected areas.

As per the new rules, projects outside the boundary of the notified eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of a sanctuary or national park but within a 10 kilometre radius of the park will not need prior clearance from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).

However, as per Kanchi Kohli, legal researcher, Centre for Policy Research, "the new rules completely defeat the purpose of recognising 10 kilometres around protected areas as areas that need to be recognised for their conservation value". Hindustan Times)

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh spar over filling of Sardar Sarovar dam

The Government of Gujarat has urged the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) to double the speed of filling water in the Sardar Sarovar dam reservoir, wanting to fill the dam to a height of 138.64 meters. Water levels in the reservoir have already reached 132 meters as of Monday, submerging vast tracts of land in Madhya Pradesh and displacing thousands of people.  

The move to hasten filling the dam further has naturally been opposed by the Madhya Pradesh government, that claims that the Gujarat government is yet to test the strength of the dam gates which were installed in 2017. (The Times of India)

This is a roundup of important policy matters from August 14 - 21, 2019. Also, read news this week.

Rains wreak havoc in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab

Following the southern states witnessing heavy rainfall and floods this monsoon, the northern parts of India are now also experiencing incessant rains.

At least 28 people are feared dead and 22 missing in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab as of Sunday, while a flood alert was sounded in parts of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh as the Yamuna and other rivers were in full spate.

Cloudbursts in Mori block of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand caused chaos, damaging many houses in Arakot, Makuri and Tikochi villages. As the water level rose in the Beas and Sutlej rivers, the administration had to open the gates of the Pandoh and the Nathpa Jhakri dams in Himachal Pradesh. (India Today)

Conservationists criticise planting of exotic species in Kotagiri wetland, Tamil Nadu

Local residents and conservationists have criticised a government initiative to plant saplings of exotic tree species in a wetland known as Rifle Range, in Kotagiri in the Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu, under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan campaign. The activists say the trees being planted in the wetland were ornamental varieties that were not native to the landscape. It is feared that these exotic species will cause irreversible damage to the biodiversity in the wetland, and will impact the hydrology leading to the spread of invasive species in the Rifle Range. Therefore, the conservationists have requested that the district administration remove the saplings before any irreversible damage is done to the last remaining wetland within Kotagiri town. (The Hindu)

Nathpa Jhakri hydel project suspended due to rise in silt levels in Sutlej River

Electricity production in Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric project in Kinnaur district has been suspended, as the amount of silt in the Sutlej river has crossed 8000 parts per million (ppm) in the dam. The 412 MW Rampur Dam in Shimla has also suspended operations after silt levels increased in the river following excessive rainfall over the past few days. As per authorities, electricity production will remain suspended until silt in the Sutlej river at the Nathpa Jhakri dam reduces to below 5000 ppm.

Himachal Pradesh has been experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall since Saturday, causing landslides in some areas and blocking highways; all the major rivers and their tributaries that flow through the mountain state are in spate.

(Zee News)

Panaji's water supply disrupted after pipeline burst

Following heavy rains on August 15th in Goa, a pipeline burst due to a landslide, disrupting water supply to the capital, Panaji. Goa has entered its sixth day with no water supply, as a result. Some schools have been shut, with taps running dry in the state's premier public health institution. Angry residents have lashed out at authorities for failing to have a Plan B in place, calling the entire situation an administrative failure. (The Times of India, NDTV)

CPCB adds 20 more cities to most polluted list

The CPCB recently submitted a list of an additional 20 cities which do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and, therefore, require focussed attention on multiple fronts to deal with the hazards of unhealthy air quality. The addition includes eight cities from Andhra Pradesh, six from West Bengal and one each from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttarakhand. (The Economic Times)

This is a roundup of important news published between  August 14 - 21, 2019. Also read policy matters this week.

Arecanut is generally grown in the Malnad area of Karnataka, which receives high rainfall. However, it is also grown in dry land areas of Tumkur district, also in Karnataka, using groundwater. Arecanut cultivation area doubled from 5851 hectares in 1990-91 (Kumar 2003) to 12,628 hectares in 2001-02 (DES GoI); and nearly doubled to 22,058 hectares in 2008-09 (DES GoI). This increase in area under areanut cultivation is mainly due the water transfers since the late 1990s, from the Hemavati River in Hassan, 240 kilometres. The scanty rain in Tumkur along with the river water sustains the groundwater levels for cultivation.

But groundwater levels have depleted over the years, from around 400 feet to 700 feet in 2012, dipping further to 1000 feet in 2015 creating a drought like situation today. Though farmers have dug multiple bore wells post 2015, they are now too impoverished to drill anymore. Moreover, arecanut, unlike other crops such as paddy or sugarcane, is a plantation crop, and even one drought year (i.e. without irrigation), endangers the crop. Farmers would have initially nurtured the crop for close to 5 years before it starts to yield. Hence when the crop starts to fail, farmers resort to desperate measures such as irrigating with tanker water, as in the case of Davanagere.

Farmers are now still hoping against hope in Tumkur, that Hemavati water will fill their lakes and recharge the groundwater. Also, channelising Hemavati water to these dry lands has always been a political issue, as seen in the recent 2019 elections ("Lok Sabha elections: Deve Gowda" 2019), where promises were made to supply water. 

In this context, what could be the possible measures of protecting groundwater? Recommendations have been made to restrict water guzzling crops such as paddy and sugarcane to geographically sustainable areas, by providing an income support to less water intensive crops. On these lines, it may be argued that arecanut can be restricted to the Malnad region by providing income support to those growing ragi or pulses. Moreover, this income support needs to be comparable with what an irrigated cash crop will fetch; such that farmers will opt for a high risk (labour and rain) and low income crop such as ragi, when compared to a relatively low risk and high income crop like coconut/arecanut. Which means going against market economics!

Nevertheless, in addition to incentivising dry land crops (which requires crop monitoring), other measures that needs to be considered are for instance, making groundwater regulations effective to prevent indiscriminate drilling of borewells, and subsidising electricity and water in only water abundant areas. By the time such measures are taken, arecanut trees would have wilted, after having provided a short spurt to the incomes of a few farmers and exploiting groundwater reserves.

Depleted ground water levels have also resulted in shortage of drinking water. Thus, this has not only deprived the future generation of water, a concern raised by Gulati as well, but is affecting the current generation too! It is time that the government goes beyond the politicisation of water transfers, and puts in place measures that ensure sustainable use of water and secure livelihoods of farmers engaged in dry land agriculture as well as irrigated farming. 

The author, Meghana Eswar is a PhD student at TISS Mumbai, and is examining peri urban growth in Bangalore. This article is based on the author's on-ground observations of arecanut cultivation in Tumkur. She is from the farming community in Hodalur village, Tumkur, Karnataka.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of India Water Portal.

Choked by sewage and effluent discharge, lakes in and around Indore are in a terrible state and in need of restoration. A bustling city in central India, Indore was declared the cleanest city in India three years in a row. After cleaning the streets and its garbage landfill area, it has now turned its attention towards cleaning as well as restoring its lakes and ponds.

The Police Training College at Musakhedi, Indore is leading the way with a spectacular pond restoration project. The campus of the Police Training College is already an oasis inside the city. With 60 different species of over 1 lakh trees spread over 100 acres, 50 types of birds species, multiple water recharge dams and wells, tree houses, butterfly gardens, a nursery, solar installations and dense forests, the Police Training College campus is a torch-bearer for eco-development.

But over time the health of Nalanda Sarovar, a 10,000 square feet artificial pond inside the Police Training College campus has deteriorated. The water was full of algae and had turned green in colour. “The water in this rainfed pond deteriorated over time. Leaves, branches from nearby trees would fall in the pond, decay and decompose, and pollute the water. The pond liner that held the water was also in tatters. That was when I decided to do something about it and to restore this pond,” says Priyanshu Kumath, the head of Clean Water, an organisation working in the field of water treatment and water-body restoration in Indore. Clean Water has installed floating islands at multiple lakes in Indore such as the Police Training College, Musakhedi, Bicholi Mardana Lake, Harsola Lake, etc.

