Frequent droughts have been roasting thousands of villages in Maharashtra and several other states in India even as we are proceeding towards celebrating 75th anniversary of independence in the near future. Water shortages do lead to thirst, hunger, debt, forced migration and crop losses. The rulers and planners conveniently blame the erratic monsoon but few will admit that the main cause of this grave crisis is the neglect of the management of water as well as most other natural resources. Pointing a finger at climate changes but not overcoming them is now the norm. Although successive governments have been announcing ambitious schemes and plans to end this vicious cycle, hardly any dent is seen in the situation.
Time and again, it has been admitted that rigorous scientific solutions can change the scenario considerably. No expert is needed to explain that this crisis can be averted by resorting to modern methods of water conservation, water management and environmental care. The question is : even when these solutions are available, are endorsed by research and adopted by many countries, why not in India? If the government can’t eradicate water shortages, why not depend upon science so that this issue is addressed once for all?
Maharashtra calls itself a leading state but why is its performance so poor in tackling the water shortages? Is it necessary to form new committees and spend millions on them? Why should some fat NGOs be allowed to raise funding in the name of serving the needy? Or why import technology to solve the problem when we have traditional knowledge in our archives?
Water shortages in India begin as soon as the winter is over. This has been a problem in many parts of India. According to the Centre for Science and Environment, over ten percent Indians suffer from severe or acute shortage of drinking water every year. The absence of clean drinking water is aggravated by the inadequate sanitation facilities. This situation exists in rural and urban areas. Moreover, poor management of urban resources and lack of awareness about water conservation worsen the woes of the downtrodden.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, there are thousands of incidents of drought in India. The government has been spending billions of rupees but there is an increase in drought-like situations, as shown by the data released by the Department of Hydrology & Meteorology. The main cause for this is said to be the climate change, which impacts the rainfall pattern in the country, resulting in unseasonal rains. Such vagaries of nature lead a drought situation or flooding at the same time in India. This contradiction is more acute than ever before. The situation will only worsen unless immediate steps are taken. Drought has intensified across many parts of the country, while crop failures have been reported from several regions, especially in Maharashtra and adjoining Karnataka this year.
Historical records show that water has always been a scarce resource, even when the population was very small centuries ago. But over the decades, it is becoming even scarcer. With increases in population, urban areas and industrialisation, the demand for water has been swelling. One casualty is the irrigation projects, which are used more for urban and industrial activities, rather than for agriculture. The consequence is that the number of farmers facing drought-like conditions has been showing an increase steadily. Even verdant areas once upon a time are turning grey for want of water.
Most governments feel that the really effective step to address this situation is to announce financial assistance to the farmers hit by drought or rains. In view of the urgency of the crisis, more serious challenges that need solutions to solve this problem are put on the backburner and continue to haunt the farm sector. In this situation, the effect of water scarcity on crop production needs serious attention. Ample literature on this issue is available. According to international data, in developing countries, about 800 million people do not obtain clean drinking water or have adequate sanitation facilities.
The United Nations had set an ambitious target: to ensure everyone on Earth has access to safe drinking water by 2025. But progress towards this goal so far suggests that it will not become possible. To formulate strategies to meet this challenge, the UN-Habitat had commissioned a study, which looked at how cities around the world could improve sustainable urban development. A major recommendations was that governments should put greater emphasis on ensuring all residents have access to sufficient quantities of fresh water under a specific time bound plan. The report also suggested that local authorities should consider setting up new water markets and encourage private sector investment in strengthening water infrastructure.
In some states of India, the shortage of water results in farmers committing suicide. It also poses a serious threat to food security. Whereas some regions face acute shortages, others are plagues by chronic water deficits. To deal with this problem, India has developed a national system called the Integrated Water Resources Management System, which monitors and reports the status of different water bodies across the country on a regular basis.
Although the state government is yet to announce the data for this summer, it is estimated that about 6300 tankers will be needed to supply water to nearly 5000 villages and 10000 hamlets daily, carrying water to over 40 percent of the talukas out of the total 360 labelled as drought-prone. Incidentally, Maharashtra has the largest number of irrigation projects in the country but the farm area covered by them is barely 20 percent of less. There is no wonder that the government has been keeping under the wraps the exact statistics in this regard.
To solve the problem, though to a limited extent, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has revived his ambitious brainchild, ‘Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan. For this, 22 points have been finalized for execution for increasing the underground water level and overall water conservation in Latur district, which is selected as a pilot area. JSA was conceived by Fadnavis as chief minister (2014-19). It was dumped when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition took over in November 2019. The project is now revived. The JSA aims to make villages and hamlets drought-free by launching various conservation therapies such as building canals, bunds and ponds, besides deepening and widening existing water bodies.
Although JSA is welcome, it will take time to show the results. Meanwhile, many parts of Maharashtra are likely to suffer acute drought situations if the rainfall is under the average this year.
