"With an average annual rainfall of 1,170 mm, India is one of the wettest countries in the world. Still, even with its rich natural water resources, with more than 300,000 square meters of bodies of water, the country is plagued by environmental issues such as water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides (Sharma, 2005). Another major problem is that tap water is not potable throughout the country. This implies that people, especially those from the lower income bracket, cannot avail of clean drinking water, since these have to be bought. Repugnant as it may sound, it is a reality that millions of Indians queue up everyday at public taps for one of life's most precious commodity — water." -ADB

Thursday, 30 December 2010

Food for Thought in India

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203513204576047541282652696.html

It is time for India's government to put its money where its mouth is.

New Delhi has raised some $30 billion since March by selling state assets and telecom airwaves. That is about as much as the country will attract in foreign direct investment this fiscal year.

The neglect of India's farms threatens the nation's economic future.

There is one area above all else where this money should be directed: food security. New Delhi talks a lot about guaranteeing food for India's poor, but there's a need for smart investment to address fundamental problems.

The neglect of India's farms poses a significant threat to the nation's economic future, not least through inflation. The persistence of double-digit increases in food prices earlier this year, regardless of weather, has made clear this is a structural problem.

Meanwhile, lagging productivity in agriculture is contributing to income inequality. The sector employs 52% of India's work force but the farm economy is growing at a rate of less than 2% a year. That is half its rate of growth in the late 1980s and 1990s. Yet GDP growth in agriculture is at least twice as effective in reducing poverty, compared with similar growth in other sectors, the World Bank estimates.

India's problems lie with infrastructure. A plan to target irrigation would be particularly compelling; 60% of India's farmland still depends on rainfall for its water needs. The Ministry of Agriculture's total annual budget, including spending on the development of such infrastructure, stands at just $4.6 billion, or 2% of India's annual budget.

Building more storage capacity is equally important, so that millions of tons of food grain don't rot in open fields. The good news here is that foreign retailers, which would build their own cold-storage capacity, are eager to enter India. And government co-investment and tax incentives would go a long way toward speeding up investment.

Building up research facilities and setting up education programs would be more fruitful than other handouts. For example, New Delhi subsidizes fertilizers, but fails to educate farmers on how to use them properly. The resulting overuse is actually reducing crop yields.

India's successive governments have been criticized for not delivering on promises to make India's economic growth more inclusive and sustainable. They should use the recent financial windfall to change that.

On drawing board, WB-funded water project for 12 cities

India has decided to utilise a $1-billion loan from the World Bank to start round-the-clock paid water supply facilities in 12 major cities across the country. The union urban development ministry plans to launch the 24x7 water supply project on a pilot basis by 2012. "We are discussing the modalities of the project with the World Bank, which has given in-principle approval to the $1 billion worth of assistance. We are in the process of finalising the list of cities where the project will be launched," a ministry official told HT.

The selected cities would have to adopt mandatory reforms like levy of user charges for consumption, and installing a metering system to check wastage, added the official.

Sources said funds would start coming in by 2012, when the new five-year plan begins.

The project is, however, not an extension of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) — the ministry's flagship urban modernisation programme — that was launched in 2005 for a seven-year period with a total investment of Rs 1 lakh crore. Till date, 63 cities are part of the JNNURM.

"Though the broad outline of the programme would be similar to that of the JNNURM, but it is not going to be as broad-based because of limited funds. We will use the funds to modernise the water infrastructure," said another official.

A World Health Organization report has said that by 2017, India will become "water stressed" when the per capita availability will decline to 1600 cubic metre.

At present only two cities in the country — Jamshedpur and Nagpur — have 24x7 piped water supply systems. Only about 66% of the population in India has access to piped water.

A huge quantum of potable water gets wasted because of leakage on account of old and worn-out water pipelines, which has also resulted in inequitable distribution.

Water, crying for attention -The Hindu

Water, crying for attention

Even though the National Water Policy 2002 addressed the various issues pertaining to sustainable development and efficient management of water resources, the ground level action after eight years is short on results but long on roll-out of a multiplicity of programmes.