After surveying the pond and testing the water, it was uncovered that nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus were the main problem in the lake. Phosphorus and nitrogen are primary nutrients that in excessive amounts, are known to pollute lakes. The dead leaves and branches of nearby trees decaying in the pond had caused the nutrients level to rise. Floating islands, also known as floating treatment wetlands were the ideal way to remove the nutrients from the pond. Floating islands are platforms which float on water and have plants planted on them.

Floating islands mimic nature’s process and provide a wetland effect at Indore (Video: Clean Water) 

The roots of these plants eventually extend into the water. Bio-films, which are colonies of friendly bacteria, come and attach to the plant roots and bio-media underneath the island. Together the plants and the bio-film remove the unwanted nutrients from the water. This green technology is environment-friendly and is very low maintenance. The island requires almost no maintenance and the plants require the same attention as growing plants on land.

One after another, Clean Water planted 12 floating islands of four varieties on the pond and planted wetland plants such as canna, vetiver grass and umbrella palm. As the plants grow, their roots extend beneath the island into the water. It was soon realized that there was a lot of sludge deposited in the bottom of the pond, which had to be removed before the onset ofthe monsoons.

The team pumped the remaining water out of the pond and began removing the sludge from the bottom of the pond. The fish in the pond were re-located to a nearby well. Once the pond was clean, the pond liner was also re-installed properly. A lining of cement blocks wascreated all around the pond to ensure that leaves no longer fell into the pond.

Clean Water realized that the water quality in this stagnant pond could be further improved if the water was constantly re-circulated and aserated. A bio-filter and aeration system was installed in the lake.

This bio-filter pumps up the water from the lake, filters it in a filter with bio-media in it and then the water cascades back into the lake in the form of a waterfall. This ensures bio-treatment of water as well as aeration and oxygenation of the pond.

With the onset of the monsoons, the system rebooted. The water quality has improved significantly. New fish which eat algae and muck at the bottom of the pond were added to the lake. Native species of fish were given preference, to introduce into the pond. A ghat (with steps) was also constructed to access the pond without harming the pond-liner.

Unwanted trees which littered the pond premises were also removed. Fruit, flower and shade bearing trees were planted all along the boundary of the pond. The pond has also been decorated with plants such as rose, marigold and canna.

Trees which grow up to 40 feet have also been planted on the east and west side of the pond to form a wall to provide the pond with two extra hours of shade daily. These trees will reduce the direct sunlight falling on the pond to prevent and reduce algal growth in the future. Birds such as titori, bagoola, peacocks and many more are now coming to the pond, which is a sign that this project is ecologically sound. Residents of the Police Training College have started visiting the pond after their duty hours in the evening.

Water warriors like the Clean Water team, eco-campuses such as the Police Training Centre and cities such as Indore are leading the way towards water body conservation and restoration. Researchers and other organizations need to monitor test results and other changes so as to prepare case studies to build credibility of technology. Only when there are multiple successful cases of water-body restoration would this technology gain mass acceptance and only then can it be scaled.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of India Water Portal.

Telangana government, tribals stand against proposed uranium mining in Nallamala forests

A few months ago, the environment ministry gave in-principle approval to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to begin exploration for uranium in the Nallamala forest, which stretches across the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The Government of Telangana, which initially agreed to the project has changed its stance after facing opposition from environmentalists, concerned citizens, and the Chenchu indigenous people. The Telangana Legislative Assembly has passed a unanimous resolution urging the Centre not to allow uranium mining operations in the Nallamala forest. While UCIL has been granted approval for uranium mining in Nallamala forest, it has come under sharp criticism for ignoring environmental clearance conditions for mining in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh. (The Indian Express, News 18, The Times of India)

Despite objections by Finance ministry and Niti Aayog, Shipping ministry declares 106 national waterways

In 2015, the Shipping Ministry headed by Nitin Gadkari passed the National Waterways Bill in order to declare 106 waterways of the country as National Waterways (NWs). As per a report by The Wire, the decision was met with strong opposition from the Finance Ministry because the project would accrue heavy financial cost on the Centre. Only very large waterways should be declared NWs, while medium and small waterways should be declared 'State Waterways'. Niti Aayog and Jal Shakti Ministry also raised objections to the decision, saying that the basis on which inland waterways were identified as NWs had not been discussed, and that there was a need to estimate the quantum of water to maintain a minimum depth. However, both the demands were rejected by the Shipping Ministry. (The Wire)

Rajasthan's groundwater hit by natural and human-made toxins

In a recent study conducted as part of the Duke University India Initiative, researchers tested 243 groundwater wells in Rajasthan and found that the groundwater quality in the state was hit by the simultaneous presence of both human-made pollutants and naturally occurring toxic minerals. As per the study, over three-quarters of the sampled wells that provide drinking water contain contaminants such as fluoride, nitrate, and uranium at levels that exceed both Indian and World Health Organisation (WHO) drinking water norms. The study called for evaluation and monitoring of emergent pollutants called disinfection byproducts (DBP) in treated water in Rajasthan. DBPs form when the chemicals used to treat water react with naturally-occurring materials in the water to form compounds that may pose health risks. (Mongabay India)

Rural sanitation strategy being prepared to sustain sanitation coverage

With the sanitation coverage reaching 99.99 percent, the centre is preparing a 10 year strategy to keep the country free of open defecation. The strategy will be worked out by KPMG and UNICEF, and will cover access to sanitation through incentives for households and community sanitation complexes, standardisation of pit emptying processes, availability of water supply to toilets (including cleaning of water bodies) and giving appropriate sanitation information. Along with this, the government will also be promoting composting of organic waste, management of greywater and upgradation of single pits to twin pits. (Down to Earth)

Cloud-based irrigation system at Hyderabad International Airport

In a bid to conserve water and achieve environment sustainability, GMR-led Hyderabad International Airport becomes India's first airport to induct a cloud-based central irrigation control system using an IMMS (Irrigation Management and Monitoring Software) online mechanism. This is a first-of-its-kind technology that will enable the airport to save up to 35 percent water, on top of the conventional mode of irrigation system. Besides being precise and timely, the new system will effectively control water usage and can be used effortlessly as it is controlled through any internet enabled data device. (The Hans India)

This is a roundup of important news published between  September 10 - 16, 2019. Also read policy matters this week.

NGT orders DDA to ensure farming on the Yamuna floodplains is stopped by 2020

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Delhi Development Authority to ensure that farming of fruit and vegetables on the Yamuna floodplains is stopped and the area is restored into a biodiversity area. The tribunal also warned the DDA that it would be liable to pay Rs 5 lakh per month from 1st April 2020, if it failed to meet its directive. The order comes following reports released by NEERI and CPCB, saying that while the former found high doses of lead in vegetables, the latter revealed that the excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides by farmers on the Yamuna floodplains is contributing to poisoning of the Yamuna’s water, its floodplains and groundwater. (Hindustan Times)

Centre grants green nod to expansion of atomic plant in Western Ghats

The environment ministry has given its approval for capacity expansion of two units of the Kaiga Atomic Power Project and the construction of additional accommodation in the existing township in Karnataka’s Karwar taluk in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats. The region has been categorised as an ecologically sensitive zone-1 (ESZ-1) and the panel headed by noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2011 had recommended that no mining and thermal power plants be allowed in such areas. Moroever, the proceedings of the public hearing conducted for the project in December 2018 shows that the local people had strong reservations about the project. (Hindustan Times)

16-member panel appointed to restore Cauvery river

On the lines of Namami Gange, the Tamil Nadu government will be implementing the ambitious Nadanthai Vaazhi Cauvery to restore the Cauvery river and its tributaries. A 16-member multi-disciplinary committee has been appointed for the project. The members have been drawn from water resources, municipal administration and water supply, rural development, environment and forests, TWAD Board, TN water investment company, revenue administration and disaster management. The new committee will work towards biodiversity conservation, afforestation, cleaning of river surface, setting up sewage treatment plants (STPs), riverfront development and rejuvenation of the river and its main tributaries - Bhavani, Amaravathi and Noyyal. (The Times of India)

