At Infosys, per capita water use down by 41 per cent

By Guruprakash Sastry 
In a rainy season such as this in Bengaluru, we hardly remember the water shortage we passed through in the recent summer and, blame civic unpreparedness for the rains flooding our streets. We seldom realise rainwater is one of the clean sources of fresh water, and let it flow out of our premises, streets and city. Rainwater can meet a large part of our requirements if harvested effectively.

In a place like Bengaluru with annual rainfall of about 900 mm, it is possible to meet the entire water requirement for a four-member family in the monsoon months if the rooftop rainwater is collected in an area of just 1200 sq.ft. We have learnt this by experience. A 1000-seater office building at Infosys in Bengaluru, for example, has been able to meet about 40 per cent of its fresh water requirement during monsoon months by harvesting rooftop rainwater. 

reasons for Gurgaon jam, one of the worst jams

when are we going to learn @ practice.

Once 370 acres, Ghata lake is now 2 acres

TNN | Jul 31, 2016, 01.09 AM IST                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Gurgaon: Just two hours of rainfall causing mammoth traffic jam and waterlogging across Gurgaon was not a surprise, it was actually anticipated for quite some time as rapid urbanisation in the past decade has destroyed several waterbodies, lakes and natural drains in the city, which once used to store rainwater and recharge groundwater.


The most prominent victim of this blind urbanisation is the Ghata lake and dam. Once spread across 370 acres, the lake has been now reduced to just around two acres — due to which rainwater that used to get collected in the catchment area of this dam now flows over to areas like Golf Course Road, causing waterlogging.

Till two decades back, it used to be one of the biggest waterbodies in Gurgaon, but it has now become a concrete jungle. Not to mention that Huda has marked the catchment area and the lake bed as Sector 58 in its Master Plan-2021 and today several residential apartments have mushroomed in the locality.

However, Ghata lake is just one microcosm of what happened in Gurgaon. As per a recent report, Gurgaon had 388 water bodies, out of which only a handful like Basai lake, Sultanpur lake and Dumdama lake are left. Moreover, most of the interlinking natural water channels in the city have either been encroached upon, acquired by builders, or have become dumping grounds for sewage, silt and construction waste.

Irony is that the state government is even aware of this situation and its dangerous impact on the city. The forest department, in its inspection report of May 2016, had raised an alarm — 'Nothing but a disaster waiting to happen in the event of heavy rain'. The forest department had carried out inspection of the old Ghata bundh and the drainage channels and it revealed that most of the upstream area and the lake bed have been urbanised.

"The entire lake bed has been levelled by colonisers and the natural drain coming down from Behrampur and Balola in the Aravalis has been reduced to just a few metres width. This is highly inimical to the hydrology of the area and such natural lakes should have been preserved. Similar is the case with the downstream side of the natural drain that has been filled with construction and demolition waste and reduced to a few metres width only," the report said.

The natural lake and bundh use to have enough water till a decade back, say villagers. But due to the vested interest, the state government gave licence to realtors and they have turned this beautiful area into a concrete jungle. "Now the entire city is paying for this sin. Instead of preserving this waterbody, which could have help in mitigating the dual problem of Gurgaon — depleting groundwater and waterlogging, it was destroyed," said Suresh Yadav, a resident of Ghata.

Ramesh Vashisht (70), a resident of Jharsa, said the British had constructed this dam as rainwater harvesting system to retain water and divert excess water towards Najafgarh drain. The last time the lake was completely filled with rainwater was in 2003.

Conservator of forests (south circle) MD Sinha told TOI that till the 80s and 90s when gates of the dam were opened, water use to flow non-stop for around 10-15 days like a river. "Just imagine the amount of water it used to retain in those days, now all these water flow on the road," he added.

Latest Comment

Thanks to the Congress that ruled Haryana for better part of the last two decades, its typical stamp of greed is now clearly visible. Maybe even Vadra owns a part of the Ghata water body.Jagdish Madan

Pointing out the root cause of all the problem, retired chief town planner of Haryana, Raj Vir Singh, said instead of conservation of natural water bodies, which could have acted as natural sponge of rainfall and help discharge excess run-off to the Yamuna, the Master Plan marked this area for urbanisation opening this for realtors.

"In the last two development plans (master plans 2021 and 2031) of Gurgaon, water channels and ponds were not preserved but thrown open for construction. After complete development of Gurgaon, around 65% area would be concretised," he added.

Indian Women Worst Hit by Water Crisis

A staggering 330 million Indians, making up a quarter of the country’s population (or roughly the entire population of the United States), are currently reeling under the effects of a severe drought, resulting in an acute drinking water shortage and agricultural distress.