G. Srinivasan
New Delhi, Dec. 29

On the water front, the writing on the wall is crystal clear with international institutions highlighting in recent years water-related issues and challenges in India's water sector and calling for timely action to recover the fast depleting resource that is a basic human necessity.
Latest in the litany of woes on the country's water front, after the World Bank and the World Economic Forum's lament, has come from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In a a draft ‘Water Operational Framework 2011-2020' ADB stated that “the Bank will be challenged by the water stress that dominate large parts of Asia, manifest most clearly in countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam”.
It explicitly cautioned that water shortages are likely to aggregate 40 per cent in developing Asia by 2030 and that in some countries such as India demand will exceed supply by 50 per cent.
While the data gleaned by the ADB were from Water Resources Group, which estimated the aggregate 2030 demand and supply at 1,498 billion cubic meters (BCM) and 744 BCM respectively, the country's National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD) has assessed that “with the desired efficiencies, the water requirement by 2050 could be brought down to about 1,180 BCM in a high demand scenario.
It needs to be noted that the average annual water availability is estimated at 1,869 BCM.
The increase in population over the years has indubitably reduced the per capita availability. Whereas in 1951, the per capita water availability was 5,177 cubic metre a year, the per capita availability based on the population in 2001 census works out to be about 1,820 cubic metre a year.
As the 2011 Census findings will be known on April 1, the per capita availability of water would have definitely come down further.
As the Ministry of Water Resources has conceded that in view of the topographical constraints and hydrological features the utilisable water has been assessed to be about 1,123 BCM, NCIWRD projects the water requirement by about 843 BCM and 1180 BCM respectively provided the existing water resources are efficiently utilised.
Even though the National Water Policy 2002 addressed the various issues pertaining to sustainable development and efficient management of water resources, the ground level action after eight years is short on results but long on roll-out of a multiplicity of programmes and plan of actions purely as political gimmicks.
A House Panel report in April on inter-linking of rivers, deemed a crucial plank for providing a thrust to the whole water issue, has drawn attention to the fact that out of 30 identified links by the National Perspective Plan (NPP), the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for only one link, – the Ken-Betwa link – has been completed so far.
It said that though the DPRs for two other links, Par-Tapi-Narmada link and Damanganga-Pinjal link had been taken up in January 2009, the preparations of DPRs for remaining identified 27 links have not yet been taken up.
The nub of the matter is that though all the States had agreed to the inter-linking of river (ILR) programme in principle, problems did surface when it came to the brass-tacks and specifics of the issues of water sharing and other related benefits.
The long-pending Cauvery river water dispute between the riparian States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is only one instance of the intransigence, albeit the lofty proclamation of the National Water Policy that the water sharing/distribution among the States should be guided by a national perspective with due regard to water resources availability and needs within river basins.
Policy analysts say that ILR is only one component and there are vexatious developments such as the alarming rate of ground water depletion, lack of potable water to lakhs of poor villagers and pollution of major rivers by the dumping of industrial waste and other dregs.
Unless a national campaign to underscore conservation, spatial distribution across the country and recharging of water tables is evolved, the battle lines for water would get clearly drawn.
It is a sad reflection of the reality that only 12 States have adopted the State Water Policy with Delhi, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli having pitched for the National Water Policy.
Critics warn that in the absence of a concerted move crafted by consensus to address the serious water problems plaguing the country, the warfare on water would break out before long, offering scant comfort to a high growth economy.
geeyes@thehindu.co.in

India-centric model needed to study impact on water resources

Former secretary to the union ministry for water resources, C D Thatte, has highlighted the need for developing an India-centric model to study the impact of climate change on the monsoon system and river basin-wise water resources.

"We have to scale down global models to suit Indian requirements," Thatte said while presenting a broad overview of the theme papers furnished by international and national experts for the Global Indian Scientists and Technocrats (GIST) forum's maiden convention on `Sustainable use of water resources', which began here on Sunday.

"The contribution of snow or glacier melt in the rivers in North India is not as critical as it is made out to be," said Thatte, who also heads the GIST's scientific programme committee. He acknowledged that the present trend does suggest that the climate change might lead to a "slight" increase in precipitation, but insisted that there was no need to set alarm bells ringing.

A general consensus emerges from the theme papers that India's water resources in year 2050 are likely to be adequate provided the country takes apt steps to mop up the existing water resources potential in the next two to three decades, he said. This includes improving the water use efficiency, which is of vastly varying nature at present, and promoting reuse and recycling of fresh water resources (FWRs), he added.

From the viewpoint of hydrology and climate change, the experts have made out a strong case for expeditious development of the Indus, Ganga and Bramhaputra FWRs; adopting measures for storages as per the National Water Mission and building defences against floods/droughts, said Thatte.

He also called for a better understanding of the limitations of measures like water shed development and rain water harvesting, which, he said, should not be viewed as a magic wand.

Among other things, the experts have called for quickly building the remaining irrigation infrastructure for sustaining food production and security, besides tapping the huge potential for hydro-power in the Himalayan rivers and working out trade-offs and going for carbon credits.

"The supply of FWR in urban areas is fair, but augmentation of quality and quantity of water required for rural areas is needed," said Thatte. Efforts are also required for removing the waste water treatment mismatch; adopting zero effluent strategy for industry and going for organised drainage of irrigated areas to check non-point source pollutants of agriculture, he said.