Plug leakage in Srinagar hydel project water channel: NGT

The National Green Tribunal has ordered the Alaknanda Hydro Power Company to plug a leakage in the underground channel of Srinagar Hydroelectric Project at Supada village in Tehri district, Uttarakhand. The direction follows a petition filed by Uttarakhand resident Uttam Singh Bhandari seeking proper measures to be taken to plug the leakage from the power plant channel and ensure the safety of the lives of residents of Mangsu, Surasu and NaurThaapli villages. The plea mentioned the serious breach that took place in 2015 in the canal, causing damage to crops and houses. After the breach, an enquiry report recommended re-strengthening the power channel and investigating the structural design, but in the absence of requisite action, there was another serious breach in December 2018. (Republic Tv)

Mumbai civic body fails to prepare flood-risk zone maps even after 2005 flood deluge: SC panel

As per a report of from a Supreme Court-appointed committee, the BMC and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) did not prepare flood-risk zone maps even 12 years after the 2005 deluge caused by an overflowing Mithi river. The committee submitted its report to the apex court in March 2018, observing that instead of a trapezoidal section that was suggested for widening the Mithi, a rectangular section was adopted, which reduced the river’s carrying capacity. Moreover, the development of a 50 metre no-development zone on either side of the river, as recommended by NEERI, was not implemented. Although BMC and MMRDA claimed to have taken up flood-mitigation measures, despite the steps taken, the Mithi has breached its banks thrice already this year. (The Times of India)

This is a roundup of important policy matters from September 10 - 16, 2019. Also, read news this week.

Spatial and temporal information of agriculture, forest, topography, land use change, climate and socio-economic factors are very useful in the planning and implementation of Natural Resource Management (NRM) programs. Despite this relevance, quantitative information on these variables is not widely known at ground level due to unavailability of quality data and mapping techniques. The application of Remote Sensing for natural resource survey and mapping is gaining importance largely because of its ability to provide rapid and reliable data within a given time framework. GIS is emerging as an excellent tool for the management of large bodies of spatially extensive data with all the advantage of a computer environment. In this context, Water Practitioners Network (WPN) plans to organize a five day workshop designed to fulfill the growing need of digital mapping skills for natural resource management. This program is being conducted jointly by Society for Promotion of Westland Development (SPWD), Udaipur, Rajasthan and Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS), Bagli, Madhya Pradesh 

The main purpose of the event is to transfer digital mapping skills to empower water practitioners as well as many other professionals working in the field of natural resource management. The course also attempts to introduce the participants with recent developments and features of digital mapping that could be incorporated in their area of work. 

Date: 10th -14th October, 2019 

Location: Udaipur , Rajasthan 

Duration of the Workshop: Five (5) days 

Expected Number of Participants: 30 

Course Fees:FREE for all participants 

Participants: NGO workers, professionals, researchers and students working in the field of Natural Resource Management in the western region of India. 

Expected Background of Participants: Basic computer skills (Note: participants are required to bring their own laptop for the practical session)  

How to apply: Interested people can apply by the filling the registration request form available on the WPN website 

(Preference will be given to participants working in the Western region of India) 

Travel and Accommodation: Boarding and lodging facilities will be arranged for all the participants on the sharing basis. Travel expenditures for the local travel, bus and tier-3 AC train fare by the shortest route will be reimbursed (providing original tickets is required) 

Collaboration: 

• Water Practitioners Network 
• Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD), Udaipur
• Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS) , Madhya Pradesh

Resource Persons: 

• Dr. Jagdish K. Purohit , SPWD , Udaipur , Rajasthan 
• Mr. Jagadeesh Menon, SPWD , Udaipur, Rajasthan  
• Dr. Jitendra Thakur , SPS, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh

Contact Persons:

Mr Jagadeesh Menon (Udaipur)
Mobile number:+91 9784542906
Email: jmenon@spwd.org 

Mr Jitendra Thakur
Mobile number: +91 9685337106
Email: thakurjitendra39@gmail.com 

In 2014, the Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) to accelerate efforts in achieving universal sanitation coverage. The issue of access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities also became a major Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-6) when the United Nation set 17 global goals in 2015 under the 2030 Agenda.

Tata Trusts, through the Tata Water Mission (TWM), has adopted a multi-pronged approach to help tackle these issues, and has been working with the Union Government and various State Governments in ensuring that India achieves the targets set under SBM and SDG-6. Tata Trusts is not only using the traditional strengths of community mobilisation and capacity building, but also the power of innovative approaches and technological solutions. In this context, one of the major initiatives of the Trusts has been the Zila Swachh Bharat Prerak (ZSBP) programme under the Tata Water Mission.

The Zila Swachh Bharat Prerak [ZSBP] programme was instituted in response to Government of India’s appeal to Corporate India to support the implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Responding to this call, Tata Trusts, in 2016, collaborated with the erstwhile Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to support the Swachh Bharat Mission - Grameen programme by initiating the ZSBP programme. The Trusts have played a catalytic role in societal development while ensuring that initiatives and interventions have a contemporary relevance to the nation. One such issue of relevance has been that of access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all Indians.

The ZSBPs are a young cadre that supports district administration across the country to implement of the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin. The preraks are aiding the government in strategic planning for the implementation of SBM that includes preparing District Swachhta Plans, creating time-bound targets in ‘mission mode’, preparing monitoring and evaluating protocols and planning large community-wise interventions. The ZSBPs have directly supported the District Collectors to consistently work towards achieving total sanitation coverage.

So far, around 500 preraks have been deployed in 475 districts in India. Here are some success stories of Zila Swachh Bharat Prerak Programme by Tata Trusts.

Sandeep Dungdung – Jharkhand

In Latehar district of Jharkhand state, home to tribal communities that live amid thick forests and hills, Sandeep Dungdung, 32, was deployed in June 2017 as a prerak to tackle open defecation.

Soon after joining, Sandeep observed that the toilet coverage in Latehar was around 48%. Most of the villages in the district are in hilly areas, and there is acute water scarcity in the region. Success for the programme in Latehar depended on the initiative and efficiency of the 350-odd women self-help groups (SHGs) that were entrusted with building toilets for the villagers. Sandeep worked on further strengthening and supporting these SHGs. This included arranging masonry training for some SHG members to address the widespread problem of a lack of trained masons in the area. Bricks, too, were not easily available in the region as brick kilns are almost non-existent in Latehar due to its terrain. The SBM-G team tied up with a manufacturer to develop bricks made of cement using sand dredged from the rivers, which are in abundance in Latehar.

Over time, Sandeep successfully built a motivated army of foot soldiers to drive the programme with renewed vigour.  Sotam village, where 39 toilets were built in three months, is a prime example where the team ferried the materials across the river on boats as it was the only access route to the village. Sandeep also ensured that the accounting for the funds allocated was appropriately maintained. He is now making efforts to weed out the inefficiencies in data relating to toilets built under the programme.

The current toilet coverage in Latehar is 100%.

Upasana Negi – Tripura

Upasana Negi realised her true calling in life quite early. She wanted to work in social development, which led her to volunteer to teach slum children. Soon after completing her Master’s in Comparative Literature, she was selected for the Gandhi Fellowship. Towards the end of the fellowship, the 29-year-old from Siliguri applied for the ZSBP programme. Upasana soon realised the challenges of working in Dhalai, the largest district in the state of Tripura. The first challenge was getting used to traveling across hilly, forest terrains to far-flung villages with poor road connectivity. Upasana’s initial achievement translated to bringing together various departments onto a common platform and injecting synergy and urgency into their efforts.

The next roadblock was the reluctance of the residents of Dhalai —70% of which were tribals —to build household toilets. Their toilets were makeshift structures with effluents draining into open water bodies. The medical fraternity was roped in to spread awareness about the dangers of makeshift toilets and the need for SBM’s permanent structures. Needless to say, the campaign met with significant success.

Another unexpected obstacle was shifting cultivation practices of tribals in Dhalai district. It meant that the decision-makers in the family were never home when the team visited. This was overcome by setting up health camps at construction sites, where beneficiaries were informed and convinced about the perks of building toilets. “I used my knowledge of psychology to change their mindset,” says Upasana. The predominant tribal population also meant that the information, education and communication campaigns had to be tailored to suit local tastes. Videos in tribal languages were screened in the evenings when the whole village was present. A van plastered with SBM posters and screenings at schools served to further drive home the message. From 5,172 (47.35%) toilets constructed and geo-tagged in June 2017, which is when Upasana joined as a prerak, the numbers have gone up to 11,867 (80.44%) in May 2018. Coverage is now 100%.

