Growing economic wealth and options for water prudence: Getting richwithout. Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi

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1 Growing economic wealth and options for water prudence: Getting richwithout water agenda Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi

2 Water challenge and opportunity Water stress growing no water, dirty water Cause of death, disease: unacceptable In current system of water management, stress will increase More supply, more users, rich users who will use more water, discharge more waste

3 No option. Getting urban but remaining rural Becoming urban. Remaining rural. New users of water but old users remain: violence over water is inevitable

4 War over water growing Rajasthan: farmers protest against water to cities led to police firing Sompeta: farmers protest against water to thermal power project; 4 deaths Gujarat: farmers are protesting building of cement project in their waterbody Kerala: farmers protest against cola factory; Tamil Nadu; against brewery

5 Reinvent paradigm of use System is built on bringing water from long distances then piping-pumping waste long distances Capital intensive and resource intensive If costs of delivery are high. Poor clients and even relatively rich cannot pay. Have to be subsidised. State cannot subsidise all. State subsidises, rich, not poor

6 Water-waste trajectory: all behind the problem Biological human waste Chemical industrial waste Chemical advanced toxins get smaller and difficult to clean (pesticides, antibiotics..) Some ahead, many behind But all behind the problem of pollution

7 Cannot afford growth model Growth based on creating pollution and investing in cleaning. Needs money. Perpetually But what do we do? Cannot afford this pollute-clean-up-pollute-again model Business of water supply and clean up does not work where societies cannot pay Need growth without pollution

8 Reinvent approaches: Join the political economy of water.. with the political economy of pollution The more water we use, the more waste we discharge The more waste, the more cost to clean up The more it costs to bring water to us, the more we cannot pay full costs of water The more we do not pay full costs for water, the less there is to invest in waste-sewage treatment The less we invest in waste-sewage, the more pollution and more health costs

9 Map water-excreta of cities: find common patterns Chennai: 235 km (Veeranam lake) and now planning to go farther 300 Km (Veeranam extension project). Bangalore: 95 km (Cauvery) pumping 1000 m elevation. Delhi: 450 to 500 km (from Tehri dam) Chennai Veeranam lake Map of Tamil Nadu

10 Manjira dam 100 km Osman Sagar Himayat Sagar Hyderabad 105 km Nagurjuna

11 Vaitarna cum Tansa 90 km 105 km Bhatsa Mumbai

12 INDORE YASHWANT SAGAR 30 km INDORE 70 km Narmada river

13 Jodhpur 204 km Rajivgandhi lift canal JODHPUR

14 Technology choice and distance makes for inefficiencies Longer transmission lines, higher costs of delivery + Higher distribution losses in water supply between per cent Cost recovery is difficult. Water costs double as half is lost Full costs are high. Few can pay Investment in waste suffers

15 Transportation costs are high. Distribution costs high. Cannot be recovered. Subsidy to some. Water inequity in Delhi. 3% population

16 Add: waste to these sums More water = more sewage Investment in creating sewage-piping and pumping is also high. Cannot afford Investment in sewage treatment does not work if drains not fully built If drainage not complete, cleaned and treated waste will mix with untreated waste = pollution Waste without equity = pollution

17 Reinvent water-approach Principle 1: Cut the length of the pipeline Increase dependence on local water sources; recharge local water aquifers; protect tanks, ponds, do rainwater harvesting Learn from the past. Learn value of raindrop

18 Central Highlands Lakes of Udaipur

19 Thar Desert Integrated surface and groundwater systems of hill forts of Jodhpur

20 Local recharge: Joining the water dots Recharge critical for groundwater Groundwater missing in city water sums. Unaccounted as not official But where there is no/inadequate water service, people use groundwater Decentralized use. But centralized recharge. Unsustainable

21 Recharge/store for climate change Recharge critical for floods/extreme weather events in the age of climate change Mumbai: flood cushions gone. City thirsts for rain. When it rains it weeps. Extreme rainfall events will grow. Need land for water protected

22 Less and not more Principle 2: Water frugality is not poverty Cities must use less water get rich but water poor Demand side management critical Rate performance of cities by how little they use Prudent/wise use must be promoted

23 Full costs must be paid Rights to all ensured Principle 3: Design system for affordability and legal rights to clean water for all Full costs of water-waste must be paid But this requires system to be reworked, Legal fights to clean water for all must be enunciated quantity and quality

24 Waste is not waste Principle 4: Design to treat all waste Treat waste in open drains and not wait to build all drains Principle 5: Treat waste to recycle and reuse water and excreta Treat waste to generate wealth not use water as carrier or for waste disposal

25 Localisation is the key Principle 6: Treat waste locally so that reuse is possible locally Cut costs of piping and pumping Treat using microbes/separation/biotic oxidation systems etc Treat to reuse, not to waste

26 Reinvention is happening In India efforts in decentralised waste treatment growing From pilgrimage waste in high Himalaya (Amarnath: 12,000 feet) to new real estate-developments But mindset of city waste managers/engineers needs to change

28 Change scales and reinvent Principle 7: scale-down size, not scaleup problems Remember: we are all developing in the waste ladder We all have to reinvent growth without pollution

Development of Rural Drinking Water Security Plan A Case Study from Raipur Block, Bhilwara District, Rajasthan

Development of Rural Drinking Water Security Plan A Case Study from Raipur Block, Bhilwara District, Rajasthan Dr. B. K. Bhadra Scientist/Engr. SF Regional Remote Sensing Centre (RRSC-W) NRSC/ISRO, Dept.