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Using groundwater wisely

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently told the first Congress on Groundwater organised by the Ministry of Water Resources that subsidised access to water for economic and commercial purposes can no longer be sustained. The rising levels of water stress and deteriorating groundwater quality in many States make this observation timely. When demand overtakes all sources of supply in three to four decades, the costs will be very high. The groundwater situation is becoming cri tical. Groundwater meets half of all irrigation needs besides 85 per cent of rural and 50 per cent of urban water supply. But a quarter of all blocks surveyed by the Central Ground Water Board are now classified as critical, semi-critical, or overexploited. Unsustainable groundwater extraction coupled with profligate use by the affluent is causing distress in urban areas. Water sector reform has become an imperative but there is no agreement on what will achieve optimal results. The expert group of the Planning Commission on groundwater headed by Dr. Kirit S. Parikh has pointed to the limited value of regulation in curbing extraction in a country with millions of wells. A massive community-led programme to recharge groundwater and augment surface storage may perform better.

Agriculture accounts for a major part of all water use and any savings achieved through higher efficiency can ease the pressure on groundwater, especially in the peninsular States. Inefficient use in irrigation is partly blamed on the availability of free or highly subsidised power, a factor Dr. Singh and the Planning Commission have taken note of. Any attempt to make changes to this politically sensitive scheme is bound to run into trouble and the benefits to the groundwater table may be modest. Better results can be achieved by strengthening subsidies for efficient micro-irrigation techniques, with concurrent support for rain harvesting and artificial recharge structures. In cities and towns, the value of mandatory rainwater harvesting to recharge groundwater is tremendous — as is evident from the Chennai experience. As demand rises and supply comes under strain, the Centre, the States, and local bodies will be under pressure to exercise their authority as public trustees of water to guarantee equity and accessibility. In fact, courts have pinpointed this responsibility in cases involving groundwater and river basin pollution in Tamil Nadu and unbridled extraction for profit in Kerala. The task of evolving a framework to meet the egalitarian objectives of the National Water Policy and the National Environment Policy must be taken up as a top priority.

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