Tag: ground water using rainwater

Five environmental entrepreneurs making money sustainably

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An underlying theme of sustainable businesses is innovation – through either a product, service or a combination of both. Here are five environmental entrepreneurs saving the environment and promoting sustainability through their startups.

Photo Courtesy : 30 Stades

Many entrepreneurs today are setting up sustainable businesses that solve environmental problems and still make money because that’s the only way to keep any enterprise going.

An underlying theme of sustainable businesses is innovation – through either a product or a service or a combination of both. Environmental entrepreneurs solve the pressing problem of saving the environment and aiding ecological balance.

Here are five entrepreneurs who are contributing immensely to the cause of the environment through their unique products:

1. Nitin Sharma, Go Waterless, Pune

Water scarcity left Nitin’s family car wash business high and dry in 2016. After the problem continued well into 2017, Nitin began to research products that could wash cars without water.

Finally, in 2019, he developed eco-friendly high-lubricity sprays that clean car interiors and exteriors without water. Go Waterless has been profitable since its inception in 2019 and is present in 22 states.

More importantly, it is saving 12 lakh liters of water daily and earning Rs 2.5 crore in annual revenues.

2. Ashvin Patil and Chaitanya Korgaonkar, Biofuels Junction, Mumbai

Ashvin is an MBA and engineer who quit his job as an equity market analyst to set up Biofuels with his friend Chaitanya.

The duo started Biofuels in 2018 with the dual aim of solving farmers’ problem of agri waste disposal and providing clean fuel to enterprises. Most farmers, after harvest, burn residues like rice stubble, cotton stalks, and coconut husks, causing pollution.

Biofuels procures agri waste from farmers and it is then processed into solid biofuels at the nearest manufacturing facility in the startup’s network. The company’s field staff monitors the quality and consistency of biofuels, which replace coal, diesel and furnace oil at industrial plants, reducing the burden on non-renewable resources.

The sustainable startup works with 25,000 farmers and over 100 top companies. In just four years of launch, it is clocking Rs67 crore in annual revenues.

3. Amit Doshi, NeeRain, Ahmedabad

When Amit Doshi was in class four, he and his brother would accompany their mother to fill water from a tap near their house in Kalol, about 35km from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The area’s borewells had dried up and the municipality supplied water every three days.

Growing up with water scarcity instilled in Amit a sense of purpose – to save every drop of water. One way to do it was through rainwater harvesting by collecting and storing rainwater that runs off from rooftops, roads, grounds, etc.

After a year of research and development, he designed an instrument to help people collect rainwater, which could be used to recharge borewells or stored, and named it NeeRain Rainwater Filter. This small filter unit with dimensions of 1x1x1.5 feet uses an engineering material called ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), and it was patented in 2018. Amit’s startup earns Rs 2 crore in revenues annually and is growing rapidly.

4. Vinayakumar Balakrishnan: Thooshan, Kochi

Having spent a large part of his life working in leadership roles in the banking and insurance sector, Vinayakumar decided to return from Dubai to India in 2013 and began research on food waste that could be used to make biodegradable plates.

He approached the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)’s National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) in Thiruvananthapuram and funded the research on making biodegradable food plates from rice bran. Once the technology was in place, he set up a fully integrated robotic plant in Kochi to make biodegradable cutlery and Thooshan went live in 2021.

According to estimates, producing just one pound of plastic cutlery can take up to 78 liters of water and release 2.5 lbs (1.1 kg) of carbon dioxide. This plastic is difficult to recycle and ends up choking animals and polluting water bodies and soil.

Thooshan cutlery can be decomposed into organic manure or can be used as cattle feed, fish feed, or poultry feed. The startup is sustainable and environment-friendly.

5. Bhavini Parikh, Bunko Junko, Mumbai

In 2016, while working on her garment manufacturing business, Bhavini came across research that textile waste is the third largest source of municipal solid waste in India. With landfills having a limited capacity to take on the load, she decided to minimize fabric waste at her level.

“I realized I was also hurting the environment by being part of the fashion industry. So I thought of up-cycling fabric scraps produced in my garment manufacturing unit,” she says.

Today, her ethical fashion brand Bunko Junko turns textile scrap into stylish clothing, home furnishings, and accessories. Since 2018, it has saved 38 tonnes of fabric from going to landfills and empowered thousands of women. And her profitable operations clock Rs. 40 lakh in revenues annually.

Neerain is proud to republish this blog to spread awareness about the situation of water, for our stakeholders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

This blog is published by: 30 Stades

We would like to spread this for the benefit of fellow Indians.

Author: Partho Burman and Bilal Khan

Published On: 29 Dec 2023

 

10 things you need to know about the water crisis in India

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India is experiencing its worst ever water crisis. How did we get here?

News stories on India’s water crisis start peaking just as summer sets in. Images of wells and taps running dry, conflicts on drinking water, tankers being mobbed, parched earth, and failed crops dominate our news cycle. What’s missing in mainstream reporting is a comprehensive and informed understanding of what makes India’s water footprint both unique and challenging.

What underlies India’s insatiable thirst for water?

  1. India has a serious water problem

The 2030 Water Resources Group estimates that if we continue to consume water as per the current rate, India will have only half the water it needs by 2030—a flashpoint that’s only ten years away.

  1. Nearly 80 percent of India’s freshwater is used in agriculture

This is an unusually large water footprint for agriculture. China and South Africa use approximately 64 percent and 62 percent of their renewable freshwater resources for agriculture.

Photo courtesy: Flickr

Groundwater accounts for 90 percent of the drinking water requirements in rural India and nearly 50 percent in urban areas.

  1. Over half of India’s cultivated land is under water-intensive crops

Fifty-four percent of India’s 141.4 million hectares of cultivable land is under water-intensive crops—rice, wheat, sugarcane, and cotton. Farmers are incentivised to grow water-intensive crops as they are eligible for the government’s minimum support price (MSP), which protects them from the risk of fluctuating prices.