In many rural areas, women walk over 2.5 kms to reach water sources. According to a report by noted environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva, on average, a rural Indian woman traverses 14,000 km a year just to fetch water.

will the villages disappear some day

Climate Migrants Lead Mass Migration to India’s Cities


Of Uttarakhand's 16,793 villages, 1,053 have no inhabitants and another 405 have less than 10 residents. 

the vision that existed.

Ancient plumbing protects Forbidden City from Beijing floods

25 July 2016     China

Image copyrightSINA WEIBO

Image captionThese images which have since been circulating on local news sites, were later removed from the Forbidden City's official Weibo page

Officials from Beijing's Forbidden City have said an ancient drainage system protected it during recent heavy rains and intense flooding.

Bad weather has killed 37 people in the Chinese capital in the past week while at least seven others are missing.

On 20 July, much of the city was shut down by a huge storm but the palace'sofficial Sina Weibo said it was one of the few areas that remained open.

It even took in 30,000 visitors during the storm, it said.

China has battled serious floods throughout its history, and the designers of the Forbidden City would have been well aware of the need to build in proper defences.

The palace published a series of images on Weibo showing heavy flooding in the 600-year-old courtyards, but the drainage system in action removing the water.

State media quoted an unnamed official as saying the combination of cleverly designed sloping courtyards, stepped buildings and underground drains meant water could be carried away in 20 minutes.

'Looks flooded to me'

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image captionRain or shine, the Forbidden City attracts tens of thousands of visitors every single day

The palace's original photos of the floods were later taken down - an official told BBC News that was because they did not know who had taken them.

But the original post and new images have been circulating on local news portals and social media.

The large volume of water in some of the pictures prompted some on popular Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo to question the "ancient engineering efforts".

"A royal drainage system? It still looks very flooded to me," commented one netizen.

"Engineering level: Ancient China," said another.

Other users questioned the loss of lives during the rainy season and called for "more serious action" with regards to the floods.

"Why couldn't this 600-year-old system have been used for other buildings as well if it's so effective? Many lives could have been saved," commented a Weibo user going by the name of Cisi Fang 52.

• 
  

can we afford this

Water woes are a drain on Make in India

Reuters | Jul 26, 2016, 10.34 AM IST                                                                                                         

HIGHLIGHTS

1. India's chronic mismanagement of water is emerging as a threat to Make in India
2. Most of the water intensive industries are predominantly located in the parched regions
3. Poor demand management adds to the challenge of setting up in a dry country

Make in India has big shortcomings when it comes to natural resources , however. Water intensive industries like construction, food processing, energy, textiles and leather works feature prominently amongst the sectors the scheme is targeting. And although most of the sites for planned industrial corridors are supposed to include water 

infrastructure, they are predominantly located in the parched western regions.

great service Mr. Biplab. you deserve a BOW from all of us

This Man Is Helping Farmers Fight Both Dry Spells and Water Logging with a Unique RWH Technology

Prolonged dry spells and unseasonal rainfall result in drought-like situations or water-logging in many fields across India. This leads to the destruction of crops. Here’s how an Ahmedabad-based social enterprise is helping farmers with a unique water harvesting technology.

“I was in Gujarat during the 2001 earthquake. I noticed how the temperatures soared in the state a few months after the disaster, leading to acute scarcity of water. This was followed by the monsoon, heavy rainfall and immense water logging in the fields. These were the varying challenges for the same place in different months of the year. And the important thing to notice was that each challenge could act as a solution for the other. For example, the excess water that was a disaster when above the ground could be a boon if stored underground,” says Biplab Ketan Paul.

Biplab used this idea to innovate Bhungroo – a water harvesting technique that uses an injection module to store excess rain water underground. Farmers can then use the same water for irrigation during summer and winter.

Bhungroo, which means “straw” in Gujarati, is one of the technologies delivered by Naireeta Services – a social enterprise working for eradication of poverty in India, where Biplab is the Director.

The high salinity of soil in arid regions of Gujarat and other states creates an impermeable layer that prevents rain water from seeping in. This leads to water logging and the standing water again increases the salinity of the soil. Bhungroo helps farmers in such rain-scarce and salinity-prone areas. The system consists of a pipe erected in such a way that excess water passes through it, gets filtered and accumulates in an underground well. Later, farmers use a motor to pump the water up and use it for irrigation. In this way, farmers get a chance to earn double of what they would normally make. The technology also helps avoid evaporation loss and wastage of water during the monsoon season.