Akshant Nagar – Madhya Pradesh

For Akshant Nagar, 23, schoolchildren turned out to be the biggest driving force in helping to make Pipariya block in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh become open defecation free (ODF) in just seven months. Akshant learnt about the ZSBP fellowship in the final year of his MBA course. “I applied for the programme as it offered me the chance to work with the administration and see from close quarters how welfare measures are implemented,” says Akshant.

Pipariya was proving to be a tough territory for local SBM-G stakeholders. As of April 2017, only one out of 52 gram panchayats (GPs) had been declared ODF. Financial constraints, ignorance about the importance of toilets and the perils of open defecation resulted in people continuing to practice OD.  Sensitising the community was the first step. Using statistics such as the amount spent on hospitals and the savings that could accrue if open defecation was avoided, Akshant was able to create a conducive environment for change. He then enlisted the support of women and children, along with government welfare functionaries to drive change. He also conceptualised a Jidd Karo Abhiyan, encouraging children to demand toilets from their parents and families. Once the strategy gained traction, Akshant enrolled the children in an innovative campaign, Lota Ludkao Abhiyan, where the children toppled the water carried by people going to defecate in the open. Dongarwada is a shining example of Akshant’s strategies. Once ranked among the worst GPs on sanitation and health metrics, it also had to deal with rampant alcoholism. With the active support of a 120-strong group of schoolchildren, Akshant succeeded in putting an end to open defecation and bringing down alcoholism. From organising night meetings for people who worked during the day, engaging forest officials to reach out to forest-based communities, tailoring communication strategies to suit audiences, enlisting village revenue officials to create awareness – Akshant employed all possible avenues to meet his objectives. The efforts bore fruit and Hoshangabad was declared ODF on October 2, 2017.

Nayana Pradhan – Chhattisgarh

Working for the community is nothing new to 26-year-old Nayana Pradhan as her mother was actively involved in community development, which instilled in Nayana the philosophy of helping others. The opportunity to become a ZSBP prerak came her way while studying for her MBA. Upon selection, she was assigned to Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh as a part of the SBM-G team in May 2017.

People in the tribal district of Raigarh were indifferent to sanitation. Nayana realised that the conventional approach of talking about health and sanitation would not suffice. The message had to be stronger. Accordingly, she designed the communication around ‘Swasthya aur Suraksha’. The idea was to motivate the people to build toilets, which would not only lead to better health but also save women the embarrassment of relieving themselves in the open. Nayana and her team tried rallying the community through gram choupal meetings in the villages, but hit a wall.

Men would just not turn up for the gram choupal meetings. In the mornings, they would be at their farms and in the evening, at liquor dens. Undaunted, Nayana galvanised the SHGs to bring women to the gram choupal meetings. With relentless pressure, the SBM-G team along with the SHGs convinced women that open defecation not only degraded their modesty but also increased their vulnerability to physical abuse. This led women to convince their men that they were not only disrespecting their family’s honour but compromising women’s safety by having to defecate in the open in the absence of a toilet.

The SBM-G team constructed five model toilets — an activity that was replicated in various GPs across the district. These toilets were demonstrated to the villagers, especially women who started looking forward to relieving themselves securely within the privacy of their homes instead of in the open.

Under Nayana’s watchful eye, the block and district coordinators implemented plans meticulously, geotagging toilets and uploading their photographs to the Swachh Bharat portal. The team completed the geotagging of 30,000 toilets within 25 days. The multi-pronged approach worked wonders, and by November 2017, Raigarh was declared open defecation free.

Bandana Pradhan – Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district is a hilly area interspersed with dense forests and few motorable roads, cut off for most of the year especially during the monsoons. Entrusted with the task of fulfilling SBM-Gs sanitation objectives, Bandana was deployed as a prerak here in March 2017. When she learnt about the ZSBP programme from an acquaintance, she realised that this was her opportunity to make a real difference.

As was the case across Arunachal Pradesh, people in West Siang had been following unsanitary defecation practices. Their ‘toilets’ consisted of a perch and covered wooden structures in the open, with pigs consuming the excreta that fell on the ground below. Attempts at sensitising them proved futile as in the absence of a regular income, toilets were not a priority. The state government’s push to promote tourism in the state helped Bandana. She met the tourism department and convinced them about the idea of promoting home stays in the area for tourists. With their support, she convinced households in a village to build toilets, saying toilets were needed to attract tourists. Bandana and her team also spread the idea of ‘Pay and Use’ toilets. Households in villages located near the road were encouraged to build and offer their toilets for use to travellers on a ‘pay per user’ basis. On seeing that income could be generated from toilets, the mind-set of the community changed in favour of building toilets.

As a result of these efforts, every house in the district constructed proper toilets, and West Siang was declared open defecation free on 30 September 2017.

Supreme Court question authorities on why manual scavenging still prevails

Taking note of four to five deaths every month due to manual scavenging, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the government for failing to provide protective gear to people engaged in manual scavenging and cleaning of sewage or manholes. The apex court expressed its concern regarding the practice still persisting in the country and remarked that 'nowhere in the world are people sent to gas chambers to die'. Bezwada Wilson of the Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA) said the court has taken a firm stand on the issue, but it must come up with stringent orders to stop manual scavenging and any other operations if proper protective gears are not provided to the people involved in the practice.  (The Hindu)

High Court to ascertain whether Aarey a forest or not

Out of the 17 petitions received opposing the various aspects of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3 project, the Bombay High Court has chosen four petitions for hearing. Majorly, the court will be deciding whether Aarey Colony, where the car shed of the Metro project is scheduled to come up, is a forest or not and if it is not, then whether the HC can pass directions to declare it so. The judges will be visiting the site to ascertain the facts and the court has also taken the petition challenging the proposed clearing of over 2,600 trees for the car shed at Aarey. The HC has also picked up the issue regarding the proposed land belonging to the forest department and if it does, whether it is a floodplain of the Mithi river. (DNA)

Destruction to mangroves in Kachchh and threat to Kharai camels come under NGT scanner

To protect the mangroves in Kachchh district of Gujarat, also the habitat of Kharai camel species, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Gujarat’s forest department, CZMA and revenue officials to ensure that there is 'free and continuous flow of estuarine water in the creeks' and there is 'no obstruction of any kind'. The order has come following the Kachchh Camel Breeders Association (KCBA) filed a complaint against the rampant clearing of the mangroves in Kachchh by the Deendayal Port Trust (DPT), in violation of the provisions of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ) 2011 as well as Forest Conservation Act 1980. The tribunal has also directed the authorities to take immediate action to restore the mangroves which are damaged within a period of six months. (Mongabay India)

India will soon have an apex water authority for northeast region

In the backdrop of China’s ambitious $62 billion south-north water diversion scheme, India will soon have a North East Water Management Authority (NEWMA) to evolve a consolidated strategy for the management of water resources in the north-east region. The recommendation to set up an authority has been provided by the high level committee, headed by NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar. NEWMA will be the apex authority for developing all projects related to hydropower, agriculture, bio-diversity conservation, flood control, inland water transport, forestry, fishery and eco-tourism in the region. Along with this, it will also help spearhead India’s efforts to establish prior user rights on waters from the rivers that originate in China. (Livemint)

Assam government approves draft proposal for eco-sensitive zone around Kaziranga

With an aim to regulate activity including mining around the national park, the Assam government has approved a draft proposal for a long pending eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga National Park and sent it to the Centre. The move is in line with the Supreme Court's direction that banned all mining activities along the Kaziranga National Park and catchment area of rivers originating in Karbi Anglong Hills in Assam. As per the state's forest officials, the extent of the Kaziranga National Park ESZ would be zero to two kilometers of the boundary of the park, as against the Supreme Court's guidelines that directed an ESZ of up to 10 kilometres from the boundary of the protected area. (Hindustan Times) 

This is a roundup of important policy matters from September 17 - 23, 2019. Also, read news this week.

The last few months have seen much debate and discussion on the fast approaching Day Zero, with claims that taps in 21 major Indian cities will dry up. People in Chennai were compelled to queue up to collect water from tankers this past June. Last year’s NITI Aayog’s report set off alarm bells that most of India’s major cities were likely to face an acute, unprecedented water shortage. Delhi is likely to run out of groundwater by next year, according to the report.

