 "Rajasthan's deepening water crisis")
Every summer, Mohan Bapna, 40, and 20,000 people in Gangapur town of Bhilwara district, some 300 km from the state capital, Jaipur, would get drinking water supply once in three days. This year, they are getting water once in eight days.
The situation is no different in most parts of parched Rajasthan. The state normally receives annual rainfall of 549.1 mm but 16 of the 33 districts got 20-60 per cent less last year. A total of 19 districts are affected and Bhilwara is said to be the worst.
Officials say most water reservoirs, dams and hand pumps have either dried or are rapidly losing water. “The crisis is deepening with the increase in temperature each day. Earlier, the shortage would arise in May; this year, we have it in April,” says R B Maurya, executive engineer, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), pointing to the dried land at a small dam in Gangapur.
This scarcity has forced people to completely rely on private water suppliers. They charge Rs 300 for 3,000-4,000 litres every week. “The private suppliers take only a day to supply water, which lasts for five-six days, depending on size of the family,” says Bapna.
The district administration is also buying water from these suppliers, who fetch it in large tankers from private wells and supply to government tanks. On an average the state government is spending between five and 10 paise a litre on fetched water, making it a lucrative business for suppliers. The state wants to install a global positioning system (GPS) to ascertain the location and put meters to check the level of water in tankers, to curb malpractice.
The situation is no different in most parts of parched Rajasthan. The state normally receives annual rainfall of 549.1 mm but 16 of the 33 districts got 20-60 per cent less last year. A total of 19 districts are affected and Bhilwara is said to be the worst.
Read more from our special coverage on "DROUGHT"
Officials say most water reservoirs, dams and hand pumps have either dried or are rapidly losing water. “The crisis is deepening with the increase in temperature each day. Earlier, the shortage would arise in May; this year, we have it in April,” says R B Maurya, executive engineer, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), pointing to the dried land at a small dam in Gangapur.
This scarcity has forced people to completely rely on private water suppliers. They charge Rs 300 for 3,000-4,000 litres every week. “The private suppliers take only a day to supply water, which lasts for five-six days, depending on size of the family,” says Bapna.
The district administration is also buying water from these suppliers, who fetch it in large tankers from private wells and supply to government tanks. On an average the state government is spending between five and 10 paise a litre on fetched water, making it a lucrative business for suppliers. The state wants to install a global positioning system (GPS) to ascertain the location and put meters to check the level of water in tankers, to curb malpractice.
Like Gangapur, the town of Bhilwara, well connected by road and rail, is severely affected. Its 400,000 residents are largely dependent for drinking water needs on a train which brings 2.5 million litres from nearby Ajmer district daily. This train has been making trips since January 19, costing Rs 4-5 lakh a trip. Yet, the effort isn’t enough. Residents in the town get water every third day, as the PHED is only able to supply 19.5 million litres a day (mld), against the actual demand of 51.3 mld.
“The Meja dam was our biggest source of supply but hardly any water is left in it. We are planning to increase the frequency of the water train to thrice in two days,” says R K Ojha, PHED’s superintending engineer in Bhilwara. Many say Bhilwara’s problem will be solved once it is connected to the Chambal river, a major source of supply to most parts of the state. However, the project has been stuck in bureaucracy for years.
About 91 per cent of Rajasthan’s demand is met through extraction of groundwater. The rest is drawn from seven major reservoirs, of which four have reported less than 40 per cent availability. This nine per cent water is mainly supplied to urban areas, around 24 per cent of the population. The other 76 per cent are dependent on groundwater, the quality of which is questionable. State officials say 40 per cent more water is being drawn and this has further lowered the water table, leaving most handpumps and tubewells dry and defunct. As a result, the government now plans to send water tankers to villages. It is estimated around 15,000 villages are facing a shortage in these 19 affected districts.
A person in urban areas needs an estimated 140 litres of water a day, whereas the demand per person in rural areas does not exceed 50 litres a day. The state is in dire need of good rains and also needs to take urgent measures for recharging its groundwater, beside connecting its rivers with more districts.
Kiran Maheshwari, the PHED minister, says the government has launched the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Yojana for conservation of water. And, her department’s target is connecting 15 million people to piped water by 2018.
“The Meja dam was our biggest source of supply but hardly any water is left in it. We are planning to increase the frequency of the water train to thrice in two days,” says R K Ojha, PHED’s superintending engineer in Bhilwara. Many say Bhilwara’s problem will be solved once it is connected to the Chambal river, a major source of supply to most parts of the state. However, the project has been stuck in bureaucracy for years.
About 91 per cent of Rajasthan’s demand is met through extraction of groundwater. The rest is drawn from seven major reservoirs, of which four have reported less than 40 per cent availability. This nine per cent water is mainly supplied to urban areas, around 24 per cent of the population. The other 76 per cent are dependent on groundwater, the quality of which is questionable. State officials say 40 per cent more water is being drawn and this has further lowered the water table, leaving most handpumps and tubewells dry and defunct. As a result, the government now plans to send water tankers to villages. It is estimated around 15,000 villages are facing a shortage in these 19 affected districts.
A person in urban areas needs an estimated 140 litres of water a day, whereas the demand per person in rural areas does not exceed 50 litres a day. The state is in dire need of good rains and also needs to take urgent measures for recharging its groundwater, beside connecting its rivers with more districts.
Kiran Maheshwari, the PHED minister, says the government has launched the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Yojana for conservation of water. And, her department’s target is connecting 15 million people to piped water by 2018.