---

The underground reservoir can hold 40 million litres of water and can supply for as long as seven months. Additionally, the non-saline rain water, when mixed with the underground saline water, brings down the salinity of the groundwater and makes it fit for agriculture.

Bhungroo comes in 17 designs for different agro-climatic zones in India and the design varies for each field. Earlier, in the initial phase, Naireeta Services was alone involved in the installation of Bhungroo. Now, with knowledge guidance from Ashoka India, a network of social entrepreneurs worldwide, the organization has adopted a partnership model. Different NGOs, cooperatives, institutions, CSR wings of organizations, etc., partner with Naireeta Services to become carriers of the technology.

The entire process of setting up Bhungroo is led by women. Naireeta Services, or the partner organizations, train members of women Self Help Groups (SHGs) in different villages.

In the first stage, these members help identify women who are below poverty line – they verify their land ownership and poverty status. Next, they measure the gradient of the land to understand whether it is suitable for the technology. Five women form one Bhungroo group, with one of them giving her land for construction. The team conducts a geohydrological study to identify the part of the land that will be conducive for erecting Bhungroo.

This is the lowest point of the catchment area because the rainwater will rush to that spot. After this, the farmers provide labour for construction and drilling.

The team drills a pipe with a diameter of five inches, which then guides the water to the subsoil aquifer at a depth of 110 feet. The aquifer is an underground layer of permeable rocks or materials like gravel, sand or silt that can contain or transmit groundwater. Once the water is saved, the atmospheric moisture in the soil helps in the growth of crops for the next month. And the stored water helps whenever required during the rest of the year.

India Has Not Been Able To Break The Vicious 

For the past six years, India has been hearing various renditions of the same story from the end of March.

As soon as summer sets in India, the news of heatwave spread and even before summer is at its peak, there is a widespread paucity of water. After much anguish, the monsoons arrive and then, there are widespread reports of floods, mismanagement of rainwater and casualty of life and property until the monsoon ends. 

Every year the statistics change, the name of the place might change but the situation has remained the same. 

BCCL

Amla Ruia, the Indian woman who has helped more than a 100 villages in Rajasthan become greener using a sustainable rainwater harvesting pockets, says, "The biggest challenge that we face is that we have done away with so much of our forests that there is hardly any way for the rainwater to be held back in the soil."

"There is a lot of thought that has gone into where the water harvesting pockets should be created to ensure that it retains as much of the flood water as it can while the capillary action would allow the water to cover maximum ground. I am trying to revive the age-old tradition of letting the  villagers manage their own water harvesting units. Unlike the government, I want the villagers to understand and participate in every bit of the structure and help in its upkeep."

BCCL

In her study titled Drought And Water Security in India published in June, Somya Rajawat, Research Assistant, Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme writes, "The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has confirmed an “above normal” monsoon is likely for 2016, as rainfall is likely to be 106 per cent of the 89 centimetre per annum average. Chances of drought are one per cent this year, which is also particularly promising given that the chance of drought is normally 16 per cent." 

Elaborating on one of the causes of lack of sufficient water for irrigation, she adds, "In general, India has a crop bias towards cereals that, more often than not, are extremely input intensive. An unwillingness to diversify farming, engage in more efficient forms of irrigation or farming (the use of fertilisers or drip irrigation systems) has left major irrigation networks in India operating at 38 per cent efficiency."

The paucity of potable water has a effect on city life as well, and it has been getting a lot worse with instances of violence on the rise.

"Nangloi Jat, a rich town that supports a number of prominent Jats in the central government, receives 59 gallons of water per person a day, whereas poor villages nearby with little political affiliation receive less than a gallon of water per person a day," Rajawat states in her study.

"The rise of the tanker mafia is more distressing. The tanker mafia refers to private tankers selling water to citizens at premium prices, which has most likely been sourced illegally. In Bhopal, located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, the tanker mafia has exhibited gang like characteristics, bullying locals who have contested their prices, refusing to service the poor despite their willingness to pay, resulting in widespread fear, violence and occasionally death." 

The Indian government has already begun work on the inter-linking of water basins of all major rivers in India, a project of massive proportions which does not guarantee a drought-free India. Conservationists are still convinced that steps taken a local level will have a greater positive impact. 

WRIS India

Bhaskar Vira, Director of the Cambridge Conservation Research Institute write in his article for The Wire, "A specific way forward might be to work more directly with natural processes to secure the regeneration of water sources at the local level. In the dry plains, this involves the revitalisation of aquifers and the replenishment of groundwater through recharge during the monsoon, as has been attempted already in some regions. In the hilly areas, there is considerable scope for investment in spring recharge and source sustainability, as has been undertaken on a significant scale in the Himalayan state of Sikkim."