The demand supply gap

By 2030, the overall demand for water in India is projected to double and forty percent of the population will have no access to drinking water. Against this backdrop, the need to preserve and conserve water was discussed at a public lecture on ‘Water conservation methods and strategies’ by Toxics Link at India International Centre in New Delhi last month.

“There is a need to look at solutions to combat the issue through civic engagement with regard to the problem,” says Ravi Agarwal, Toxics Link who moderated the lecture.

Estimates indicate that 90 percent of drinking water and seventy-five percent of water in agriculture comes from groundwater in India. Overexploitation by landowners has driven water tables dreadfully to unforeseen depths, creating a silent and invisible crisis. The growth of cities and towns is likely to put more pressure on urban water resources.

The monsoon heralding period saw a massive deficit in rainfall this year and large parts of central India such as Marathwada remained parched. The government in the meanwhile, launched a massive water conservation campaign in 255 water-scarce districts to construct millions of check dams, trenches, ponds and watershed structures. A new umbrella Jal Shakti Ministry was set up by merging two key ministries – the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation – and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

This restructuring of water governance at the Centre was followed by more alarm bells. "The water table is going down day-by-day and in some of the areas in India, it has come down to critical levels. Some of the areas are over-exploited and soon those areas may reach the level of 'Day Zero',” the Jal Shakti Ministry said in a note to state governments. The note blamed the situation on global warming, over-exploitation of water resources and human mismanagement of water. States staring at a Day Zero scenario include Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, as per the note.

Is Delhi running out of water?

“The rapid growth of urban populations, with population figures in several millions is leading to increasing pressure on water resources. The National Capital Region is one of the three most rapidly growing urban agglomerations in India with a population of over 16.7 million in 2011. The rapid pace of urban growth in Delhi and neighbouring urban centers is exerting an increasing pressure on water resources and escalating the regional water demand. Delhi today has evolved from a megacity to a ‘conurbation’,” says Govind Singh, environmentalist and co-founder of Delhi Greens.

Strategically located with the Aravalli ridge on one side and theYamuna River on the other, Delhi is today tackling the impacts of climate change. “The city is gearing up to meet the sustainability crisis. At the same time, policies that are formulated without keeping the sustainability aspect in mind have also been contributing to the city’s water crisis. Delhi has a water demand of 1200 mgd while it receives a supply of about 900 mgd. While some parts of Delhi receive excess water supply than needed, others receive poor supply,” says Singh.

Delhi’s water supply has been grossly mismanaged at different stages, with rampant water leakage and unbridled water pilferage. Yet, solutions offered for the pampered capital city include erecting dams in the fragile Himalayas and diverting these waters to the capital with massive ecological and socio-economic consequences.

Need for community-driven decentralized water management

Multi-pronged efforts have been deployed by the government to tackle the water crisis, such as the recent Jal Shakti Abhiyaan, at a nation-wide scale. However, promoting water conservation as a solution will not necessarily lead to the desired outcomes if this is not done on a sustained basis. 

Successful water management practices also abound, the work of Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), an Alwar based non-profit organization, being a case in point. “TBS began mobilizing communities around the issue of water in the 1980s, and has been supporting them in reviving and revitalising the traditional systems of water management such as johads and bandhs in thousands of villages. Nine rivers have been rejuvenated by the people through shramdaan in Rajasthan,” says Suresh Raikwar, who works with the organization.

There is a need for community driven decentralised water management, an area that the government too is focusing on. The organization emerged when local people demanded that they needed easier access to water. “Presently, TBS’s focus is on developing resilience against the impending water crisis by focusing on demand rather than supply side management of water and access to water by rejuvenation of water resources,” quips Raikwar.

Raikwar discussed how the Aravari river parliament representing 72 villages in Alwar district of Rajasthan was created to manage their interests in sustaining the local water resources. The river parliament produced guidelines to regulate the use of resources and types of crops planted in the river basin in order to manage the levels of water.

Dystopian thinking on water

Recently, the World Resources Institute's Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas ranked water stress, drought risk, and riverine flood risk across 189 countries and their sub-national regions, like states and provinces. India, ranked 13 on this list of "extremely highly" water stressed countries. As per the Water Resources Group 2030 of the World Bank, the projected demand of water in the country sector-wise in 2030 will be – agriculture (338 billion cubic metres), industry (89 billion cubic metres) and domestic plus municipal (40 billion cubic metres).

“India is water stressed, not water-scarce as per the Fallermark water stress indicator. Is the crisis of scarcity or delivery?” says Srinivas Chokkakula, Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He drew attention to NITI Aayog’s claim that 21 cities would run out of groundwater supply by 2020.

“This raises the question of institutional accountability as it is backed by wrong extrapolation of outdated district-level data provided by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Credibility and legitimacy of knowledge production is critical. Which institution should be making claims on technical aspects – NITI Aayog or a technical agency such as the CGWB or the Central Water Commission (CWC)?” asks Chokkakula.

“Joanna Slater, the India bureau chief of The Washington Post who tried to unravel the starting point of this dubious claim is of the view that faulty claims are not the way to illustrate this crisis, even if the crisis itself may be real,” he adds. 

A recent report by Shailendra Yashwant for Oxfam India looks at India’s ingenious ways of harvesting, storing and distributing water from the Kuhls in Himachal Pradesh that channel water from Himalayan glaciers, and the Dongs of Assam to the Aghers in Arunachal Pradesh, the Pynes of Bihar. India has traditionally built Bandhs of all sizes and varieties that channel water from its rivers, monsoon runoff and nearby hills and elevated areas.

Integrated water management in India has never been more relevant than it is today. India is facing an unprecedented water crisis, with certain estimates indicating that water demand will exceed supply by a factor of two by 2030 if we continue with a "business-as-usual” approach. Now is the time to promote more decentralised but integrated water resource management and delivery, that prioritises bottom-up processes of water governance with the active participation of women and youth who are key stakeholders in how water is managed today and in the future.

To find a way forward and meet the challenges, India has to look at its rich traditions of water conservation and sustainable use, in the culture of ponds and lakes and in the wisdom of communities. 

The solution to India’s water crisis lies in reviving drying rivers, ponds and lakes and restoring ecosystem services, including traditional and indigenous water management practices. Some of these traditional water management practices, documented as part of the Oxfam Transboundary Rivers of South Asia [TROSA] programme, highlight ways communities have been maintaining and restoring water ecosystems to ensure water security and equity at the local level. The urgent need to adapt and respond to the impacts of climate change and flood and drought patterns require action at all levels; the revival of traditional water institutions and the willingness to learn from this traditional wisdom is critically important.

The worst impacts of the unfolding climate crisis, on both people and ecosystems, will be felt through its effect on water. Some areas will become much drier, some wetter.

A number of these ancient water harvesting and irrigation practices have survived the test of time and many social upheavals, continuing to give sustenance to communities through periods of water scarcity. The traditional practices featured in ‘Water Wisdom’ illustrate the urgent need to re-engage communities in water management, using simple, low cost, traditional, and highly efficient systems to ensure water security.

Kuhls of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand

Spiti, one of the least populated regions in the world, is located at a mean elevation of 3000-4000 meters in the Himalayas. This rugged and desolate region receives scanty rainfall and yet agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy thanks to the ingenious Kuhl irrigation system that carries water from glaciers to the villages.

Tapped from the head of a glacier, Kuhls are diversion channels that bring water over long distances, running down steep mountain slopes and across crags and crevices, to large tanks in the villages. 

Water is collected in the night, and the next morning, it is diverted to the fields as required. This cycle is repeated daily. The Kuhl also have moghas (kuccha outlets) that draw out water and irrigate nearby terraced fields. A typical community Kuhl can serve approximately 6 to 30 farmers and can irrigate an area of 20 hectares.

Between sowing in April and harvesting in September, water is available for approximately 70 days. All available and accessible patches of lands along various snow streams and rivers are cultivated. Barley fields near potatoes and green peas are sown in May, and the crop is harvested at the end of August.

In the lower valleys of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, besides irrigating the fields, Kuhls carry water to run the flour mills, known as gharaats. Villagers use homemade wooden wheels as turbines to run the mills.

