Need for community-drivern water management system stressed

Community-driven decentralisation of water management is the only solution for water security and appropriate availability of water for everybody, said Mr. Rajendra Singh, Founder, Tarun Bharat Sangh at the “International Conference on India’s Water Economy: Law and Sustainable Development” organised by the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, Society of Indian Law Firms and the Ministry of Water Resources here on Saturday. Communities should be given responsibility of water management along with the rights for water conservation and utilisation, Mr.Singh said.

Citing the example of successful Arvari river project, he said that village councils were constituted with the specific purpose of rejuvenating Arvari River and protection of forests using historical and traditional practices.

Major water quality issues in India are pathogens, salinity and toxicity, and 90% of the water pollution is through domestic sewage and industrial effluents, said Dr. B Sengupta, Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board. He mentioned that India has 1019 water monitoring stations in 27 states and six union territories with a target of having 2000 stations in the 11th Plan. Dr. Sengupta recommended that decentralised waste water treatment facility and linking of rivers for optimum utilisation of water resources should be promoted by the government. He emphasised the use of treated water for irrigation and maintenance of minimum flow of water in river to achieve the desired water quality. He said that quality of water at the intake points of water works to be strictly maintained as per CPCB guidelines.

Dr. Sejal Worah, Programme Director, WWF, said that two of the top 10 rivers at risk in the world are from India and water issues can lead to socio-economic and environmental conflicts. Presenting the importance of “environmental flow” of water resource, Dr. Worah said that “environmental needs” of water are recognised globally, and environmental water allocations have already been introduced in some countries. She said that environmental flows are usually a compromise between water for development and water for nature.

Dr. Worah mentioned that the environmental flow of water is not about the amount of water, but how the water flows in the river, and it depends on hydrology and ecology of a particular river. Fresh water ecosystems provide a range of services for humans including fish, flood protection and navigation, said Dr. Worah. She added that National Water Policy (2002) gives ‘ecology’ fourth priority for water allocation, and this is a positive step towards water management and environmental flow.

States are the primary owners of water and we must ignore the political boundaries and apply economic norms to enforce water management, said Mr. A K Ganguli, Senior Advocate at the introductory session on ‘Water Management: Bringing the Business and People Together”. He added that inter-state water issues should be taken up by central government whereas state governments also should be responsible and sensible in taking up the water related issues and conflicts. Mr. Ganguli also suggested that a national policy should be framed for the water management.

Right to access water should be accompanied by corresponding duty of the state to provide clean drinking water to the citizen, said Ms. Devaki Panini, Head,  Environmental Law Practice, Luthra & Luthra Law Offices. She added that the statutory laws governing water has been fragmented and inadequate. She said that the right to water as a human right has not been adequately addressed in Indian legislation. It is the duty of the state to ensure that distribution of water is not skewed and there should not be any imbalance, said Ms. Panini. She also said that concept of water as an economic commodity establishes principles of cost recovery.

Mr. Pradeep Singh, CEO, IL&FS Ltd in his presentation mentioned that Public-Private Partnership (PPP) should introduce better technology and operations in transportation and management of water. He added that PPP must inject private capital enabling higher level of resource availability, creating greater commercial discipline as well as link payments and rewards with performance. Talking on pre-requisites of PPP, Mr. Singh mentioned that techno-economic viability, pro-poor strategies, lower costs and regulation should be considered.

Earlier, on Friday while inaugurating the conference Justice B P Singh, Judge, Supreme Court of India said that the problem of water has not surfaced suddenly and water as a commodity has been taken for granted. Water management and the inter–river linkages have been discussed and the time has now come to implement them, he added. He also mentioned that holistic and realistic effort is required for water conservation and discipline along with consciousness on water conservation for the benefit of mankind. He pointed out that the Supreme Court of India recognises the Fundamental Right to Life as inclusive of an individual’s Right to Clean Water.

The global water crisis is the most serious challenge of modern day and more than one billion people lack access to the clean drinking water, said Maharaja Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur & Marwar and Chairman, Jal Bhagirathi Foundation. As much as 80% of the value of irrigated production in India depends on groundwater. He mentioned that much of the present scarcity of water is due to human inaction and threat to surface water is mainly due to imbalance between availability and the demand. He said that water and economy are inextricably linked as poverty is directly related to health, livelihood systems and vulnerability that are dependent on water. A 0.3% increase in investment in household access to safe water is associated with a 1% increase in GDP.

Rajasthan is home to 1% of India’s water resources and supports 5% of India’s population. The way it works is community-based management efforts. The Jal Bhagirathi Foundation  started by the Maharaja is a case in point. Involvement of the private sector may range from introducing innovative ideas, generating financial resources, introducing corporate management and improving service efficiency.

Effective and efficient water conservation can be done through water harvesting, community water management and active involvement of private sector, said Maharaja Gaj Singh. Emphasizing water governance he mentioned that Government should activate social mobilisation, promote popular participation and recognise the importance of water for regional development.

Public-private partnership should be encouraged for the water management said Mr. Arun Nanda, Chairman, CII National Committee on Water and Executive Director, Mahindra and Mahindra. There should be legal framework and regulatory committees to make policies for private partnership for water management in India, added Mr. Nanda.

CII-ITC Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development supported by Society of Indian Law Firms and Ministry of Water Resources have taken up the initiative to formulate a framework for water conservation and study the aspects of legal and fundamental policies for water and its relation to sustainable development said, Mr. Lalit Bhasin, President, Society of Indian Law Firms and Managing Partner, Bhasin and Co. Indian Constitution has been protecting water for the people; for example the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution wherein the village panchayats were empowered to deal with and manage the water-related issues of the local communities.