Author: Dipak Dholakia
Dipak Dholakia writes about the Urban waste water management event organized by ICAN on March 16, 2013.
It was an intellectual treat to attend an ICAN organized meeting on Urban Wastewater Management on 16 March 2013. The first session produced two classic speeches, first by WPCRC vice president and CFWD leader S. A. Naqvi and another by Rahul Bannerji from Indore. It was an opportunity to develop a holistic approach to working on water related issues.
Naqvi’s speech was well supported by Rahul’s as if both had agreed in advance to divide the subject matter, one taking a broad sweep and the other providing evidence and playing a complementary role. While Naqvi examined the wastewater issue at a macro level, Rahul showed how it can be done at micro level.
Naqvi drew the attention of the audience to our tendency to discuss the water issue only from two points of view, which is either we discuss the issue of river pollution or we talk about water distribution. In between the issue of wastewater treatment gets a backseat.
Focusing on Delhi, he pointed out that 40% of the water treatment facilities were available in the city but the condition has failed to improve. He said there are four agencies in Delhi including DJB, DDA and MCD treating water but only 5% of it is used for drinking purpose. Against this, Delhi adds 79% of the pollutants in water. So we are in effect recycling pollutants and not treating them.
Download attachment to read the entire article:
/articles/urban-wastewater-management-report-meeting-organised-ican-new-delhi-march-2013