Aji of Arunachal Pradesh

Ziro Valley, inhabited by the Apatani tribe, lies tucked in the lower ranges of the eastern Himalayas at a height of 5600 feet in Arunachal Pradesh. The Apatani, also known as the Tanni people, practice a centuries-old method of water harvesting for irrigating their highly efficient rice-fish culture fields, called Aji.

Apatanis tap the small streams and springs from the hills around the valley and divert the flow of the water to their fields by making temporary bunds (Aghers), which act as barriers and provide storage.

Multidirectional channels (Siikho/Parkho/Hehte] are made out of the main channel to provide water through an intricate web of contour dams that divide the plots along the gentle gradient of the valley. Bamboo matting supports the bases of the bunds, and all plots have inlets and outlets made of bamboo to control the flow of the water.

This unique system of irrigation enables the Apatanis to grow two crops of rice - Mipya and Emoh, and one harvest of fish (Ngihil). Rice production usually varies from 3-4 tons a hectare, and fish production is around 50 kilograms per hectare.

The community takes collective responsibility for the management and maintenance of the system, and all beneficiaries contribute towards repairs, cleaning, and upkeep of the channels. Every year after the Mloko festival in March, the Apatanis and agricultural worker organizations, locally known as Patang, begin agricultural activity by repairing dams, cleaning channels, releasing irrigation water and preparing rice seedlings.

The full report can be accessed here

At a workshop on Water Ethics leading up to the Water Future Conference in Bangalore in September 2019, the idea of, and the need for an ethical framework for water management and legislation was discussed. In a country as diverse and complex as India, ethics play an important role in how we view water, and thus manage it. Ensuring equity in access to safe water to all is a huge task – but we must be guided by some basic ethics when endeavouring to achieve this. 

David Groenfeldt of the Water-Culture Institute kicked off the workshop at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on a rainy Monday morning in Bangalore, starting with why we should be concerned about water ethics and values. It’s important first of all, to distinguish between ethics and values because both words are often used interchangeably.

Ethics integrate values; ethics influence how we act or how we feel we should act, and are guided by the values we hold dear. Ethics help us make sense of our values. It has judgement built into it – “we should be doing things this way because it isn’t working the way it is”.

David went on to rightly point out that the very word ethics, is rarely used in water legislation or regulatory frameworks, but every law and policy is inherently based on an ethical framework. He went on to highlight the differences between an ethics approach and an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) approach.

Modern perceptions around water value it as a resource – something that can be tapped, used, consumed, and of course, something that needs to be protected, conserved and managed sustainably. Traditionally, water was valued almost like a relative– an entity that was cared about, almost a living entity that was revered. 

The myriad values of water and water ecosystems

IWRM recognizes multiple values of water and water ecosystems. Below are what these values mean in the context of water (in no particular order):

• The economic value of water pertains to a cost-benefit analysis of water, looking at efficient use of water, and avoiding wastage of real and virtual water.
• The environmental value of water relates to mitigating the negative impacts of climate change, water scarcity and changing landscapes in which water exists. The environmental value of water prioritises the health of water ecosystems.
• The social value of water looks at justice and equity, focussing on human health and well being including the fundamental right to water and sanitation.
• The cultural and spiritual values of water relate to identity, meaning and the relationship between communities and water.
• The governance value of water look at transparency, accountability and participation from all stakeholders.

Weighing the importance and impacts of identifying synergies and trade offs between differing values, is facilitated by an ethical analysis and framework. Can there be synergies between a healthy environment and a healthy economy, for instance? Can there be a balance between environmental and economic values? Synergies and trade offs become particularly important in the context of the question around equity in access to water, and the cost of water for the rich and the poor.

The prevailing theoretical construct around water, particularly in the water sector in India, is that water is a common pool resource, or a commons. This is essentially rooted in a value system, and is also a fact – that water is an intergenerational and geographic commons, and needs to be managed as such.

Rivers have social, environmental and economic purposes, not just in India but across the world. Rivers are often a cultural identity for indigenous communities, and have been revered for centuries – from the Cauvery in the south to the Ganges in the north. 

Yet, rivers and water bodies that are religiously symbolic and significant, are often at the receiving end of pollution – from cremating the dead to raw untreated sewage and plastic idols.

This anomaly between reverence for, and ill treatment of, the very same resource – a water body – continues unabated.

Our collective values around water, as a society, need to be redefined within a framework for how we think about and perceive water and its management. The ecosystem of water values constitutes a distinctive water culture that is dynamic and constantly changing.

There has been much debate around the use of dams across the world. In the US, some dams are being removed as they have reached the ends of their lives – but it is important and interesting to note that it is almost as expensive to remove a dam as it is to build one. Here, the economic, social and environmental values regarding large dams are at odds with one another in more ways than one. Water infrastructure represents “good” and “bad” values through different lenses. It is critical to recognise the subjectivity of these aspects, in designing ways to manage water.

Water ethics is an emerging field, not nearly as established as business ethics or medical ethics. It can be operationalized in various contexts. Broadly, the contours of operationalizing water ethics entail the following:

• Identify and “map” water value principles according to the 5 values (detailed above)
• Reach a working consensus about the values
• Document the values / principles into charter
• Apply the principles to water decisions
• Monitor compliance
• Resolve value conflicts

The workshop then looked at four case studies, where participants tried to apply water ethics to each case answering some key questions. What are the value conflicts? What are the corresponding ethical issues? How might an ethics perspective contribute to resolving the conflicts? What stands in the way of consensus? What opportunities do you see for finding common ground?

Learn more about water ethics here. 

This article was written based on a workshop held at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore on the 23^rd of September 2019, jointly conducted by the Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India (Pune), the Water Culture Institute (New Mexico) and Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) (Bengaluru). The workshop was a precursor to the Water Future Conference – Towards a Sustainable Water Future in Bangalore from the 24^th to the 27^th of September 2019.

Goa government, farmers against MoEF for proposing re-designation of the state’s low lying lands

In its proposal, the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), a scientific body under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, has redefined coastal areas in Goa as 'land', instead of marking them as tide-influenced water bodies. The state government, farmers and activists are up in arms against this decision because they fear it will open the doors for these low lying lands - locally called khazans - for uses other than agriculture and aquaculture, spelling doom for local farmers. Goa has 431.63 square kilometres of khazan area; 11.65 percent of Goa’s total area is khazan area, mainly along the coast and along Goa’s network of rivers and creeks. (Hindustan Times)

Lilagar river changes course, floods open cast mine in Korba

Following incessant rain in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, the Lilagar river, a subsidiary of the Hasdeo river, changed its course and flooded the open cast coal mine of South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) in Dipka town. As per the administration, the absence of a returning valve and proper pre-monsoon arrangements caused the incident, which submerged machines and mining equipment worth millions. Thankfully no lives were lost, with workers in the mine being rescued in the nick of time. Dipka is one of Asia's biggest coal mines; this incident is likely hit coal supply for the next two weeks, resulting in heavy losses to SECL. (Times of India)

Coonoor sets example by reviving its river

The Coonoor River, once fresh and clean, flows between two hills out of Coonoor town in the Nilgiris. In recent years, it has been on the receiving end of encroachments and dumping of garbage. Clean Coonoor, a local NGO, was prompted by a WWF India report, to clean and revive the river. They started by cleaning the culverts and replanting native grass varieties in the wetland. A feeder stream, that was reduced from 50 feet in width to just 12 feet, was the first to be cleaned. In 42 days, volunteers worked day and night, clearing 12 tonnes of soil, plastic and other debris, including an auto rickshaw and a couple of sofas, from the stream. Going forward, the district administration plans to set up a sewage treatment plant and enforce household garbage segregation. (Mongabay India)

Haryana witnesses decade's seventh deficient monsoon

Haryana suffers from yet another failed monsoon this year, with 19 out of the state's 21 districts experiencing deficit rainfall. The state is the second driest state in the country this year with a substantial rainfall deficit of 42 percent. The repeated failure of the southwest monsoon has led to a severe water crisis in the state, leading to an increasing dependence on groundwater which in turn, has resulted in a drastic drop in the state's water table. Moreover, the subdivision of Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh was the driest in India this season and alarmingly, the subdivision is getting drier as the years pass. (The Weather Channel)

Punjab government plans to increase water flow in Kali Bein to drain out polluted water

With just a month to go for the 550th Gurupurab celebrations at Sultanpur Lodhi in Punjab, the Kali Bein continues to receive effluents and untreated water even as it readies to host lakhs of devotees. The government now plans to increase the flow of water into the Bein from 250 cusecs to 400 cusecs, in a bid to drain out polluted water. Along with this, there are also plans to put sodium oxychloride in the Kapurthala STP to decrease the level of E-coli and B-coli in the untreated water which is flowing from the STP into the Kali Bein. While the issue of pollution in the Kali Bein has been highlighted time and again, the administration has not been able to control the effluent flow into the river. (The Tribune)

This is a roundup of important news published between October 2 - 8, 2019. Also read policy matters this week.