  1. India uses at least twice the amount of water to grow one unit of food versus comparable countries

For instance, for every 1000 litres of water, China produces 0.46 kilograms of rice and 1.08 kilograms of cereal. For that amount of water, India produces only 0.23 kilograms of rice and 0.36 kilograms of cereal.

  1. India’s farmers rely mainly on tube wells to extract groundwater for their crops

Despite India’s large dams and canal systems, groundwater accounts for 63 percent of water used for irrigation by farmers; canals account for only 26 percent.

  1. Conservative estimates suggest that India has over 30 million borewells today

Until 1960, Indian farmers accessed a few tens of thousands of mechanical pumps using diesel or electricity to pump water. As of 2009, for every four cultivator households, one owned a tube well and two purchased groundwater from tube well owners. A combination of incentives (such as MSP for water-intensive crops) and subsidies (such as free electricity) have encouraged large-scale extraction of groundwater.

  1. India draws nearly 25 percent of the world’s groundwater

That’s more groundwater than China and the United States combined. India withdraws two times the amount of groundwater compared to China, despite having a similar population size.

Photo courtesy: Indiamart

  1. Sixty percent of India’s districts have been declared critical on groundwater

This means that they either have scarce supply or poor quality of groundwater, or both. This has put 70 percent of rural households who depend on agriculture for their livelihood at risk.

  1. India’s depleting groundwater reserves also impact our drinking water

Groundwater accounts for 90 percent of the drinking water requirements in rural India and nearly 50 percent in urban areas. Excessive extraction has caused contamination. As a result, India is ranked 120 out of 122 countries in the global water quality index.

  1. The country’s water crisis has a significant economic cost

A NITI Aayog report suggests that severe water scarcity will eventually lead to a 6 percent loss in the country’s GDP.

For too long, we’ve taken a supply lens to address issues related to water, within a development paradigm that has focused on building infrastructure, such as dams, canals, minor irrigation structures, and now water pipes. India’s water story starts and ends in her farms. What India needs now is a movement to help her farmers use water judiciously for every unit of food that they grow. This holds the key to a water-secure future for the country and an end to stories of distress that mark each summer.

Neerain is proud to republish this article for spreading awareness about situation of water, for our stakeholders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

Publish On:  IDR
Author: Arpit Jain & Reshma Anand
Published On: March 21, 2020

Water crisis in India: Threats and Opportunities for India Inc

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India faces daunting water security challenges. The demands of a rapidly industrializing economy and urbanizing society come at a time when the potential for augmenting supply is limited and water issues have increasingly come to the fore. While India hosts approximately 17 percent of the world’s population, it holds only about four percent of its required annual water resources.

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India faces daunting water security challenges. The demands of a rapidly industrializing economy and urbanizing society come at a time when the potential for augmenting supply is limited and water issues have increasingly come to the fore. While India hosts approximately 17 percent of the world’s population, it holds only about four percent of its required annual water resources.

In India, more than 600 million people are facing an acute water shortage. About three-quarter households do not have a drinking water facility. Currently, India ranks 120th among 122 countries in the water quality index. By 2030, India’s water demand is expected to be double to that of supply that implies not only water scarcity for numerous people but also a loss of around 6 percent to GDP. This underscores the need for strategic interventions to promote water use efficiency, both at the micro and macro level.

India Inc is an important stakeholder in India’s sustainability story. It also accounts for substantial water use. Various sectors of the industry are competing to use limited water resources that put pressure on the available supply of water and groundwater resources. The UN’s World Water Assessment Program warns of the stark implications, such as lack of freshwater resources on economic prosperity and security.

WATER TREATMENT/OPPORTUNITIES AND REUSE

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India Inc has taken cognizance of the magnitude of the water crisis and the role they can play to mitigate it. The corporate should see it as the shared responsibility of companies across sectors to join hands with communities and governments to work on programs for water conservation, recharge and wastewater treatment. On the lines of minimizing the carbon footprint, corporate should also incorporate water management not only as its CSR goals but as a component of its business goals and sustainability plan.

Experts should converge and deliberate on establishing a sustainable water management strategy that will serve as the guideline for the entire industry. They should focus on optimization of water usage for industrial purposes, omitting outdated processes and technology and adoption of suitable recycling practices.

Water forms an intrinsic component of manufacturing cycles of the industry. Corporate has to be mindful of achieving sustainable water consumption while ensuring profitability and fulfilling their business goals.

The role of technology and research and development in encouraging the best water conservation techniques cannot be underestimated. New-age technologies such as smart irrigation systems with ICT and remote sensing are potent tools to encourage water conservation. The onus should be on corporate to foster innovation come up with out of the box solutions as they possess the necessary resources and expertise.

The corporate can also play an instrumental role in devising mass awareness campaigns and information dissemination educating farmers and common populace on the need to use water judiciously.

Equally important is the role of information sharing and collaboration among companies that will encourage the mapping of goals against achieved targets and improvise water management practices. Sharing of technological innovations offer a useful path to greater, mutually beneficial cooperation.

The comprehensive assessment of water requirement and usage by the corporate is essential to facilitate informed policy-making by the government and plugging the loopholes in the policy framework on water.

India Inc must gear to adopt water management on a priority that would enable the entire country to benefit from it through genuine and open collaboration.