Madhav Chitale, also former union water resources secretary, said, "India's capability for handling climate change issues is steadily growing, but the country needs more effort to handle issues related to hydraulogy. Especially, issues like regulating technologies like drilling of ground water resources. The drilling technology has been at the root of depleting ground water levels."

Chitale called for measures to strengthen field research on water resources. "We are strong in terms of laboratory and campus research, but we are weak when it comes to field research. The university pattern of study needs to be realigned with field research aspects," he said.

State minister for water resources Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar said, "The GIST provides a perfect platform for the scientists and technocrats to come out with long-term policy solutions for an integrated way of dealing with water resources. This will help us integrate the solutions into our water policy for the state."

Read more: 'India-centric model needed to study impact on water resources' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/India-centric-model-needed-to-study-impact-on-water-resources-/articleshow/7169024.cms#ixzz19cDdewqh

Friday, 10 December 2010

Understanding Conventional and DWLR Assisted Water Level Monitoring

The Hydrology Project has enabled construction of a large number of scientifically designed
piezometers tapping unconfined and the deeper aquifers. These piezometers have the
necessary hydraulic connection with the targeted aquifers and are suitably isolated from
overlying/underlying aquifers. Further, digital automatic water level recorders (DWLRs) are
installed in these piezometers. This ensures measurement of undistorted piezometric head
at the desired frequency, which may be much larger than the present frequency. In fact, the
frequency may be so high that the resulting piezometric hydrograph may almost be
continuous.

Saturday, 18 September 2010

youtube videos related to Hydrology Project

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project:-DRIP

IBRD $175 million; IDA $175 million

[IBRD-the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development-low interest loan; IDA-the International Development Association-interest free]

India ranks third in the world after China and the United States in the number of dams. Of India’s 4050 completed large dams, almost half are more than 25 years old; another 475 are under construction. These dams have played a key role in fostering rapid and sustained agricultural and rural development. The project will help rehabilitate and modernize about 38 of these large dams.

source:

worldbank

Sunday, 30 May 2010

Hydrology Project- Phase I and Phase II

The first phase of the Hydrology Project ran from 1996 to 2003. Its objectives were to:

• Improve organisational arrangements for hydrological, hydrometeorological and water quality data measurements, validation, analysis and storage

• Strengthen institutional and technical capabilities

• Improve physical facilities and services for hydrological, hydrometeorological and water quality data measurement, validation and analysis, and

• Improve the use of hydrological, hydrometeorological and water quality data.

The project was jointly funded by the World Bank, the Government of the Netherlands (who provided Grant Aid to support consultancy services) and the Government of India. Participating agencies included nine states (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu), and six central agencies (Ministry of Water Resources, Central Water Commission, Central Groundwater Board, National Institute of Hydrology, Central Water and Power Research Station, India Meteorological Department).

The second phase of the hydrology project was formulated in order to build on the achievements of the first phase, and extend the project into promotion and use of Hydrological Information System. The Project Appraisal Document of the World Bank (July 2004) describes the project formulation in detail.

For project implementation, the Project Implementation Plan prepared by the Ministry of Water Resources (May 2004) provides detail of activities to be undertaken by the various implementing agencies.

The second phase of the hydrology project provides for three components:

Institutional strengthening
Vertical extension, covering activities relating to consolidation of the work in the first phase of the project within the agencies that participated in the earlier project, and
Horizontal extension, covering expansion of the network of implementing agencies to include four new states (Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry, Punjab) and two new central agencies (Central Pollution Control Board, Bhakra Beas Management Board)

Thursday, 27 May 2010

A special report on water-The Economist

A special report on water

Finite, vital, much wanted, little understood, water looks unmanageable. But it needn't be, argues John Grimond

Saturday, 24 April 2010

Soon, system to measure real-time rainfall in dams

All major dams in the state on the Krishna and Bhima rivers will now have advanced automatic rain gauge stations (ARGS) for real-time mapping and collection of rainfall data.

The ARGS is part of the real-time data acquisition system (RTDAS), being implemented by the hydrology project (HP) of the state government's water resources department. An HP official said, "The work started around six months ago and will be completed by next year. The works include installation of the system network and software to manage the system."

The initiative, he said, will help forecast floods and deal with flood situations during the heavy rainfall season. "It will facilitate reservoir operators to act on time and prepare stockholders for floods. The system's forte is to provide data at any given point, as against the current manual measurements, which happen only once or twice a day."

He said, "It is a research-based project and the World Bank has sanctioned Rs 30 crore for it. The project will be operationalised at all major dams, catchment areas and flood-prone regions in the Krishna and Bhima river basins."

According to the HP department, there are around 149 automated rainfall stations, 42 automated full climate stations, 29 auto weather stations of ISRO and IMD (existing), 46 reservoirs (dams) and 34 river gauge discharge sites in the Krishna and Bhima river basins. The RTDAS will be installed at a few places selected from these.