SC comes to the rescue of Aarey trees in Mumbai

Last week the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) started axing trees at Aarey colony in Mumbai where the car shed for the Metro III project has to come up. Several activists who protested against the tree felling were jailed by the Mumbai Police. However, on the request of law students, the Supreme Court held an urgent hearing by constituting a special bench and restrained authorities from cutting any more trees in the area. Moreover, the apex court will be examining the entire matter and posted the hearing for October 21st. (Times of India)

Government to implement policy of rating appliances for water consumption efficiency

On the lines of star energy efficiency rating for power-consuming appliances, the Centre will soon be implementing a policy to rate commonly used household appliances for water-consumption efficiency. The move will cover most items consuming water, such as washing machines, water-based coolers, bathroom fitments, flush tanks, coolers and water purifiers as well as fixtures such as showerheads and toilet systems for household and commercial complexes. Under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 where a Bureau of Energy Efficiency was set up in 2002, a similar national bureau is being planned to oversee the system of rating products that use water. (Hindustan Times)

Idol immersion in Ganga and its tributaries to attract a fine of Rs 50,000

The Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, has issued a 15-point directive to states to make elaborate arrangements to check pollution in the Ganga river and its tributaries during the ongoing festive season in India. The directive also imposes a fine of Rs 50,000 on violators. River banks and ghats have also been cordoned off and barricaded to prevent any stray immersion of idols in rivers or its banks. The directive has also asked state government officials to submit an action report seven days after the end of festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Vishwakarma Puja, Dussehra, Deepawali, Chath Puja and Saraswati Puja. (Economic Times)

Mizoram government stands against proposed Forest Act amendment

The Mizoram government has rejected an Environment Ministry proposal to amend the Indian Forest Act of 1927, contending that it conflicts with the special provisions the state enjoys under Article 371G of the Constitution. Calling the proposal anti-indigenous people, the Mizoram government and forest rights activists say that the amendment seeks to give higher management powers beyond what is provided in the Forest Rights Act of 2006, and threatens to evict forest dwellers and promote forest produce through private firms. The state's areas under forest have been governed by the Mizoram Forest Act of 1955 in accordance with customary laws and needs of the local people. (The Hindu)

NGT imposes Rs 9.16 crore fine over illegal sand mining from Kosi river in Rampur

The National Green Tribunal has slapped a fine of Rs 9.16 crore on a leaseholder as environmental compensation charges for damaging ecology by excavating sand beyond permissible limits from the Kosi river in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Tribunal, the leases are not demarcated on the ground and mining was done using heavy machinery, violating the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines 2016. The NGT has ordered the respondent to pay the fine to the CPCB within a period of 15 days. The CPCB will transfer the amount to the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to take up restoration within six months thereafter. (Financial Express)

This is a roundup of important policy matters from October 2 - 8, 2019. Also, read news this week.

Last week saw protests of a different kind in Mumbai. Activists and citizens from all walks of life came together to protest the cutting of trees in Aarey Milk Colony, one of the few surviving green lungs of the fast growing and polluted city of Mumbai.

This green zone extends from Powai to the Western Express Highway, Goregaon and includes patches of forests as well as grasslands and marshes that harbour a variety of flora and fauna. Aarey is home to 77 species of birds, 34 species of wildflowers, 86 species of butterflies, 13 species of amphibians, 46 species of reptiles, 16 species of mammals and 90 different types of spiders. Several newly discovered species of scorpions and spiders have also been found here. Leopards are Aarey’s most famous residents of Aarey. Twenty seven tribal communities also reside in the colony.

Aarey raked up the classic development versus environment debate, quickly becoming a bone of contention between the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) on the one hand, and residents and activists (notably supported by almost all political parties except the BJP) on the other.

What led to the protests?

All this began with the Maharashtra Government’s plan to construct a metro in Mumbai. The MMRCL is a joint venture of Government of India and Government of Maharashtra, which plans to construct Mumbai’s first underground Metro. The metro corridor will connect South Bombay and Bandra to the domestic and international airports.

2700 trees were planned to be cut from a 33 hectare area to construct a car shed for the metro. This caused a massive public outcry, with citizens and activists vehemently opposing this plan, saying that this would destroy one of the last remaining green lungs of Mumbai.

The MMRC argued that of the 33 hectares, a 5 hectare green belt would be preserved and that the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro would bring more environmental benefits by significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions, as compared to the damage done by cutting trees.

Citizens and activists responded to this argument, saying that it was not just about the number of trees that would be cut– it was also about destroying most of Mumbai’s last remaining green space.

As Vikrant Tongad, an environmental conservationist and founder of Social Action for Forest & Environment (SAFE) says, “Mumbai is in fact lucky to have Aarey, a green belt with such a rich biodiversity right in the middle of the city. Not only does it act as a buffer zone for the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and its green belt, but it also helps in preventing flooding in the surrounding areas of Mumbai. How can one compensate for the destruction of such rich biodiversity that has taken years to develop? Once a car shed is constructed in Aarey, it can be an entry card for other infrastructural projects to start in the area. There were alternatives to Aarey land which could have been thought of.”

A city based NGO Vanashakti had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court in 2015, to declare the entire area of Aarey Milk Colony as a reserved forest or protected forest under the Indian Forest Act of 1947. However the state, civic administration and MMRCL had argued that the HC could not decide on this issue of Aarey being classified or notified as a forest, because the matter was decided by another bench in October and the appeal against it was pending in the Supreme Court.

While residents and environmental activists continued their protests, the Bombay High Court dismissed all petitions against the cutting down of trees and the Tree Authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) gave the go ahead. The MMRC immediately began chopping trees in Aarey in the middle of the night. Hundreds of people protested against this hurried and insensitive action, leading to Article 144 being imposed by the Mumbai Police. Some protesters were arrested.

The Supreme Court finally intervened and a special bench of the Supreme Court was set up to hear the plea over the cutting of trees, after a delegation of students sent a letter to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi seeking his intervention in the matter. The letter sought the Supreme Court's intervention to halt the felling of trees at Aarey by arguing that procedure was not followed and the BMC officials had started cutting the trees in the absence of tree officers from the relevant department. The letter also questioned the hurried way in which trees were cut overnight and also raised concerns about the way in which dozens of people were arrested during a peaceful protest.

Priyank Samagra, a Phd researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies, IIT Bombay is of the opinion that the Aarey incident displayed how there was very little space for civilian action, and that people had to go to the courts to resolve the issue of tree cutting. The incident also showed how urban elites, citizens as well as media were divided and there seemed to be no collective movement on the issue. It also revealed the broken communication link between citizens and the state. “There is a need for more space for alternative discourses and new development paradigms such as blue green infrastructure in the current discourses on the environment” he adds.

Is there any hope for our polluted cities?

While the required number of trees (2134 trees) have already been cut and the damage already done, the Aarey incident shows that threats to green belts in cities will continue to lurk from all corners, be it real estate developers or city developmental projects. In Bangalore, for example, citizens came out in droves to protest a controversial elevated corridor project for which 3000 trees would have to be cut, earlier this year. The campaign forced the Karnataka government to halt the project.

If development takes precedence over the environment in cases like Aarey, is there any hope for our cities? Cities in India particularly, are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Case in point: a 2016 World Health Organisation (WHO) study found that as high as fourteen of the twenty world’s most polluted cities are in India. Depleting tree covers, vehicular emissions, crop burning, dust and poor waste management are all responsible for declining air quality.