Neerain is proud to republish this article for spreading awareness about situation of water, for our stakeholders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

This article is published by: –

https://bwsmartcities.businessworld.in/article/Water-crisis-in-India-Threats-and-Opportunities-for-India-Inc/10-06-2020-285981/

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Author: Dr. Puneet Gupta

Publish On: June, 2020

 

 

Water should be the next important environmental target for India

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Environmental targets are becoming common place in the current global scenario, with a large focus on reducing emissions. Unrestricted emissions lead to global warming and resulting climate change and could cause catastrophic damage to life on earth in the coming decades, some predictions say as early as 2050. There has been a start towards action, with most countries committing to reduce emissions and planning steps accordingly. Another crisis that needs immediate attention is that of water, more so in developing countries like India, where a significant number of people lack access to safe water source. Overuse of available water sources, wastage, contamination, and mismanagement may lead to severe crisis in the near future and result in several related issues on health and livelihood, probably much earlier than emissions related impact.

Photo courtesy: Nicepng

India has 18% of world’s population but only 4% of world’s freshwater resources. As per available Government data, the per capita availability of water at national level is about 1500 m3 per year, which is below the globally recognized threshold of water stress (1700 m3 per year), thereby making India a water stressed country. Water availability is varied annually across seasons and regions as is visible in the frequent droughts and floods. Increasing population, coupled with urbanization and economic growth are expected to increase the water demand further, and apply great stress on the water ecosystem. Though the primary goal may be to ensure access to clean water for all citizens, there is an urgent need for a holistic approach to better manage this precious shared resource.

Firstly, there is a need to arrive at clear data regarding water availability and usage. Accurate real-time data will provide inputs for implementing the right solutions, as well as help in demand side water management measures. In the age of technological advancements, there is enough knowhow on creating the right infrastructure for water treatment, supply, distribution, and technology for monitoring consumption. These are essential for effective water management. The aim should be to develop a water balance on a large scale, like a city / state level, and track key parameters such as available sources of water, total usage, per capita usage, sector-wise usage, etc. This would not only help in ensuring right action for implementation but also provide policy inputs on a long-term basis. Singapore is a good example of a reasonably large scale and effective water management, and long-term planning on water sources.

Photo courtesy: Istock

Another important aspect would be to set clear measurable targets for water management at a national level and percolating down to state and city level. Like for Renewable Energy adoption in India, where every state is obligated to have a certain percentage of electricity from renewables, targets need to be set for water too. For example: water consumption, % losses in the network, use of recycled water, % of wastewater treated, groundwater usage, etc. for different sectors. It may be a difficult task but can be taken up through a stage-wise approach, starting as a part of the smart city project of the Government, and then replicated to other cities and smaller towns. Aggressive targets can drive decisive action and accountability at various levels.

Then comes the enablement through policy and regulatory framework. Stringent guidelines on water management coupled with effective enforcement is the need of the hour to address water crisis. Whether it is groundwater or freshwater from other sources, enforcement becomes effective with clear targets and monitoring of important data. Water should be charged based on consumption, irrespective of the sector – agriculture, industry or domestic. While the enforcement on water usage and effluent discharge can be in the form of penalties, policies on groundwater usage need to be more carefully defined since groundwater being a shared resource can affect a large area. Policy should mandate the use of water conservation techniques, implementation of rainwater harvesting and set clear limits for groundwater usage. Disclosures on water usage should be mandated for the corporate sector, and water should be an important aspect in the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals of companies in the Indian context.

Most of the water in India is used for agriculture. On a long-term basis, the agricultural patterns in India are expected to change and adapt based on water availability. But for domestic usage, a holistic water management with effective measures on water conservation, rainwater harvesting, and wastewater treatment will go a long way in ensuring water availability. 

Water is the basis for human survival and development. Conserving this precious resource needs commitment, decisive and urgent action at all levels. Targets similar to the ‘Panchamrit’ which talks about the promises made by India on emissions reduction are necessary for water as well in the Indian context. With the skills and technology available today, coupled with effective regulatory framework, it is possible to move towards self-sufficiency, adequacy, and safe water access for all.

Neerain is proud to republish this blog for spreading awareness about situation of water, for our stake holders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/water-should-be-the-next-important-environmental-target-for-india/

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Author: Guruprakash Sastry

Publish On: March 21, 2022

 

Investment in water conservation required to build climate ‘resilience’ in rural India

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The climate change phenomenon seems omnipresent with its impacts being felt around us in various ways.  However, in a vast, tropical, and developing country like India, one of the areas that is more acutely felt, is the area of ‘water’ – the medium through which we feel the painful effects of climate change.  

With our gargantuan population and an increasing ‘thirst’ for water across cities, industries, and agricultural communities, India has a pronounced vulnerability to climate change – simply because its agriculture system feeds 17.5% of the global population, all the while harnessing just 2.4 % of land and only 4% of the water on the planet.  It is a delicate and fragile balancing act for our humble farmers, 90% of whom are small and marginal landholders.  

Never before has water conservation been so vital, with conservation techniques being the fundamental difference between a ‘water starved community’ that relies on expensive and erratic water tanker delivery, or between a ‘water prosperous community’ which is self-sufficient in terms of water, with all year around access to this precious, life and livelihood giving, resource. 

This intimate relationship between climate change and water means that investing in water conservation techniques is a crucial part of fostering climate change resilience – particularly among vulnerable rural populations – people, communities, and an agricultural industry that these communities are built upon, and that feeds the nation.

Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock

Snapshot from ‘the Ground’

What does this climate change-induced ‘water stress’ look like on the ground in rural India?  

  • An increased frequency of drought means that less water is available, and the subsequent rises in temperature only increase a farmer’s demand of water for crops.  

  • High-intensity rainfall increases soil erosion and results in high water runoff – runoff that takes with it precious topsoil that silts up water harvesting structures, reducing their ultimate water storage capacity.  

  • Short duration, high-intensity rainfall which is exacerbated by climate change, also results in low groundwater recharge – reducing the availability of groundwater for usage.  

  • Irregular rainfall distribution and long intermediate dry spells during monsoon severely impact crop yield in rainfed areas.

