Growing & sustaining a liquid asset

Is India an inherently water-stressed country? This question comes up every summer, when many parts of the country face an acute scarcity of water. A categorical answer may be difficult because the issue has several dimensions, which are amenable to divergent interpretations. But water woes, surely, are not insurmountable.

India hosts the world’s 18 per cent human and 20 per cent livestock population, with only 4 per cent of its water resources. This can be seen as a sign of under-supply of this critical natural resource. Besides, per capita water availability, which was over 3,000 cubic metres in the 1950s, has dwindled to just around 1,486 cubic metres, and is projected to decline further to a mere 1,367 cubic metres by 2031.This can be viewed as another indication of growing scarcity of water, given that 1,700 cubic metres is deemed to be the minimum requirement per person. If availability dips to below 1,000 cubic metres, which cannot be ruled out, it would be truly distressful. Many areas of the country are, in fact, already facing such an alarming situation, or are heading towards it.

But there is another side to it, which is not so disquieting. Water is a renewable resource and nature has been rather benevolent in this respect. India, on the whole, receives annually around 118 cm, or around 4,000 billion cubic metres (BCM), of water by way of rain and snowfall. This is far higher than the global average of 100 cm. However, the bulk of this water comes in the four-month monsoon season (June to September) and runs down wastefully to the seas, causing floods and eroding precious soil in its wake. Only a fraction of this water gets conserved in surface water bodies, like reservoirs, ponds, and tanks, or percolates down to the underground water aquifers, for gainful use. Unfortunately, the country has failed to create sufficient water-holding capacity to make full use of this natural bonanza.

Going by the Central Water Commission (CWC) estimates, India’s gross (read total) water storage capacity is only around 355 BCM. Of this, the utilisable capacity (live storage) is just about 275 BCM. This is too little compared to the estimated requirement of over 843 BCM. Even on full capacity utilisation, the stored water is sufficient to meet the needs of only around 170 days. Many other countries have created much larger capacities to ensure water security. Egypt, a low-rainfall country, for instance, has a live water storage capacity of 700 days. The US can store enough water to last for two years. If India can capture an adequate amount of rainwater, and conserve it appropriately, it can meet most of its demand for water in both urban and rural areas, including that for crop irrigation.

The key to ward off water problems, therefore, lies in collecting, preserving, and judiciously managing rainwater. The mantra for doing so is: “Catch the rain when it falls, and where it falls.” Policy planners had, in fact, not been unaware if this basic necessity. They had, very rightly, made rainwater harvesting an integral part of soil- and water-conservation programmes a long while ago. Rainwater harvesting was made mandatory for all new buildings with a roof area of more than 100 square metres way back in 2001. Experts feel up to 70 per cent of the water requirements of most households can be met through rainwater. Due emphasis had, in fact, been laid on rainwater collection in the National Water Policy, 2012, as well. Most programmes launched for soil and water conservation, irrigation expansion, and watershed development, involve in situ, as also ex situ, preserving rainwater. Funds are also regularly allocated for this purpose under the government’s flagship programme, called Jal Shakti Abhiyan. Besides, rainwater harvesting has been a major component of the works carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

However, the net gains from all these well-intentioned measures have been below par due to the poor planning and inapt implementation. The scheme under the MGNREGA is, in any case, a demand-driven and employment-oriented one, where the availability of labour varies from time to time, ruling out executing the proposed works on a regular basis, or in accordance with any pre-set schedule. Besides, the multiplicity of authorities governing various aspects of rainwater management, such as its capturing, storage, and distribution, and maintaining water-harvesting infrastructure, also mars the potential benefits from the effort and investment that goes into them.

Rainwater conservation needs planning on a geographically wider scale, keeping in view the entire watersheds, which can span administrative blocks, districts, or states. This is difficult to do under the prevailing structure of civic governance. What is needed is to make rainwater harvesting and water conservation a mass movement, and expand the overall water storage capacity. That would help consolidate water security and ensure year-round water availability.

surinder.sud@gmail.com