Privatisation of water to mitigate crisis in R'sthan: PHDCCI

The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has suggested privatisation of water to mitigate water crisis to some extent in Rajasthan, saying it would prevent waste, improve efficiency and encourage innovation.
A report released today by the Chamber said that Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have made efforts for water management by involving the private sector to improve their water situation and the state of Rajasthan should also involve the private sector in this regard.
The Chamber urged the state government to take pro-active measures for rain water harvesting and to engage the private sector for improving water efficiency and minimising its waste since the desert state faces a grim scenario in relation to water availability resources.

The report, released in a conference on "water sustainability with rain water harvesting" organised by the Chamber here, said that the private sector's participation in managing water availability and its supplies has become extremely critical as only 49 water blocks, out of estimated 237, across the state are safe in terms of ground water level.
Saurabh Sanyal, Executive Director of the Chamber, said that involvement of private sector was necessary for a better management of water.
He cited examples of other states in water management.

Sanjay Aggarwal, Chairman of Rajasthan Committee of the Chamber, said that drought and low rainfall in recent years have resulted in over-exploitation of 91 per cent of ground water which has resulted in low water table.

The participants at the conference were of the view that unreasonable and illogical human actions have given rise to groundwater crisis in India.
During the past two decades, the water level in several parts of the country has been falling rapidly due to an increase in extraction.
The number of wells drilled for irrigation of both food and cash crops have rapidly and indiscriminately increased.
They warned that the country was heading towards a fresh water crisis mainly due to improper management of water resources and environmental degradation, which has lead to a lack of access to safe water supply to millions of people.

They said that intense competition among users in agriculture, industry and domestic sectors was driving the groundwater table lower and also affecting the quality of groundwater.