However, across the country, there are many leading examples of how water conservation – coordinated efforts to increase the supply of water, as well as reducing the demand for it – has changed the water narrative in villages.  Whilst it is easy to shrug off the responsibility of water conservation methods to Governments to lead the charge, there is, in fact, a role to be played by everyone – villagers, communities, people’s institutions, corporates, and civil society – in the uptake of various water conservation measures to generate ‘water resilient communities in rural India.

But it requires a two-pronged approach.

  • Increasing Water Supply

Water resilience can be fostered, by increasing the supply of it for drinking, sanitation, and irrigation purposes – working with households, farmers, and communities to develop mechanisms to simply capture rainwater as and when it falls enabling percolation and recharge– storing it for use in the ‘dry months’ India is renowned for.

Photo Courtesy: Adobe Stock

At a household level, investment in a rooftop rainwater harvesting system (RRWHS) is proven as one of the cost-effective ways to increase safe drinking water supply.,. Self-sufficient households in terms of water, are not only better equipped to survive severe climate variability and drought, but are empowered with a responsibility to both capture and efficiently manage the use of their own water. An RRWHS constructed with a 12,000-liter capacity can be sufficient to meet the drinking and cooking water needs for a family of 5-6 members, for at least 250 days in a year – meaning a family’s needs are met for the rest of the year, post monsoon. This is a game-changer for families living in remote and water-stressed -communities as the quality of water is also assured.

Additionally, the revival and restoration of traditional water harvesting structures which are scattered across the country, is another priority in order to increase water supply.  Whilst most of these have fallen into disrepair, these unique structures have helped generations of Indians for millennia, to survive the harsh climatic conditions of remote India.  Sadly, during the colonization of India, the British replaced the decentralized, communal responsibility of managing water, with a centralized one where the Public Works Department took control of water. As a result, people gave up the responsibility of managing and caring for water. But these incredible structures still exist and many simply lie in disuse, in need of restoration and repair – with work, they can be revived to their former glory. 

With many communities facing issues with contamination of water supplies, like salinity and increased levels of fluoride due to over-extracted groundwater reserves, building the capacity of a community to test its own water and identify local solutions is yet another solution to making communities self-reliant when it comes to water.

  • Reducing Water Demand

However, an increase in water supply alone is not enough to generate self-sufficient, resilient communities when it comes to water.  With the agricultural sector consuming 90 percent of all water drawn across the country as reported, primarily for flood-irrigating water-intensive crops, there is a drastic need to convert farmers to more water-efficient agricultural practices.

Flood irrigation currently delivers only 35-40 percent water use efficiency, as opposed to micro irrigation which has up to 90 percent efficiency. Despite this, the coverage of drip (2.13 percent) and sprinkler (3.30 percent) methods of irrigation is meager compared to its total potential in India. This presents an exciting opportunity for widescale investment in micro irrigation as a key approach to reducing the demand for water. The slow spread of micro irrigation is not mainly due to economic reasons, but due to a lack of awareness among the farmers about the real economic and revenue-related benefits of it. In fact, by adopting micro-irrigation, farmers experience an increase in productivity – by being able to precisely control water application at the plant roots, crop yield is increased, resulting in an increase in profits. Additionally, farmers who adopt micro irrigation experience a reduced cost of cultivation – enhancing overall profits.  It is a win-win on all fronts.

Photo Courtesy: Pngtree

Additionally, according to experts at the Central Water Commission, India’s cropping pattern highlights the rampant cultivation of water-intensive crops such as sugarcane, paddy, cotton, and banana, across water-stressed regions of India. As agriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater in India, the shift from water-intensive crops to less water-intensive crops such as pulses, millets, vegetables, legumes, and oilseeds, can spare large quantities of fresh water in India, with minimal cost, for the benefit of farmers.  An investment in farmer education and capacity building is required here.

 Conclusion

The evidence is clear.  The climate is changing and will continue to do so, affecting all communities, primarily through the resource of water. Climate change will affect the availability, quality, and quantity of water for basic human needs and livelihoods, threatening the fundamental human rights to water of potentially billions of people. Strategic water conservation measures can be the key to creating climate-resilient rural communities, which have the means, in terms of water, to not just survive, but thrive & prosper, as they continue to grow food for the rest of the country.

Neerain is proud to republish this blog for spreading awareness about the situation of water, for our stakeholders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

This blog is published by: –

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/investment-in-water-conservation-required-to-build-climate-resilience-in-rural-india/

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Author: Pearl Tiwari

Publish On: October 13, 2022

 

 

If we’re smart about water, we can stop our cities from sinking

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As more cities sink, rethinking how we use groundwater can ease pressure on precious aquifers

The land around Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has sunk dramatically over the years. Photo Courtesy: Rehman Abubakr

When you come into land at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport it may not be obvious from the sky that the land in the surrounding area has been sinking more than 17 centimetres a year.

The main reason for this subsidence is the excessive pumping of groundwater. 

As the water is removed from underground aquifers, the soil above begins to compact and sink. This can happen gradually, over years, or suddenly, in just hours. In either case, the effects can be long-lasting and expensive to repair.

India is ranked number one for excessive groundwater usage.  Groundwater is a vital resource for our planet’s survival. It sustains agriculture, provides drinking water, and supports ecosystems. 

However, overuse of groundwater is leading to a new problem: Land subsidence, which not only causes damage to infrastructure and buildings but threatens the livelihoods of millions of people around the world.

In India, the northern Gangetic plains are exploited more than anywhere else. The impact of disappearing groundwater is accelerating changes in the shape of the land surface. But residents and authorities are fighting back, changing years of water usage habits to stop the land from sinking beneath them.

Photo Courtesy: Pinterest

A recent study in Nature reported alluvial aquifers in India in the Delhi-National Capital Region have sunk and continue to sink at a substantial rate. Around Kapashera, near the international airport, land subsided by 11 cm per year during 2014-2016.

That increased to more than 17 cm per year in the two years that followed.

