India is experiencing an explosive phase of urbanisation, which presents an overwhelming challenge of conveying vast quantities of water from dispersed sources to concentrated points in the landscape. This challenge is further compounded by a widening demand-supply gap.
The signs of an impending water crisis are becoming increasingly ominous. According to the ‘United Nations World Water Development Report 2023,’ global freshwater demand is projected to outstrip supply by 40% by 2030. The report also states that India will be the most severely affected country in terms of water scarcity by 2050. Additionally, India’s per capital annual water availability is declining. A Ministry of Jal Shakti posting [2/3/20] indicates that the average annual per capita water availability was assessed as 1816 cubic meters in 2001 and 1545 cubic meters in 2011. It is projected to further decrease to 1486 cubic meters in 2021 and 1367 cubic meters in 2031. A water availability below 1700 cu.m. per capita per annum is considered the cutoff figure for water stress, while below 1100 cu.m. per capita per annum is considered a zone of absolute stress.
Climate change also poses warnings for India. Global warming is causing glaciers that feed the Himalayan rivers to recede, while rainfall, the primary source of water resources in the subcontinent, is exhibiting an erratic pattern. It is subject to the mercy of the El Nino effect, resulting in long dry periods during the monsoons interspersed with short-duration extreme events.
Irrigation is, undoubtedly, consuming almost 80% of our utilised water resources. Heightened irrigation efficiencies can undoubtedly conserve much water. However, urban demand, too, is ballooning and this calls for serious intervention in urban water resource management.
India’s Evolving Urban Scenario According to McKinsey Global Institute’s seminal report “India’s Urban Awakening: Building Inclusive Cities, Sustaining Economic Growth” (2010), India’s urban population was projected to reach 590 million by 2030, with 5 states being 50% urbanised and having 68 cities with a population of one million or more. Additionally, there were expected to be 13 cities with a population of four million or more. The report also projects that by 2030, the demand for daily water requirement would be 189 billion litres, while the supply would only be 95 billion litres.
Need For An Urban Water Policy
This rapidly approaching scenario must set alarm bells ringing. While water resource management must be considered holistically across the landscape, urban areas can do a lot to help themselves towards attaining water security. Thus, all actions for urban water security must stem from a guiding urban water policy. The prime objective of the policy is to ensure the long-term water security of the city. Water security may be defined as “the continuous availability of water for all purposes, including ecosystem integrity and performance, without compromising sustainability” or having access to norm-based supply [the norm can vary with growing efficiency of use] for all citizens over a long-term horizon [2050] and building resilience to face challenges of resource variability. Policies have a long lead time and are often outdated by the time they are approved. Often, they tend to be so general as to mean something to everyone. So far, the focus has been on the supply side, with policymakers and technocrats pursuing supply augmentation from obliging river basins and aquifers. The limits of these options are becoming apparent. Supply-side approaches are increasingly yielding diminishing returns with narrowing of options.
A Generic Urban Water Policy
The elements of a generic water policy for urban areas are outlined in this paper. Our urban areas are situated in diverse climatic zones, diverse topographies, diverse natural conditions with diverse water resource endowments and differing land use patterns. Thus, the policy statements which follow are generic in nature and each urbanism would have to interpret the policy guidelines with respect to their intrinsic context.
The policy is built around 5 pillars :
- Demand Management
- Optimisation of available resources
- Recycling
- Augmentation of internal resources and building resilience to climate change
- Equity
Policy Statements
Statement 1: Priority In Water Allocation
The priority in allocation of water resources, in case of shortage, would be in the following sequence :
- Drinking water and meeting domestic demand
- Institutional, Commercial, Industrial Use
- Power Sector
- River and Wetland Ecology
- Irrigation
Statement 2: Demand Management
Focus on Demand Management : Towards this end, the city will reduce its present per capita consumption norm by a minimum of 10 litres every 5 years.
Statement 3: Recycled Water Resource
The city will progressively use recycled wastewater to meet its water requirement and thereby decrease its freshwater footprint.
1- The city will frame targets to increase its recycled wastewater use :
- to 25% by 2030
- to 70% by 2035
- to minimum 80% by 2040
2- Decentralised treatment of sewage/wastewater will be promoted and alternative treatment systems will be encouraged and local reuse promoted
3- New urbanisation will be built around decentralised small footprint STPs located close to points of generation, treating upto tertiary level
4- Sewage [black and grey water combined] from unsewered areas will be treated to tertiary levels at suitable locations, used directly for some
non-potable activities, but mainly for indirect groundwater recharge, after which it can be recovered and reused for all purposes after treatment.