BCCL

It is not sufficient to simply enforce water harvesting pockets, warns Amla Ruia says, "When we had started our work on rainwater harvesting in Rajasthan, there were several other organisations doing commendable work. Once the government started NREGA, we all felt that India would become water-rich. But the implementation of the project was very poor. It is so painful to see so much money going down the drain because the government was not able to involve the villagers in the development and maintenance of the water harvesting units."

While involving local governments will help in ensuring the establishment of proper water harvesting structures to tap into the excess rainwater and save it for the drier months, individual steps towards rain water harvesting also go a long way in saving potable water.

Poverty and inequality after reforms

Creating productive employment and providing quality education are two of the most important measures

S. Mahendra Dev

Photo: Bharat Bhushan/Hindustan Times

India embarked on big-bang economic reforms 25 years back in 1991. It is well-known that GDP growth has been much higher in the post-reform period. However, GDP is only one metric. Ultimately, the success of reforms depends on whether the well-being of people, particularly that of poor, increased over time. In this context, let’s examine the impact of economic reforms on poverty and inequality.

There are two conclusions on trends in poverty. The first one, shown in a World Bank study by Gaurav Datt and others, is that poverty declined by 1.36 percentage points per annum after 1991, compared to that of 0.44 percentage points per annum prior to 1991. Their study shows that among other things, urban growth is the most important contributor to the rapid reduction in poverty even though rural areas showed growth in the post-reform period.

The second conclusion is that in the post-reform period, poverty declined faster in the 2000s than in the 1990s. The official estimates based on Tendulkar committee’s poverty lines shows that poverty declined only 0.74 percentage points per annum during 1993-94 to 2004-05. But poverty declined by 2.2 percentage points per annum during 2004-05 to 2011-12. Around 138 million people were lifted above the poverty line during this period. This indicates the success of reforms in reducing poverty. The poverty of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes also declined faster in the 2000s. The Rangarajan committee report also showed faster reduction in poverty during 2009-10 to 2011-12. Higher economic growth, agriculture growth, rural non-farm employment, increase in real wages for rural labourers, employment in construction and programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) contributed to higher poverty reduction in the 2000s compared to the 1990s.

What is the way forward? The conclusion is that poverty declined faster but inequality increased in the post-reform period. However, India still has 300 million people below the poverty line. What should be done to reduce poverty and inequality?

Policymakers must continue to follow the two-fold strategy of achieving high economic growth and direct measures through social protection programmes. The focus should also be on increase in urban growth and income as the share of urban poverty will rise with urbanization.

There can be several solutions, but let’s focus here on the two important measures: creating productive employment and providing quality education for reduction in poverty and inequality. There is a feeling that we should have some flagship programmes like MGNREGA to reduce poverty. No doubt these programmes are important for protecting the poor. But equitable growth is much broader than this and productive inclusion in terms of generating quality employment should be the focus of any inclusive approach. Employment focus is the major part of equity approach. Studies have shown that agricultural growth leads to reduction in poverty twice as that of non-agriculture. We need more diversified agriculture for raising the income of farmers. However, future employment has to be created in manufacturing and service. In this context, the Make in India initiative, focus on start-ups, Mudra, financial inclusion, etc., are steps in the right direction. Equally, service sector employment has to be promoted. Over time, the share of the organized sector has to be raised while simultaneously improving productivity in the unorganized sector. Youth unemployment is high. This is one reason for unrest and social tensions. The need for skill development and productive jobs to reap the demographic dividend is obvious.

For reducing inequality, some advocate measures such as redistribution of assets and wealth in favour of the poor via higher taxes for the rich. However, these may not be pragmatic solutions. The tax/GDP ratio has to be raised with a wider tax base. Fiscal instruments like public investment in physical and social infrastructure can be used to reduce inequality. The new generation wants equality of opportunity rather than redistributive measures. Everyone irrespective of caste, class and gender should have equal opportunities in education, health, employment and entrepreneurship. Economic and employment opportunities improve with education and skills. The new generation wants better quality in schools and higher education.

Finally, economic reforms should focus more on efficient delivery systems of public services. Many reckon that poor governance is the biggest constraint in achieving the aspirations of a new generation and reduction in poverty and inequality. A major institutional challenge is the accountability of service providers, particularly the public sector. Recent literature also focused on eradication of corruption for reduction in inequalities. Issues like electoral reforms, crony capitalism, election funding and corruption should be part of the reform agenda to reduce inequalities.

S. Mahendra Dev is director and vice-chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.