On the vulnerability of Delhi to subsidence, Ryan Smith, assistant professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology said: “Aquifers that are pressurized and have lots of clay are most prone to subsidence.” 

The soil in Delhi is mainly thick alluvium, which is clay-rich and thus vulnerable. It can cause significant damage to buildings, bridges, pipelines, railways, and canals.

Even minor subsidence in densely populated areas can put lives at risk. In cases where the rate of sinking is differential, It might lead to the weakening of foundations or develop cracks in the buildings.

A fifth of the world’s population lives in areas that are at risk of subsidence, according to recent reports.  In some cities, the problem is so severe that buildings have sunk by several meters.

The consequences can be devastating, as entire communities are left vulnerable to flooding, infrastructure damage, and water scarcity.

There’s been land subsidence in various parts of the world where exploitation of groundwater has been high. 

One of the most prominent cases is in Mexico City, where buildings have been tilting due to land sinking. 

In Indonesia, over the last decade, the capital Jakarta has sunk more than 2.5 meters. The problem is so grave the government is planning to shift the capital. 

Countries like Iran and China too, have witnessed prominent land subsidence in the last few decades.

It is possible to reduce land subsidence if groundwater replacement is equivalent to what’s taken out, or by using water sustainably. 

Photo Courtesy: Adobe Stock

Rainwater harvesting is an effective way to boost groundwater, especially in dry cities, which receive low rainfall and have a lot of alluvial soil, which is prone to subsidence due to its softness.

In Delhi’s Dwarka region, residents and the government had been working on a plan to supply piped water to the area by 2016. Heavy fines were imposed on buildings still using borewells and residents began harvesting rainwater to increase the water table in the area.  

Two large lakes were cleaned up and rejuvenated which helped increase groundwater levels.

The government also decided that only treated sewage and surface water should be used to water public parks and grounds.

Town planner Vikas Kanojia said steps like reviving old reservoirs and harvesting rainwater helped Dwarka reduce its reliance on groundwater and reverse the trend of land subsidence. “This can be a model for other areas in Delhi and India”, he said.

Dwarka’s example shows that it’s possible to deal with the issue of subsidence, however in more arid regions this process is difficult. 

Iran, for instance, is home to some of the fastest sinking valleys in the world, but uncontrolled mining continues. Per capita water supplies have plummeted more than 65 percent in recent decades and it could be worse in the future. 

The government has invested heavily in technologies such as desalination. “Technology can help, but what we need is a long-term program to conserve water resources involving farmers, industries, and local communities and at the moment there isn’t one,” said Mahdi Motagh, a senior scientist from GFZ Potsdam.

The issue of subsidence is becoming more serious and widespread, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world. However, there are solutions, as demonstrated by the efforts of residents and the government in the Dwarka region of Delhi. 

Rainwater harvesting, reviving old reservoirs, and using treated sewage and surface water can help to reduce reliance on groundwater and reverse land subsidence. But what’s more important is to address this issue through proper tracking and monitoring and long-term programs involving farmers, industries, and local communities.

This blog is published by: –

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/urbanisation/if-we-re-smart-about-water-we-can-stop-our-cities-sinking-89417

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Author: Shagun Garg

Publish On: 18 May 2023

Efforts to save water will have to be intensified

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There are about 24 lakh water sources in India. This conclusion has come out in the country’s first water body census. These water sources include both rain and groundwater-rechargeable water sources.

This enumeration done by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (Water Resources) has geo-tagging all the water sources and linked all the ponds, tanks, chakbandhs and water reservoirs to each other on the basis of shadow images and latitude and longitude.

Photo courtesy: down to earth

As per the survey, 83 per cent of the water sources are used for fisheries, irrigation, groundwater-recharge and drinking water. It has also been clarified in this report that contrary to popular belief, encroachment has been found on only 1.6 percent of the reservoirs in this census.

There is no data available on the status of the catchment area of ​​these reservoirs to help determine how much groundwater is being recharged. But it is certain that this calculation is an important initiative in these present times of climate crisis.

We are well aware that the rains are getting more and more uncertain than ever before. Monsoon in India ( who is also considered as our real Finance Minister ) has become more severe now.

It simply means that it is raining in a few days and that too very fast and smoky. That’s why it is very important for us that wherever and however much it rains, we collect each and every drop of it.

From this point of view also, this water body census needs to increase the number of water sources and use well-planned methods to renovate the existing reservoirs, so that they can increase the ground water level by storing maximum rain water. These water reserves will be useful for us during the long season of no rain or drought.

Inevitably, we are bound to get caught in a vicious cycle of devastating drought every year and catastrophic floods every alternate year. But the truth is that this vicious cycle is now a “new normal” for us and it will have disastrous effects on the hydrology of the rivers.

There is only one way to reduce this magnitude of flood and drought, the passion to build lakhs of new reservoirs and connect them together to store rain water. Only by realizing this scheme, water in addition to flood can be stored to deal with the calamity of drought.

The future of our water depends on our judicious use of water. This is the lesson we need to learn from the interesting events of ancient Roma (Rome) and Edo (the city that became Tokyo).

The Romans used to build huge aqueducts, which stretched for ten kilometers each, to transport water to their settlements. Even today these reservoirs are a ubiquitous symbol of water management in their society. 

Experts have admired the Romans because they showed great skill in planning their water supply, but these aqueducts point not to their skill, but to the great Romans’ environmental mismanagement. Rome was built on the banks of the Tiber River. So this city did not need any other aqueduct.

But since Rome’s waste was discharged directly into the Tiber, the river was polluted and water had to be brought from far away. Sources of water were few, so the nobility used the practice of slavery to exploit those sources.

On the other hand, the traditional Japanese never throw their garbage in the rivers. They allowed those wastes to decompose naturally and used them as fertilizer in the fields. Besides rivers, there was no shortage of other sources of water in Edo. Their water supply system was free from any kind of social discrimination.