The RTDAS will help forecast real-time floods and manage reservoir operation system in the Krishna and Bhima river basins, which will in turn manage the floods and help operate reservoirs optimally for multiple uses, the official said. "The reservoir operation system will facilitate optimisation of water storage to ensure a flood cushion and improve agricultural productivity." The project also aims at developing a forecasting system for river flows and flood levels at critical points and identify potential flood-affected areas, he added.

Sunday, 28 March 2010

Hydrology Project Phase I(1995-2003) and II(2006-2012)

India is facing an acute water shortage, and various attempts are being made to overcome the problem. One such effort was made by the government of India when it set up a Hydrology Project in 1996.

To support the project the World Bank made available a loan of us $162 million and the government of Netherlands gave a credit of us $17 million to assist the project with consultancy services. The main objective of the project was to set up a Hydrology Information System ( HIS ) throughout peninsular India that can supply detailed and comparable data on important water resources.

The project aims to fulfill this objective by developing comprehensive, easily accessible and user-friendly databases covering all aspects of the hydrological cycle (quality and quantity) in the domain of surface water, groundwater and climatic measurements, particularly rainfall. This means installing water monitoring equipment to measure rainfall, the quantity that flows into the seas, rivers, lakes and into the groundwater and to check the quality of these water resources.

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT (IDA-27740 TF-28729)
PDF Version of ICR(Closed Phase I)

Now The Project is in Phase II having time frame of 6 years (2006-2012)
Phase II- World Bank Website and the PAD
The Second Hydrology Project (Phase 2) for India aims to extend and promote the sustained and effective use of the Hydrological Information System by all potential users concerned with water resources planning and management, both public and private, thereby contributing to improved productivity and cost-effectiveness of water-related investments in the 13 States and eight Central agencies. The project has three main components: 1) Institutional strengthening consisting of consolidation of recently concluded Hydrology Project (HP I) activities in the existing States; Awareness raising, dissemination and knowledge sharing; and implementation support; 2) Vertical Extension comprising development of hydrological design aids; development of decision support systems; and implementation of purpose-driven studies; and 3) Horizontal Expansion supporting upgrading/establishment of data collection network; establishment of data processing and management systems; purpose-driven studies; and training.
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Related News
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PUDUCHERRY,The Union Territory has received an award for the best hydrology project website from the World Bank and Union Ministry of Water Resources.

Hydrology Project nodal officer, Pondicherry, V. Radhakrishnan received the prize from Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, U.N. Panjiar, and Winston Yu of the World Bank, according to a release,

Mr. Radhakrishnan, along with D. Govindaraj, Manager (Project Administration) and a technical team, designed the Website, which allows anybody to obtain information about water resources in Puducherry. It provides detailed information on groundwater, surface water and water quality, the release said.

The website bagged the prize in a competition conducted among 26 governmental agencies involved in Hydrology Project-II. The project, which is an initiative of the Union government and World Bank, is among the most crucial water projects of the country. It aims at establishing, upgrading and expanding infrastructure which collects and publicises information about water, thereby enabling better management of water resources and judicious use.

Access to information about water was limited to governmental and other official bodies. Due to demand from organisations and individuals, it was decided to make information more freely available via the web.

Though the project was initiated in 1995(Phase I of the Hydrology Project), Puducherry became a part of it only in 2006. However, it was able to gather hydrology information quickly, the release said.

Thursday, 25 March 2010

Facts About Water

Salt Water(Oceans)- 97.5 %
Inaccessible Fresh Water(Polar Icecaps,glaciers etc)-2.24%
Aceessible Fresh Water- 0.26%

WATER USAGE

Agriculture- ---70%(World wide-WW)--- 90%(India)
Industrial Use-22%(WW)--------------------7%(India)
Domestic--------8%(WW)--------------------3%(India)

In just 15 Years, 1.8 billion People will live where water is scarce. Today, nearly 900 million people have no access to clean water, and with 83 million more people on Earth each year, water demand will keep going up.

Saturday, 13 March 2010

Water Resources Management-Definition & Food for Thoughts

Ministry of Water Resources, India Website Says

"India is endowed with a rich and vast diversity of natural resources, water being one of them. Its development and management plays a vital role in agriculture production. Integrated water management is vital for poverty reduction, environmental sustenance and sustainable economic development. National Water Policy (2002) envisages that the water resources of the country should be developed and managed in an integrated manner. "

World Bank Site Says

Water Resources Management is an integrating theme for a number of water sub-sectors such as Hydropower, Water Supply and Sanitation, Irrigation and Drainage, and Environment. An integrated water resources (IWRM) perspective ensures that social, economic, environmental and technical dimensions are taken into account in the management and development of water resources.

