Water shortages spark violence, water and power cuts
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In Bhopal, three members of a family were killed in a dispute over water; in Delhi, people took to the streets to protest against water shortages and power cuts in the city. A delayed monsoon shows up the country’s inability to deal with the situation
Water ‘wars’ are not a future scenario but are being played out across the country as the monsoons continue to elude us. In Bhopal, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, three members of a family were killed on May 13 in a dispute with the local goon over water.
The slum colony of Sanjay Nagar, in Bhopal’s Shahjehanabad area, has just one water point for 200 people. It receives water for 15 minutes every alternate day. Residents have dug a pit in the middle of the road to reach the underground municipal pipe passing through the colony. They have bored a hole in the pipe and draw water illegally by inserting rubber tubes into it.
Dinu and his armed accomplices stabbed their neighbour Jeevan Malviya, 42, a construction worker, his wife Savita and their 19-year-old son Raju after a dispute erupted over who should fill their buckets first when water began flowing after three days.
Police now patrol the slum colony when water is released for an hour every alternate day.
A weak monsoon has been predicted for the country though no area has yet been officially designated a drought area. Cities across India have announced water and power cuts. Even the premier city of Mumbai, in Maharashtra, which is serviced by six lakes, faces a 20% cut in water supply. Water levels in all six dams are down compared to the same period last year.
According to the Central Water Commission, 80% of reservoirs in the county are experiencing water levels below the 10-year average for the season. Power plants too are affected. The Tehri hydel plant, which supplies a substantial amount of power to the capital Delhi, is close to closing down as water levels in the reservoir have sunk to dangerously low levels.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP staged a walkout in the Assembly on June 25 over the worsening water and power situation in the capital. The Bhakra Nangal dam has cut water to four north Indian states -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Since much of agriculture in India is rain-fed, a delayed and scanty monsoon is a huge worry for thousands of farmers who depend on agriculture for a living. Though the Indian government has announced that there are enough buffer stocks of staples like rice and wheat, food prices are already high.
And it’s not just about the delayed monsoons. Experts say not enough has been done over the years to put in place a coherent, viable water policy or to manage water more efficiently. Groundwater is steadily being depleted as more and more tubewells are sunk, water-intensive crops like sugarcane have been encouraged in water-scarce areas, deforestation continues, and local water sources have been neglected in favour of large dam projects.
Water conservation and recycling measures that are desperately needed as water becomes an ever more scarce resource are still not being taken seriously. Municipal corporations have been proposing grey water recycling to treat waste water from kitchens for non-drinking purposes, and making water harvesting compulsory, but these plans have not gone beyond the talking stage. In Mumbai, corporation officials say that guidelines on grey water use will be incorporated in the building by-laws once they get approval from the corporation’s apex policymaking body.
A study by the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences at IIT-Delhi has shown that over the past 50 years the monsoons have become more erratic, with fewer long spells of rain.
Source: Down to Earth, June 2009
Hindustan Times, June 26, 2009
The Indian Express, June 26, 2009