Photo courtesy:scroll.in

Meanwhile, the good news is that our water literacy has increased as compared to earlier. Over the past decades, the country has learned important lessons and developed a new approach to water management. Till the late 1980s, water management was generally confined to irrigation projects.

Dams and canals were mainly built during this period to store and supply water over long distances. But it was only then that the country faced a major famine in the late eighties and it became clear that simply increasing the amount of water through large projects was not enough.

At the same time the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) also published its report “Dying Wisdom”. The report mentioned the traditional techniques used for rainwater harvesting in India’s ecologically diverse regions.

The slogan of the report was – Rain falls not in one place, but in different places and its need is also in different places, so whenever and wherever it rains, its water needs to be saved then and there.

Today, many programs have been created with the aim of creating and reviving water sources. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is already making a significant contribution in the construction of a large number of reservoirs.

Apart from this, the government has just announced Mission Amrit Sarovar, under which there is a plan to develop and revive 75 water sources in each district of the country to mark the completion of 75 years of India’s independence.   

Despite the interest in decentralizing water management, it is sure that not enough is being done to secure its future. The real reason for this is that there is no uniformity in our bureaucracy in policy-making regarding land and water.

The maintenance of the ponds is the responsibility of one agency, while the drainage and the catchment area are the responsibility of two different agencies. These rules need to be changed to conserve water.

Water management can be done more effectively by expanding the control of local communities over water sources and for this strengthening the roots of democracy and devolution of rights is necessary.  

But more important than all these things is to reduce the use of water in terms of quantity and spend every drop of it carefully. For this, there is a need to bring changes in the methods of irrigation, household appliances and food habits, so that we can choose our food crops economically from the water point of view.

It is high time, in the coming decade, we rewrite the water story in India by drawing lessons from our best practices. It’s very simple. For this we have to make this work the only major goal of our life.

We have to remember that water is related to our livelihood. It is related to our food and nutrition. It is related to the future of man.

Neerain is proud to republish this blog for spreading awareness about situation of water, for our stake holders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

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https://www.downtoearth.org.in/hindistory/water/water-conservation/efforts-to-save-water-will-have-to-be-intensified-89000

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Author: Sunita Narain

Publish On: 27 April 2023

A deeper look into the roots of Water Crisis in India

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Introduction to Water Scarcity

The issue of water scarcity is a global problem. The unequal distribution of water resources, and the great demand of freshwater globally has led to what the World Economic Forum calls as one of the largest global risks in terms of potential impact over the next decade in 2019. The increase in demand for freshwater is a result of, but not limited to, the increasing world population, changes in consumption, and industrial demands. Further, the great inequity between the developed and developing countries, in terms of water resources, grows larger as drinking water and water usage is becoming privatized and coupled with economic growth. This has led to Lower Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) to lose opportunities to gain water shifting government priorities.

Photo courtesy: https://blog.nextias.com/water-crisis-a-complete-picture

The issue of water scarcity is best seen from the perspective of India, a crisis which affects approximately 1 million people a year. The water crisis playing out in India today can be seen as a microcosm of the overall situation that will, or already has, affected many countries in the world. Private water tank owners illegally smuggle and sell clean water at expensive prices, greatly exacerbating the issues of the water crisis in the first place. That, coupled with infrastructural issues and climate change, the issue of water scarcity in India is surely important to examine. This blog seeks to examine the causes of water scarcity in India, the effects it has on the population, and the possible solutions that already exist and/or should be implemented at a local and a national level.

Causes for the Water Crisis in India

The two major monsoons in India, the North-East and the South-West monsoons, account for a large proportion of water that can be harvested and distributed. However, as a result of climate change, monsoons are being disrupted and losing a lot of water.

According to the India Meteorological Department in 2018, the North-East monsoon was deficient by 44% while the South-West monsoon fell short by 10%. Lower rainfall has reduced water levels by about 32% in 91 major reservoirs across the country.

As stated by Impakter, “Unusual temperatures caused by climate change have made rainfall erratic with significant changes in monsoon patterns making droughts and floods more common in many parts of India.”

Photo courtesy:istock

Causes for the Water Crisis in India

The rapid urbanization of India coupled with a lack of city planning has led for former ponds to be used up due to the rising population and a general lack of infrastructure used to treat wastewater for reuse nor an appropriate method of collecting and distributing water.

According to the Central Water Commission, the country still receives enough rainfall to meet the needs of over 1 billion people. Yet, due to poor city planning and the growing population, India only catches only 8 percent through inefficient rainwater harvesting.

Effects of the Water Crisis in India

The water crisis in India affects hundreds of millions of people. Though a lot of Indians are capable of purchasing drinking water from private distributors, rural Indians are faced with walking kilometers away to reach a well or public water pump. Indians who are unable to purchase water are forced to dig bore wells, especially in times of crisis.

First, in June 2016, Latur faced the depletion of approximately 90% of water sources. Next, in 2019, Chennai completely depleted its water supply on the 19th of June, because of deficient rainfall in the previous year’s monsoons.

The vibrant ecosystems of India, and the lives of the indigenous flora and fauna, are threatened by this lack of water. In 2016, the Indian cities of Mettur and Kolathur, in the face of a drought, saw wild animals like elephants, tigers, and deers sneaking into the city in search of water. Indian gaurs in Madurai, Tamil Nadu wound up dead as they fell into wells in search of water.