Effective development and management of water resources are essential for sustainable growth and poverty reduction. The East Asia & Pacific (EAP) region is experiencing rapid economic and population growth and migration from rural to urban areas. This severely stresses urban water supply and sanitation systems, increasing competition for surface and ground water resources and deteriorating water quality. The amounts of investment and the attempts to improve water resources management have been grossly inadequate.
The challenges of water resources management have become acute for many of the Bank's EAP borrowers and are increasing as a consequence of rapid population and economic growth. Water quality is deteriorating in rural and urban areas throughout the region due to heavy uncontrolled point source and diffuse pollution. The damages and threats posed by floods and droughts are becoming more severe as development and population pressures mount, and are exacerbated by climate change.

Environmental degradation, including negative impacts on watersheds, wetlands, riverine and lake systems, and coastal and marine systems is widespread, which has also negatively impacted the positive socio-economic benefits of growth. Biodiversity and human health have been severely impacted. The most visible water problems occur in and around cities where competition for surface water and overexploitation of groundwater reserves as well as pollution are common. Beijing/Tianjin, Shanghai, Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City are prime examples of the region's megacities with major and very visible water resources related problems."

The 76 Page Document is at Climate Change and Water Resources Management: A Federal Perspective

Some of the Earlier Posts

http://nitya34.blogspot.com/2009/12/some-good-books-on-water-resources.html

http://nitya34.blogspot.com/2009/12/environmental-impact-assessment-of.html

http://nitya34.blogspot.com/2009/12/environmental-impact-assessment-of.html#uds-search-results

Sunday, 7 March 2010

Water Sector Reforms----Agenda and Things to do

Some Points to consider

Photo Courtesy-World Bank

Increasing Efficiency of water resources projects so that non-Agriculture Users get their due share while the revenue models become cost effective.
Slowly but firmly moving towards Full cost recovery and cutting down subsidy bill.
Exploring Public-private partnership(PPP) Models.
Substantial investments, and equally substantial changes in management philosophy, will be required.
Genuine participation of the project effected people(PAPs). Already R&R Policy at National level (NRRP 2007 ) is at place. We have to emphasize on the implementation aspects to ensure that PAPs get their due share.

Saturday, 6 March 2010

[Google Books] Hydrology and Water Resources of India

Hydrology and Water Resources

By Sharad K. Jain, Pushpendra K. Agarwal, Vijay P. Singh

Thursday, 4 March 2010

Global Economic Prospects 2010: Crisis, Finance, and Growth

Main Page of World Bank

Download the Full Report from the World Bank Site

Published January 21, 2010

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

Hydel projects without adequate security cover

source:MINT

Hydel projects without adequate security cover

The Intelligence Bureau has warned the government that power plants could be targeted by terrorists hoping to derail India’s economic growth

New Delhi: Many of India’s hydroelectric power projects are inadequately protected and could be potential targets for terrorist attacks.

Only the 1,500MW Nathpa Jhakri project in Himachal Pradesh has limited surveillance facility. And one in three power plants is not protected by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the paramilitary wing that covers industrial units.

Photo: Indranil Bhoumik; Graphic: Yogesh Kumar / Mint

The Intelligence Bureau has warned the government that power plants could be targeted by terrorists hoping to derail India’s economic growth.

A terror attack on power plants could cause a collapse of regional grids and lead to a power blackout in states drawing electricity from the targeted grid.

The country currently has five regional grids. All, except the southern grid, are interconnected.

“There is a need for security at these project sites. We are sensitizing them. They are under threat from groups such as Indian Mujahideen and HuJi (Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami),” power secretary H.S. Brahma said. “Though they have mechanical security, they do not have surveillance equipment. Only Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd has limited surveillance facility at its Nathpa Jhkari project. They (hydropower projects) are now in the process of ordering surveillance equipment.”

Projects that face a terror threat include Salal Hydro (690MW), Baglihar (450MW) and Kishan Ganga (330MW) in Jammu and Kashmir, Srisailam (3,600MW) and Nagarjuna Sagar (815.6MW) in Andhra Pradesh, Almatti (290MW) in Karnataka, Bhakra Nangal (1,209MW) on the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border and Tehri (1,000MW) in Uttarakhand.

The country has a hydropower generation potential of 300,000MW, but only 145,000MW can be exploited.

India’s installed power generation capacity is 154,000MW, with some 300 government-owned projects.

Nuclear and hydropower plants account for 4,120MW and 36,885MW, respectively.

Apart from these, transmission projects—some of which are located near the country’s geographical boundaries—are also on the terror threat list.

“We are conducting security drills at the sites, and also conduct regular review meetings,” Brahma said.

The government expects all the projects to receive CISF cover by 2014.

As demand for its services rises, CISF is looking to hire 10,000 people every year until 2012. It currently employs 112,000.

