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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

India stares at drinking water crisis-Rituraj Tiwari & Himangshu Watts
-The Economic Times

This year's frail monsoon has depleted Indian reservoirs to alarming levels last seen during the devastating drought of 2009, threatening even winter-sown crops and making the country vulnerable to drinking water scarcity by February as India's grossly inadequate storage capacity magnifies the impact of weak rainfall.

The situation is precarious because the monsoon has delivered normal rainfall to only one-third of the country. The total deficit so far this season is 22%, but rainfall has been 40% below average in key crop-growing areas in the north and northwest. India's 84 important reservoirs are filled only to 19% capacity, which is 41% lower than last year.

Officials said the situation can rapidly improve if the monsoon revives as forecast by the weather office, but the El Nino phenomenon, which is expected to set in after a month, can make things worse.

"The reservoir situation is similar to conditions in 2009 when the country faced one of the worst droughts in 100 years. It will definitely have adverse impact on agriculture, not only on summer crops but also on rabi crops that need irrigation from reservoirs. The power scenario will also take a hit," RC Jha, chairman of the Central Water Commission, told ET.

The commission is the central government's top body for coordinating schemes for water resources, irrigation, drinking water and flood forecasting.

The reservoir level is "dangerous" and needs urgent action, said Ashok Gulati, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and former director of the markets, trade and institutions division of Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute. "The waiting period is over now. It's time to take action. Reservoirs are at dangerous levels as rains have been scanty. We should not wait for August first week to announce contingency plans in the affected areas," he said.

But Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna said reservoirs were filling up and the situation would improve further in the weeks ahead.

The reservoirs are filled by monsoon rains from June to September. The storage in the Bhakra dam, which irrigates the bread basket states of Punjab and Haryana, is barely 22% of capacity, down from 48% at the same time last year, forcing the Bhakra Beas Management Board to cut water supply by 10%. This will hit paddy and coarse cereals sown in these two states. Depleted reservoirs and weak rainfall can hurt winter planting because fields would have inadequate moisture and crops sown after the monsoon depend almost entirely on water flowing out of reservoirs.

The country has the capacity to store 250 billion cubic metre (bcm) of water, and adds new capacity of 7-8 bcm every year. But this is not adequate to tap annual rainfall of over 4,000 bcm.

Jha said China has 4-5 times of India's storage capacity while Russia has storage capacity to meet any exigency. The commission, which monitors 60% of the water storage through 84 reservoirs, is expanding its coverage and doubling the number of reservoirs to 177 in the next one year, which will cover 85% of water stored in total of 5,100 dams in the country, he said.

"We are also planning to scale up our capacity to 450 bcm by setting up new reservoirs and dams. At present, 583 dams are under construction which will add up storage capacity of 50 bcm. Half of these projects will serve dual purpose - hydropower generation as well as irrigation," Jha said.

The agriculture secretary said building new capacity would be justified if existing tanks are full, but experts said it is important to store rainwater to build a cushion to withstand drought-like conditions.

Jha said some states are already facing water shortage. "Scarcity of drinking water may arise by February-March next year if rains remain erratic. In states like Maharashtra and Karnataka, people have started facing this problem," he said. The government has asked state governments to take immediate action for ensuring availability of water in view of depleting reservoir levels. Water use for irrigation has been cut in several states to meet drinking water requirements

"Even if situation improves in subsequent weeks as the weather office is forecasting, there will be not much cushion for imminent kharif loss. We will save water for rabi crops," Jha said.