Agriculture makes up about 16% of India’s economy, according to the World Bank in 2019, and employs almost 44% of India’s working population. In the absence of water, farmers wouldn’t be able to produce crops. This causes much of the farming industry in India to cease operations, collapsing the local economies of smaller Indian towns. This has led farmers and other workers in the agricultural sector to move out into cities in search for jobs. However, this increases the demand for water in major cities, and further complicates the strain that major Indian cities have on the scarce supply of water

Efforts to the Water Crisis

The Government of India has established a new ministry and launched cleaning programs in order to increase the whole country’s water use efficiency. Firstly, the Jal Shakti ministry was formed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2019. It combines the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, with the previous Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to form a specialized ministry to clean the river Ganges, settle international water disputes, and provide safe drinking water to the people of India. The Ganga Action Plan was started in 1985 to tackle the problem of water pollution in the river Ganges, however government incompetence hindered the action plan to be anywhere close to efficient. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government would be investing more into managing the pollution of the various rivers in India.

Non Government Organizations (NGOs) like ‘FORCE’ and ‘Safe Water Network’, along with international organizations such as ‘We are Water’ and UNICEF are actively working to provide water supply and sanitation to villages and dealing with the overall water crisis in India. One way NGOs help is by raising social awareness of these issues. Many smaller NGOs use social media, advertising campaigns, and engaging with local people in order to educate how to manage water efficiently at a local level. For example, ‘We are Water’ publishes documentary films every year to raise social awareness on the severe water scarcity issues of India, along with other countries’ scarcity issues as well. Another way NGOs help is by creating Water Resources Projects. For example, UNICEF supported the creation of a 1000+ hectare catchment plan near Ahmednagar, Maharashtra strictly for domestic usage. The Jal Bhagirathi Foundation is prominent in Rajasthan for covering over 550 villages and reviving more than 2000 water harvesting resources in the region.

Possible Solutions

As technology improves, new innovations allow ways to manage water resources more effectively, and possibly solve the water crisis in India. One such technology is rainwater harvesting. A lot of homes already, in India, have rainwater harvesting structures in order to be self sufficient. In Banglore, Biome Environmental Trust and Friends of Lakes dug upto 1 million of these rainwater harvesting wells and connected them to the groundwater, collecting about 60% of total rainwater in the region. Desalination, or the process of treating sea water to make it fit for drinking, is a technique that can solve the problem of water shortages, especially in coastal cities. Israel has already utilized desalination for industrial and domestic use. The Indian government is already looking into desalination technologies, especially for coastal cities like Chennai. Another technology used to manage water resources is the smart water meter. WEGoT, our startup company in India, has innovated on the old analogue design of a water meter and created a new product that uses ultrasonic sensors to monitor water flow with more than 98% accuracy accompanied with a digital app to monitor your water usage intuitively with a simple UI. The installation and usage of this technology is seamless and can greatly benefit both the common customer and larger organizations who wish to manage their water consumption. Finally, irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation technology efficiently controls the amount of water to land and can possibly relieve the water scarcity in India for decades.

Conclusion

The issue of water scarcity in India already has long reaching effects, some of which can already be seen today. Although some factors, such as city planning, cannot be immediately changed to solve this problem, new technologies can definitely help alleviate and possibly reduce the intensity of this issue in India. Though the government of India is finally investing more resources into solving this problem, it’ll take the cumulative effort of every single Indian citizen to conserve their own water, and the effort of the government to implement costly, yet effective, technology and infrastructure to distribute water evenly throughout the country. And with hope, this issue can be finally solved and put to rest.

Neerain is proud to republish this article for spreading awareness about situation of water, for our stake holders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

This article is published by: –https://www.wegot.in/blog/a-deeper-look-into-the-roots-of-water-crisis-in-india/

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Author:  Khushboo Vyas

Publish On: Jul 09, 2021

 

What the Jal Jeevan Mission must focus on to fix urban water supply

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The 2021-22 Union Budget announced the launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban), an ambitious project that aims to provide potable tap water supply to 2.86 crore households by Urban India is fast hurtling towards a major water crisis in the years to come. A 2020 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has projected that 30 Indian cities will face a ‘grave water risk’ by 2050 due to overcrowding in cities.

A Niti Aayog report too had predicted that 21 Indian cities including New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad will run out of groundwater by 2020 affecting 100 million people.

Major water concerns in urban areas

Taps run dry in majority of the cities

As high as 31 percent of urban households in cities, mostly those who live in unauthorised colonies and slums, do not have access to piped water or public tap water and even the existing taps run dry for most of the time. And what’s more – most Indian cities cannot even meet the per capita water supply requirements of 135 litres per day as specified by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation!

Increasingly unable to meet the 24×7 water supply needs of the population, the public supply infrastructure continues to be marred with challenges such as ageing infrastructure, lack of operation and maintenance, low pressure in the pipes and poor revenue mobilisation mechanisms.

Photo courtesy: Honors College

How will this work out for urban India? This lack of availability of piped water supply and over dependence on wells and borewells to compensate for the gap in water supply has led to over exploitation of groundwater resources in many cities. As high as 48% of India’s urban water supply comes from groundwater, and in seven of India’s 10 most populous cities, groundwater levels have dropped dangerously over the past two decades.

Mismanagement of water adds to the water woes

Glaring mismanagement of water in cities leaves even the water rich areas starved for water. For example, a recent analysis shows that abundance of groundwater availability in the top five cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Rajkot, and Vishakhapatnam does not help its residents due to increase in population and inefficient management and allocation of the available water. Bottom five cities in terms of groundwater availability include cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Dhanbad, and Ghaziabad. Water cuts across administrative boundaries makes some states  dependent on neighbouring states for water leading to water disputes.

Another working paper on the state of water in six Indian cities conducted by the Kubernein Initiative finds that in Chennai and Bengaluru, water resources are overworked and overused, not adequately replenished, and recharge areas have been destroyed due to construction and concretisation. Mumbai and Kolkata, although not water scarce, continue to face water stress due to unequal distribution of water, over dependence on monsoon and over consumption of water.

Read more: Can individual water metering help Indian cities avoid Doomsday?