Industry lobby group Assocham estimates the security industry, which has been growing at around 25% annually, will see exponential growth and double in size to Rs50,000 crore by 2012.

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

The challenge of climate change and the Water Resources Management(WRM)

As per the Author(Pl see the Pdf below), Climate change affects all areas of the water sector, from water supply deficiencies through to storm water management and flooding.

The prospect of diminishing water availability is probably the most acute problem for public water utilities. Major shortages of water already occur in mid-latitude developed countries – the southwestern United States, most of southern Australia, Mediterranean Europe and south-western Africa. It is clear that the ‘old’ approach of relying on the historical records of streamflows and groundwater recharge to predict future water yields is failing, and that water systems will need multiple, rainfall-independent sources as part of the mix, as well as major improvements in water use efficiency, gained with the cooperation of business and the community.

The challenge will be to re-design, then operate water systems that are resilient to changes over a wide range of conditions. Scenario modelling and analysis is one way of doing this, but the assumptions and data necessary will always be lacking, so a combination of technical and social adaptations will be needed to cushion us from the shocks ahead.

When it comes to water, there is a growing recognition that the world faces a crisis that, left unchecked, will derail progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and hold back human development.

More Reading @World of Opportunities 2009-2010

Monday, 1 March 2010

Change in EIA clearance to coal mines in India

Mr Jairam Ramesh minister of state for environment and forests informed in a written reply to a question by Mr Pradeep Majhi and Dr Mahendrasinh P Chauhan in Lok Sabha that the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 was amended on 01.12.2009.

As per this amendment, coal mining projects with lease area of more than 150 hectares have been put into category ‘A’ and those between five hectares and 150 hectares are category ‘B’ projects requiring clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the State level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority respectively.
http://envfor.nic.in/legis/eia/eia-2006.htm

Thursday, 18 February 2010

WATER 2010-Two Day International Conference & Exposition on Water Management & Waste Water Technologies ended in New Delhi.

Highlights

The water availability scenario in India is expected to worsen further due to

population growth
increase in consumption levels and
depletion of ground water resources.

Socio-political considerations have affected the tariff setting process(unlike in Electricity Sector) and water tariff for the domestic and irrigation sector has not been adequate, resulting in poor management and wastage. In the next two decades, global water consumption is expected to increase from the present 4500 billion cubic metres (bcm) to 6900 bcm. This will be 40% more than the estimated reliable and sustainable supply today, if no action is taken to conserve water and use it more efficiently.

Untreated waste water discharge has further resulted in pollution of fresh water resources. It is in this context, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Northern Region is organizing ‘Water 2010’ - an exclusive Conference & Exposition on Water Management & Waste Water Technologies on Wednesday, 17th and Thursday, 18th February 2010 at India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi.

MoWR co-sponsored the event and Sh Pawan Kr Bansal,the Hon'ble Minister attended the Inaugural Session.

The broad objective of the two day event is to highlight issues related to water sector in India, current and forecast water availability in India and methods to improve the situation through conservation of water, restoration of water and recycling of wastewater. The exposition will showcase water products, services, technologies and applications and is expected to attract visitors from government agencies, water companies and utilities, water operators and managers, contractors, engineers, architects and other professionals in the water industry from India and overseas, searching for the latest information on products and services, solutions and upcoming projects in the industry. Coinciding with the exposition, CII is organizing a conference that will also explore issues relating to the regulatory and governance framework as well as investigate potential commercially viable models and way forward for tapping opportunities for corporate sector in the areas of Water Management & Waste Water Technologies.

On PPP:

Public Private Partnership (PPP) from Sandip Verma's Site

Saturday, 13 February 2010

Growth Potential of Water Industry-Some thoughts

"By 2030, more than a third of the world’s population will live in severely water-stressed areas. We therefore expect water to grow from being a marginal issue to one that is central to all parts of the economy. We also consider water comprehensively, linking the challenge of managing water “upstream” as a critical natural resource, with “downstream” provision of clean water to users."--Mckinsey

The entire world is currently facing a boom in infrastructure construction.The Emerging economies are trying to improve their industrial productivity and raise the standard of living of the people, and developed countries are trying to develop their existing economic standard and modernize their infrastructure.

Recently, the media has focused on the importance of water as the most vital commodity of future. They feel water will be the most crucial commodity in the future.It is believed that the water industry is a happening industry and in the next twenty years the total investment in the water industry is expected to be around $6 trillion (according to Global Water Services 2007 from Siemens Financial Services).The water sector has also gained importance recently and may become the single largest infrastructure market in due course.Water sector will become the first infrastructure sector in which the politicians shall have to keep aside their ideological concerns around the use of Public Private Partnerships (PPP). The need to provide safe and clean water is much more important than any other infrastructure requirement.
Three types of projects which can be identified while considering the PPP projects are

water collection and treatment plants;
wastewater recycling facilities and
water services which governments traditionally look to provide.