How do trees help?

Urban trees and forests play a major role in building resilience of cities to the negative impacts of urbanisation. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO):

• Trees help immensely in mitigating climate change. A mature tree can absorb up to 150 kilograms of CO2 per year,in turn improving air quality and reducing pollution levels in cities.
• Trees can create a cooling effect by reducing temperatures from 2 to as much as 8 degrees Celsius, thus reducing the urban “heat island” effects now increasingly being observed in Indian cities.
• Large trees act as filters for urban pollutants by absorbing pollutant gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and sulfer oxides. They also filter dust, dirt or smoke out of the air by trapping them on leaves and barks. Studies show that the average reduction of particulate matter near a tree can be between 7% and 24%.
• Trees regulate the flow of water and help in preventing floods and natural disasters. A mature tree can intercept more than 15,000 liters of water per year.
• Trees absorb and store carbon dioxide emissions as they grow. This not only helps to reduce carbon emissions, but also helps in conserving energy
• Research shows that living in close proximity to urban green spaces can improve physical and mental health by decreasing high blood pressure and stress. 
• Trees also contribute to local food security and help in increasing urban biodiversity

Proponents of tree felling in the Aarey case, contend that cutting the trees can be offset by replacing them with saplings. However, studies show that such efforts can be totally ineffective in controlling pollution as plant saplings cannot absorb pollutants as well as a fully grown tree can, and saplings can take a long time to develop into fully grown mature trees.

Further, the Maharashtra government claimed it would plant 20,000 saplings in lieue of the trees cut at Aarey. However, environmental activist Godfrey Pimenta found through an RTI that the government has not even planted 5000 saplings in Mumbai. So even when claims are made to plant saplings, they aren’t followed through with. For truly smart cities, it is imperative to account for, protect and conserve spaces for green cover.

As Vikrant Tongad says, “We are not against development and some cities do need metros, but can we think of saving the green belts while planning for such projects? What is important is sustainable development”. “The Supreme Court decision in the context of Aarey provides hope that the remaining trees in the area will be saved and if this triggers a discussion on how forests need to be defined and protected in the future, it would be a great step forward to save other green belts in the country.”

Will good sense prevail over politics and development agendas? Will the voices of citizens and activists be taken seriously? The Mumbai incident should serve as a wake up call to all to rise above short term development goals and politics and act to save our cities… before it is too late.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, state to bear half the cost and local bodies to decide water charges

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, all states except the North East and Himalayan states, will bear half the financial burden of the scheme. While the funding pattern for Centre and non-Northeast and non-Himalayan states will be 50:50, for the N-E and Himalayan states the funding pattern will be 90:10 and in Union Territories, the Centre will bear the full cost of the programme. Along with this, the Centre has allowed gram panchayats and local bodies to decide on water usage charges for supply of potable piped water under the mission. The government hopes that by giving full flexibility to local bodies to run the scheme, recovering the water charges from people would become easier. (The Economic Times, The Indian Express)

Delhi HC seeks action on complaints of irregularities in Polavaram project

The Delhi High Court has ordered the Ministry of Jal Shakti to consider the writ petition filed by economist and writer Pentapati Pulla Rao on the implementation of the Polavaram Irrigation Project (PIP) as a representation and take necessary action after duly hearing his plea on illegalities, corruption and deviations in the project execution. Also, the Court sought the Centre's response on why the Ministry was not taking action on the allegations, rejecting the argument over jurisdiction. As per the plea, Andhra Pradesh government officials increased the project budget from Rs 16,100 crore to Rs 58,000 crore without any consultation.  (The Hindu)

Water grid project launched in Andhra

The Andhra Pradesh government has launched a statewide water grid project to provide drinking water connection to 46,982 rural area habitations and 99 urban area habitations by 2022. Under the water grid system, water from rivers and canals would be sent to reservoirs which would then supply it to households in about 110 urban local bodies. The estimated cost for the project, that will be executed under the Jal Jeevan and MGNREGA scheme, is Rs 46,675 crore. In the first phase Rs 37,475 crore is to be invested; in the second, Rs. 9200 crore will be invested. The project aims to cover the Rayalaseema region on a priority basis as it frequently reels under water scarcity. (The Indian Express)

To save its rice bowl, Kerala prepares a roadmap

The Kerala State Planning Board (KSPB) has prepared a roadmap worth Rs. 2447 crore to save its rice bowl, the Kuttanad region which is a huge area of reclaimed land spread over Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta. The region has been plagued with declining farm productivity, ecological destruction, poor water resource management systems, sanitation issues and back-to-back monsoon floods in the last two years. Under the new roadmap, Rs. 1,589.16 crore has been earmarked for water resources development, while Rs. 200 crores each have been set aside for agriculture, fisheries and drinking water supply. (Livemint)

Green ministry gives go ahead to Kochi water metro project

The Environment Ministry has accorded the environmental and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearance to Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) for the Kochi water metro. With this, KMRL can now go ahead with the construction of boat terminals. However, the ministry has ordered them not to block creeks or rivers and to ensure the smooth flow of water in the project area. Rs. 747.28 crore has been sanctioned for the project which intends to introduce modern, energy-efficient, fast and environment-friendly boats at a high frequency to increase ridership. (The Times of India)

This is a roundup of important policy matters from October 9 - 15, 2019. Also, read news this week.

Study finds Pune's groundwater extraction doubles in 9 years

A survey conducted by the Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM) with assistance from the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and Mission Groundwater, reveals that groundwater extraction in Pune has doubled from around 2 TMC in 2011 to 4 TMC in 2019-19. The survey was done for around 423 dugwells and nearly 51 borewells spread over about 30,000 hectare of areas under the limits of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and slightly beyond. As per the study, 25 percent of the city's total demand of water was met through groundwater and the city's peri-urban areas such as Aundh, Baner, Pashan, Sinhagad Road, Wadgaonsheri and Dhayari, were most dependent on groundwater. (The Times of India)

High levels of uranium found in Telangana's groundwater

In a survey conducted by the Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD), it was that groundwater samples across the Lambapur-Peddagattu region, known for large uranium deposits, in Telangana’s Nalgonda district have dangerously high levels of uranium concentration. The findings of AMD have been red-flagged to various government agencies. As per the study, hundreds of borewells dug for drinking and agriculture over the last few decades have led to uranium seeping into the groundwater. At least 30,000 people in the 8 kilometre radius of the Lambapur-Peddagattu region face serious health risks and need to be relocated to safer places. (The Economic Times)

Assam constitutes task force to facilitate Lower Subansiri project

With an aim to revive work on the long-pending 2,000 megawatts (MW) Lower Subansiri project in Arunachal Pradesh, the Assam government has appointed a high power state level task force to facilitate work on the strategic project. India and China are at odds over the diversion of the Brahmaputra river, which originates in Tibet; accelerating hydroelectric projects such as this one would give India first user rights. The task force has been constituted to ensure peace while the project is being executed, because in the past progess was hampered due to violence by rebel groups in Assam, that affected the movement of building material to the site. (Livemint)

WRD to take up survey of Goa's irrigation works for national hydrology project

As part of the National Hydrology Project (NHP), the water resources department (WRD) plans to undertake a hydrographic and topographic survey of the Selaulim and Anjunem irrigation projects. The NHP is a $175 million World Bank project that aims to assess India’s water situation and to create real-time flood forecasting systems across the country. The WRD is also planning to install automatic weather stations (AWS) and automatic rain gauge real time data acquisition systems at various locations across Goa. The department is looking for an agency or consultant to take up the survey. (The Times of India)

No more water trains Chennai as situation improves

As the water situation in Chennai continues to improve, water train services that had been bringing water from Jollarpettai in Vellore district over the past three months, have been stopped. The water wagaon made 159 trips since its operation in July and has transported nearly 420 million litres of water to the city. Chennai Metro Water paid Rs 8.60 lakh per trip to the Southern Railways and two such trips were arranged per day by the railways. After the rains, groundwater levels in the city have improved and even water from the Krishna river started filling the Poondi reservoir. (India Today)

This is a roundup of important news published between October 9 - 15, 2019. Also read policy matters this week.