For example, while Kolkata has water hydrants to cater to the needs of the poor, they are the largest culprits of wastage in the city. The informal settlements in Mumbai suffer hugely due to lack of access to water connections while Delhi being naturally water scarce has to depend on neighbouring states for its water supply.

The working paper informs that most cities in India have poorly laid-out infrastructure plans and fluctuations in water availability increase dependence on groundwater that is depleting at dangerous levels.

Besides this, lack of proper disposal and treatment of sewage is a common problem in cities that not only leads to choking of drains and flooding, but also leads to poor quality of water due to contamination and mixing of sewage with drinking water. Besides other competing water needs, agricultural activity in the periphery of many cities also in constant battle with urban management over the sharing of water resources.

Only about 35 percent of wastewater is treated in India and the use of treated wastewater for non potable uses at the household is still largely lacking because of strong stigma associated with using treated wastewater.

The available water is of poor quality

In urban India, 50 million people in 15 cities have no access to safe, affordable drinking water, reveals a UNICEF India report. Since piped water is inadequate in most of the cases, drinking water in cities is often procured from a variety of sources such as borewells, private wells, tankers or bottled water. But very little information exists on the quality of this water that is made available to the people.

And this water from major sources like tube wells and hand pumps is also found to be unsafe as they are known to be carriers of waterborne diseases. Even where piped water is available, its quality continues to be questionable. A large proportion of people do not have access to water within the house, increasing the chances of infections.

Photo courtesy : Made For minds

Surface water sources too are highly contaminated in India. Poor sewage disposal mechanisms lead to most of the untreated sewage being drained into rivers and lakes that serve as reservoirs of microbial contamination. Poor access to safe water sources and toilets and open defecation and poor WASH practices lead to high instances of waterborne diseases in the country.

Release of untreated industrial and pharmaceutical wastes into the surface water sources has led to dangerous levels of organic and inorganic pollutants into the surface water bodies in India, making it unfit for consumption.

Read more: Kolkata’s ignored groundwater crisis could lead to much more than just water shortage

Groundwater resources in the country have also been found to be highly polluted due to presence of fluoride, arsenic, nitrates, iron, heavy metals as well as due to leaching of harmful pesticide and fertiliser residues. Toxins from untreated industrial wastes and landfills as well as bacterial contaminants from the surface soil and water sources can also contaminate groundwater. Even bottled water in India continues to be unsafe for consumption.

Key points emerging from these studies

  • Accessibility of water for low income communities in many of the cities continues to be a problem and needs to be addressed as these communities form an important section of the population in cities.
  • Most Indian cities do not segregate and process grey and black water discharges. A large part of wastewater is discharged into unlined stormwater channels, which leads to contamination of the  groundwater.
  • Poor water quality continues to plague most of the Indian cities
  • The water infrastructure in cities is outdated and is unable to accommodate the different levels of water, store it for future use and augment supply with alternative sources.
  • Rampant development in all these cities continues to threaten natural habitats and water bodies that help in water conservation and flood prevention, such as marshlands, wetlands, floodplains, embankments and others.
  • Lack of data and outdated infrastructure leads to huge water losses. Excessive emphasis on supply side solutions to procure water leads to poor attention being paid to demand management and exploration of alternatives
  • Lack of coordinated efforts at the policy level hinder progress

What needs to be done for the long term success of JJM?

The studies and recent analysis recommend that the strategy to meet the water crisis in urban areas should be based on the following steps:

Neerain is proud to republish this article for spreading awareness about situation of water, for our stakeholders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

This article is published by: –                                        

https://citizenmatters.in/urban-water-shortage-contamination-groundwater-wastage-water-management-26866

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Author : Aarti Kelkar Khambete

Publish On: August 5, 2021

49 billion liters of water is wasted daily in the country due to carelessness

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There has been a demand for provision of stringent penalties to prevent wastage of water. Clean water is not being provided to 16 crore people in the country.

Photo courtesy: Rustam Vania

33% of people in India keep the tap open even without work while bathing and brushing, which leads to wastage of clean water. An estimate of water wastage is that every day 4,84,20,000 crore cubic meters i.e. 48.42 billion one liter bottles of water is wasted, while in this country about 160 million people do not get clean and fresh water. At the same time, 600 million people are facing water crisis. After taking note of these facts in a petition, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti to submit a factual account of wastage of water.

On behalf of NGO Friends, petitioner Rajendra Tyagi has filed this petition in NGT. The petitioner demands that there should be punishment for the wastage of water. There is no provision for this as of now. On the petition, a bench headed by Justice Adarsh ​​Kumar Goel, in its order, has asked the Union Jal Shakti Ministry as well as the Delhi Jal Board to file a report within a month.

There are many other reasons for wastage of water such as overflow of water from the tank in residential and commercial houses. At the same time, the flushing system is another major reason for wastage of fresh water. 15 to 16 liters of water gets wasted once the flush is run.

Photo courtesy: Plumberscompany.org

According to advocate Akash Vashisht, every third person in India leaves the tap running, wasting five liters of water a minute, while a shower wastes 10 liters per minute. About 25 liters of water is wasted during brushing for three to five minutes, while 50 liters is wasted during a shower of 15 to 20 minutes. Similarly, 20 to 60 liters of water is wasted while washing dishes.

Very deep borewells are also being installed in rural areas. While there is hand-pump and tubewell for drinking water. There is also no restriction on the use of water. Apart from this, there is a lot of wastage of clean water even during the washing of cars. Water demand in India will reach 220 billion liters by 2025 from 40 billion liters now. The NGT will now hear the matter after the ministry’s report.

Neerain is proud to republish this article for spreading awareness about situation of water, for our stakeholders. Credit whatsoever goes to the Author.

This article is published by: –

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/hindistory/water/water-conservation/ngt-sought-report-to-center-over-ith-issue-of-misuse-and-wastage-of-water-65902

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Author: Vivek Mishra

Publish On: July 29, 2019.