Most of the water facilities are not based on the advanced technologies. It will cost large amount of moneys for the set up of the water infrastructure market. The private sector markets are yet to develop. So while water occupies 70% of our planet, its infrastructure still needs specific attention.

( Source:big4.com)

~~Further Reading :~~

Growing competition for scarce water resources is a growing business risk, a major economic threat, and a challenge for the sustainability of communities and the ecosystems upon which they rely. It is an issue that has serious implications for the stability of countries in which businesses operate, and for industries whose value chains are exposed to water scarcity.

-Mckinsey

(This Report offers case studies from four countries with drastically different water issues, which will collectively account for 40 percent of the world’s population, 30 percent of global GDP and 42 percent of projected water demand in 2030: China, India, South Africa and Brazil. The report’s methodology identifies supply- and demand-side measures that could constitute a more cost effective approach to closing the water gap and achieve savings in each country.)

Next-generation water policy for businesses and government

The solution to water scarcity, in part, will come from new technologies for better managing water as a resource. But to make these technologies more effective, business and policy leaders will need to work more closely to implement them.

DECEMBER 2009 • John Briscoe

Source: Climate Change Special Initiative

Energy, Resources, Materials, Strategy & Analysis article,
Next-generation water policy for businesses and government

Water insecurity looms as one of the great challenges of the 21st century, and it is one that policy makers and business leaders must face together. Policy makers recognize that certain technologies being developed by leading companies are critical tools for effectively managing scarce water supplies. But business leaders must do more to help shape the understanding of how good policies make it possible for technologies to be productive—and how ineffective ones do the reverse.
Public-sector leaders and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have long dominated the debate on water policy, but within the last five years, a growing number of progressive private-sector companies have also started to lend their perspectives on how best to effectively manage water. These companies have begun by paying much more attention to the water environment in which they function. As they develop a new generation of water-related technologies, they also increasingly influence a new generation of public policies that stimulate the development and use of these technologies. Here is how a number of them are engaging along both of these dimensions.
One group of companies, including beverage, mining, and energy businesses, has found that growing water scarcity constitutes a threat to their social license to operate. In response, some have made large donations to activist groups in the hopes of buying peace. Others have asked for water standards that they can then meet in their plants. The most far-sighted of these companies, however—with Nestlé as a leading example—recognize that while companies have to manage water efficiently behind their factory gate, society (along with companies and their suppliers) needs an equitable, efficiency-stimulating, and predictable legal and regulatory environment that governs all water uses. These companies also believe that private businesses have useful and legitimate inputs to make into the policy-formulation process, and that good business practices can guide effective implementation.
A second group of companies is developing technologies that can enable society to get more product—more food, energy, income, employment—per drop of water. There are three broad segments. The first comprises companies that develop productivity-enhancing seeds and agricultural technologies. Because agriculture accounts for more than 80 percent of water consumption in the developing world and because the productivity gains of the last round of agricultural technologies (the “green revolution”) have fallen to less than 1 percent a year (from about 3 percent a year in the 1960s), these innovations are vital for better water management. The importance of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops—a core agricultural technology—is illustrated by the contrasting performance of corn in Europe, where GMOs are not allowed, and in Iowa, where 90 percent of corn is grown from using GMOs. In the last ten years, corn yields in Europe have stagnated, while in the United States productivity has grown at over 2 percent a year. Existing GMOs already use substantially lower amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and water. And some new-generation crops will be better able to thrive despite water stress.
A second segment of companies is developing new technologies for treating water and wastewater. The process of desalination illustrates the importance in this area. The laws of thermodynamics state that it is theoretically possible to desalinate seawater by using only 25 percent of the energy currently required to do so through existing technologies. If new developments in, for example, nanotechnology and membranes allow even half of this potential to be realized, the cost of desalination will fall to a level where most cities and industries in coastal areas throughout the world can turn to it as the new source of choice. The third segment comprises companies that provide users with just-in-time and just-what’s-needed information—such as on the probability of rainfall, on soil moisture, on water, and on fertilizer requirements. This is essential for energy consumption, domestic use of water, and, most important, for agriculture. Precision agriculture can produce much more crop per drop than traditional methods can, and industries and cities can use much less water too.
Executives at these leading companies know that progress in water management depends on linked advancement in technologies and policies. They have seen instances in some countries where policy shortcomings mean that many existing technologies that make more efficient use of water are not being fully employed. This has prompted a growing number of companies to engage with policy makers to ensure that key policies—such as tradeable water rights, support for intellectual-property rights, and efficiency-enhancing regulation—are implemented. In conversations with policy makers, corporate leaders highlight examples like the Murray-Darling Basin, in Australia, where an enabling policy environment means that a 70 percent reduction in water availability has had virtually no impact on agricultural production. In situations like this, policy makers know that what is needed is a “next generation” of technologies that will enable society to do more with less. And they know that the key to achieving this is a legal and business policy environment that stimulates the development of the next generation of water efficiency technologies.

Although the glass may certainly look half empty, it is also half full, not least because progressive business leaders understand that water scarcity is an issue that will affect their industries, suppliers, and the communities in which they work—and they’ve stepped into the policy area to help shape solutions. And as they have, policy leaders have begun to better understand the private-sector’s contributions and to draft more effective enabling regulations. But more business and policy leaders need to follow the lead of their progressive colleagues. That is how we will secure further development of new technologies and the formulation and implementation of a new generation of water-management policies.

About the Author

John Briscoe is the Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Engineering at Harvard University and is on the faculty of the schools of engineering and applied sciences, government, and public health.

Some of the Water Related Topics on India at HKS-Belfer Center

(Abstract: We suggest a three-pronged approach to an enhanced growth strategy for India. The first prong is export-led growth. Here the lessons of China are particularly instructive, since China achieved in the past fifteen years the kind of export-led growth that India could have achieved, but failed to do so, because of poor public policies. The second prong is rural improvement, especially in the vast population of the Gangetic valley. India needs a specific strategy to bring modern economic growth to rural India, through a concerted campaign of infrastructure upgrading and appropriate re-design of state policy. The third prong is the maintenance of macroeconomic stability, to avoid the kind of crisis that pushed East Asia into economic collapse. The macroeconomic stakes have obviously been raised in the past year. India=s macroeconomic policies will be under scrutiny as perhaps never before following the onset of the East Asian financial crisis.)

Sustainable Energy Development (2008)

(India has been experiencing sustained high economic growth in the recent years. However, there still exists substantial amount of unacceptable poverty among the people in the country. The expressions of symptoms of such poverty include among others inadequate educational and health attainment of the people and lack of access to basic amenities like modern clean energy, safe water and sanitation, which are crucial determinants of human capability development. The eleventh five-year plan of India, which has recently been initiated, has taken the approach of inclusive faster growth for the development of the Indian economy. The basic paper on which the seminar will be based analyses the implications of this high inclusive growth for removing poverty and inequity, in respect of the twin challenges of environmental sustainability of the required energy growth and energy security in India. The energy security is discussed both in the sense of removal of energy poverty and that of reducing the level of vulnerability of the economy in the face of oil price rise as experienced in the recent years. It addresses particularly the question of linkage between income poverty and energy poverty and the implication of energy poverty alleviation in India in respect of global environmental sustainability. It further discusses in this context the instrumental role of choice of fuel and technology (like bio-fuel among others) and institutional changes like economic reforms in determining the energy efficiency as well as energy security of India. It finally addresses certain selected policy issues from macroeconomic perspective including that of policy linkage between energy security and food security in the context of bio-liquids development in India.)

Weathering the Storm

(Calestous Juma teaches at Harvard Kennedy School and was a major contributor to the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change)

Thursday, 11 February 2010

Cascading Hydro Power Projects and Environmental Impact on the Valley/Basin

Cascading Hydro Power Projects and Environmental Impact on the Valley/Basin is hotly debated subject even in India especially when many such projects at Arunachal and Uttarakhand are coming up for environmental clearance at MoEF. Its very important that developers keep some (gap)head left between TWL of Project I and and FRL of Project II at downstream so that river maintains it natural gravity flow and does not become a "dead pool" in the longer run.

These days, Baseline/EIA/EMP reports are being discussed only after hydrology aspects is cleared by the project proponents at MoEF.

It is interesting to note that Project Authorities will have scheme/project specific approach whereas Policy Planner must see all single project from broader angle-mainly from Basin or, Valley approach.

For minimum flow requirement(EFR) , policy planners do suggest a minimum "15% of average lean season discharge" at downstream of each project. The bigger the flow the better the sustainability. Large flow will let domestic users(human,livestock ,flaura and fauna) survive.Fishes and other fauna will live happily even though ,in the long run, domestic needs go on increasing as the valley gets populated further.
Most of the times, Project proponents must conduct "Mathematical Modeling Study" using either hydrological or building block method to determine the downstream discharge through Independent Agencies(like NIH, Roorkee and Other reputed institutions/university) and take the higher of the two values( As in (1) and (2) )

Finally,There are issues in Hydrology like lack of enough G&D stations at high altitude, lack of rainfall data in some of the remoted terrains of India and IMD and MoWR must look into these aspects and invest more in investigations projects (via CWC Field offices) to get more authentic REAL Time data ready in coming years when private/public project proponents can help India bridge the energy gap.
Some Discussions at indiawaterportal.org

A sample snap of Automatic Weather Station