Alternative National Water Policy by Ramaswamy R Iyer - Comments by Rahul Banerjee

Guest Post: Rahul Banerjee

Ramaswamy Iyer has made a commendable effort to draft a National Water Policy that tries to reform the current unsustainable approach to water resource management in this country  (EPW Vol XLVI Nos 26&27 Supplement pp 201). Assuming that this draft is an invitation to a larger public debate on the issues involved I would like to make a few comments on it.

1. It is not possible to manage water resources effectively without a proper estimation of the availability and use of water. This is where a serious problem exists in this country. Reliably measured data on ground water and surface water availability and use at the local level is absent in most parts of the country. While the central and state groundwater boards have done commendable work in fairly accurately estimating the availability and use of ground water at the district level there is still a lack of information at the subdistrict level. The estimation of the availability and use of surface water is still largely based on insufficient hard data. To correctly estimate the availability of surface water we need much more detailed measurement of stream flows, run off coefficients and evapotranspiration at the watershed level.

Similarly detailed studies of crop production data have to be done to better estimate the agricultural water use. At present very approximateempirical formulae are being used for determining surface water availability and use. For example despite 85% to 93% of the annual flow of theBrahmaputra (thereare no firm estimates) being contributed by its Indian tributaries there is no flow measurement taking place on these tributaries andthe estimates arebased only on the measurement of flow in the main river stem at different points.  

As has been emphasised in the policy draft the properestimation ofwater availability and use requires a multidisciplinary approach involving hydrology, geology, agriculture, remote sensing, sociology,anthropology etc. Thishas to be done in fact in a campaign mode involving the people also through the panchayats and municipal wards. People have tobe made aware of theneed for sustainable water management and the importance of good grassroots level data collection to make this possible.

Thus, itis surprising that thislack of authentic data on water availability and use  is not mentioned in the Preamble and also in the first section entitled "Need for anew National WaterPolicy". Instead this important matter is dealt with, albeit in some detail, towards the end in section 31 entitled "Information System,Research". Theadhocism in planning and mismanagement of water resources in this country has occurred precisely because of this criminal ignoring of theneed to collectauthentic grassroots level data on water availability and use.

2. Agricultural production is geared to food consumption. So unless our food consumption habits change it will be very difficult to change agricultural production. Following the trend of the developed economies in India too there is a trend towards the consumption of foods which require high amounts of water for their production. Higher consumption of high water demand foods leads to many diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure etc which are all silent killers. So to reduce the water demand of agriculture it will be necessary to change the food consumption patterns of the population. There is no mention of this important subject whatsoever in the draft.  

3. There is in fact a tremendous interlinkage between much of our consumption habits which all contribute to unnecessarily high water demand and subsequent wastage. Though, this has been mentioned in brief it comes once again very late in the draft in section 27 on "Water Quality/Pollution".  The important issue of recycling of waste water to meet a substantial part of the demand for water is dealt with in this section as a sub topic whereas this should be a separate topic by itself and mentioned right at the beginning as one of the important goals of the policy just after section 5 on "Policy Reverdal: Restraining Growth of Demand". Recycling of waste water can be done much more cheaply in a decentralised manner than in a centralised manner especially in cities and towns. There is a need for starting a campaign for this as it is the best way to clean up our polluted water bodies from our  village tanks right up to our biggest river- Ganga.

4. In Section 7 "Water Policy and Science: A Reorientation" the author says "Water science is not the same as water engineering. Good Water Engineering is not always Good Water science". Engineering is always based on scientific principles and if the scientific principles are good then engineering also must be good. Thus, when there is bad engineering it results from bad science and cannot result from good science. Bad science means making wrong assumptions. In Engineering since actual work has to be done rather than just make hypotheses the need for assumptions is even more. In most cases bad engineering results from making bad assumptions and this as I mentioned earlier is due to a lack of authentic data.

5. There is a brief section 22 on Role of PRIs in Water Management.  However, for proper nation wide water management the PRIs have to be made the nodal institutions. They have to be provided with the resources to be able to characterise their watersheds completely both above and below the ground and plan water conservation and use scientifically and in a socio-economically just manner. This is essential if the universally accepted "ridge to valley to sea" concept of water management has to be implemented as opposed to the present unsustainable big dam oriented approach.

6. Coming to big dams there is no discussion in the policy whatsoever of the huge gap between the cumulative designed irrigation potential of these much vaunted projects and their actual performance. There is only a one line mention of this serious problem in the first section. There is a huge body of literature on the reasons for this shameful situation and the ways in which it can be remedied and this must be summarised and mentioned prominently in the policy if it is to advocate the adoption of a saner "ridge to valley to sea" paradigm of water management.

An edited version of this note has been published in EPW and is available as an attachment below. 

The article by Ramaswamy Iyer is available here

Rahul Banerjee, activist and researcher, works among Bhil adivasis to help them synthesize their traditional qualities with modern skills for equitable and sustainable development as architects of their own future. He is devoted to preserving and promoting indigenous knowledge, livelihoods, the resource base and culture of the Bhil community and countering its internal patriarchy.