5- Large generators of sewage/ wastewater such as transport sector or large campuses would have to install own treatment plants and recycle the resource
6- The city will regulate the phosphate content of detergents to enable decreased cost of wastewater/ sewage treatment as well as improve the quality of effluent
Statement 4: City Will Promote Conservation & Efficiency
1- Towards this end city will implement a water device efficiency rating system
2- City will use financial instruments, such as tax incentives/disincentives/ subsidies, to promote the use of water efficient devices
3- City will promote use of natural soaps to reduce water use in rinsing such as ‘reetha’ and ‘hingot’.
4- City will promote aerator/ atomizer/sprinkler devices in all tap water flows at the outlet point to enhance water efficiency
5- City will promote the use of waterless toilets
6- City will make arrangements for water audit on lines of energy audit and implement the results thereof.
Statement 5: Controlling Distribution Losses
1- City will curtail distribution losses at all levels of the distribution hierarchy to limit maximum loss figure to under 15% progressively by 2030
2- City will curtail distribution losses at all levels of the distribution hierarchy to limit maximum loss figure to 5% progressively by 2035
Statement 6: Aquifer Management
1- City will regulate groundwater extraction
2- City will take wide ranging measures to augment aquifers
3- Plans will be implemented to neutralise aquifer exploitation by 2035 and attain water table recovery to 2000 levels by 2040
4- To achieve above objectives an aquifer management strategy is to be drawn up which would include regulatory and technical measures, water harvesting, water bodies conservation, groundwater substitution, desealing hard pavements, sustainability indices measures
Statement 7 : Database Management
1- To close massive gaps in the database of dispatch, distribution and use, metering devices are to be installed at various levels in the hierarchy down to household/plot level. This would enable support to decision making, promote effective conservation, and curb system losses. Sectoral and spatial supply, losses and use data would be generated and big data would be mined for analysis
2- Metering would also be done for the return water at various levels of the hierarchy
3- Metering targets are to be set up for various levels of the hierarchy to achieve 100% metering by 2030
Statement 8: Access To Water For All
1- In keeping with the interpretation of Article 21 of Constitution of India and in accordance with UN Resolution to which India is a signatory city will treat water as a human right thus obligating the urban authorities to ensure access to clean and minimum lifeline water to every citizen for their minimum water requirements for healthy living. The minimum requirement per capita will be determined and may vary downward with the passage of time based on supply constraints and efficiency gains
2– Affordability of norm based water supply would be maintained
Statement 9: Institutional Organisation
1- To track and integrate several strands of the dynamic water environment, internal and external to the city, a Water Resources Commission or Steering Group will be set up.
2- The Commission would be a steering body with a comprehensive mandate regarding the water sector and provided with defined regulatory and monitoring powers. The Commission would coordinate the actions of all agencies directly concerned with water services, resource management, river issues, foster technological and administrative and financial innovations, track developments in the relevant river basins, track climate change impacts on resources, monitor performance on policy parameters and may act as a pricing regulator
Statement 10: River Related Issues
1- City will take steps to improve river water quality by 2025 and also implement an ecological approach to floodplain, riparian areas and
in-stream ecological recovery.
2- City will progressively reduce its abstraction of river water by reducing demand and increasing its reliance on recycled water resources. The allocated unutilized volumes will remain solely in the river not to be consumed by any other riparian and in emergency be available to the city.
3- City will assure its water security by managing demand, recycling used water, sustainable management of aquifers and will not further enhance its dependence on river freshwater beyond the present levels of abstraction from any river basin.
Statement 11: Public Education And Awareness
1- City will enlist the cooperation of the public and other sectoral entities in attaining policy objectives through inculcating a culture of conservation. This would be done by initiating campaigns to raise the level of public literacy about city’s water endowments, constraints, challenges and wise use of resources
2- City would draw up a charter of water related duties of the state and duties/rights of the citizens in conformity with policy objectives
Statement 12: Promoting Innovation In The Water Sector
1- City will devise innovative projects/approaches involving technical, social, regulatory, governance innovations to improve sustainability, service delivery, affordability and equity in the water sector.
Views expressed by Manu Bhatnagar, Principal Director, Natural Heritage Division, INTACH
