Rural Water

7th International IDCA Conference in India
Theme: "Working Together to Eradicate Poverty and Mitigate Climate Change"

Content Courtesy: Solution Exchange and Nitya Jacob
Author: Nitya Jacob

India’s arteries are choking. Her rivers, the lifeline of hundreds of millions, are over-taxed, polluted and encroached. They are being mined, dammed and emptied of water. Save for the four monsoon months, most rivers are streams of drains, depending on how many cities they pass through. This year people gaped in awe at the River Yamuna (I am sure they were over-awed by other rivers elsewhere too) as for the first time since 1978 looked like a river and not a drain.

This working paper by the University of Bonn attempts to give a spatial and temporal overview of water management in India. It traces how people and the successive regimes made choices across space and time from a wide range of water control and distribution technologies. The paper divides the water management in India into four periods –

• the traditional system of water management before colonial times;
• response from the colonial rulers to manage the complex socio-ecological system;
• large scale surface water development after independence; and
• finally, the small-scale community and market-led revolution.

This report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) deals with the economics of wastewater use in agriculture. It presents an economic framework for the assessment of the use of reclaimed water in agriculture, as part of a comprehensive planning process in water resource allocation strategies to provide for a more economically efficient and sustainable water utilization. 

This work on water footprint assessments represents a pioneering effort on documenting the water consumption in Jain Irrigation Systems Limited’s (JISL) production of dehydrated onions and of micro-irrigation systems. It also assesses the sustainability of this water consumption and formulate response strategies. 

Reports over the last week indicate heavy rains and loss of lives and property in the state of Tamil Nadu, which has faced the maximum brunt of the rains followed by Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. Reports also indicate that there have been massive losses to agricultural produce due to heavy rains in parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and because of droughts in the state of Orissa. At the same time, reports also indicate good news that there has been a rise in the water levels in the country and of attempts being made in different parts of the country to cope with floods and excessive rains in the future.

Rainfall
Tamil Nadu

• Tamil Nadu: The north-east monsoon, 50 per cent in excess in the State, claims over 200 lives and destroys crops and infrastructure
• After the deluge: Chennai has received 71 cm of rain during this year's northeast monsoon, leaving the roads in the Chennai Metropolitan Area in shambles
• The rain-hit north and south Chennai, Tamil Nadu get some respite even as several areas, including Velachery and Taramani, remained under a sheet of water, affecting hundreds of people
• Rain stops, but no end to woes for people from Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Rain pours non-stop misery in Tamil Nadu
• 2,000 people rescued from low-lying areas along river Tamirabarani, in Kanyakumari district
• Torrential rain kills over 200 in Tamil Nadu
• 70 % excess rainfall in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu

This paper from the recommended documentation section of the  Solution Exchange for the Water Community Discussion Summary on the preparation of the strategic plan for rural drinking water by the Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development, is directed at stakeholders, planners, managers and consumers.

The paper argues on the importance of water conservation in the context of the increasing water shortages that the country has been facing in recent years because of expansion of irrigated areas and rapid industrialisation.

The article argues that water conservation practices need to be encouraged and improved through research, effective regulations, information dissemination and incentives to the end user and more emphasis needs to be placed on adequate coverage, quality monitoring and collection of field level data. 

This chapter from the book 'Reclaiming Public Lives' by Transnational Institute describes the case of a small village in the state of Kerala, India, which faced an acute drinking water crisis and describes how people’s initiative, together with the involvement of the local panchayat and the support of the state government, could successfully address the issue of scarce drinking water in the village.

Article and Image Courtesy: Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)

Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is an innovative methodology for mobilising communities to completely eliminate open defecation (OD).

This document  is a discussion paper for the preparation of the strategic plan for the rural drinking water sector by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS).