WATER- the most 'underpriced' resource

The Deputy Chairperson of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Wednesday said

• Water is the most 'underpriced resource' of the country and called for setting up of a regulatory mechanism to ensure rational water use.
• Voicing concern over the increasing scarcity of water, Ahluwalia asserted there was an acute lack of awareness among people about sustainable usage of resources.
• "Water is the most seriously under-priced resource in the country. I mean if you were to do any kind of economic costing, many people are assuming that water itself has no value, that the only thing, the cost, is the cost of the pipe and the cost of collecting it," said Ahluwalia.
• "But water is becoming scarce. It has an opportunity cost," he added.

Ahluwalia further highlighted the need to

• Initiate and set up water regulation systems and institutions to prevent a possible disaster.

 "I mean, we should do better pricing of water. But actually, the prices that would be needed in order to bring about rational water use are far too high. So, it has to be some form of regulatory control. Even the legal basis for this regulatory control does not exist," he said.
 The issue of water remains a crucial flashpoint within India as well as with its neighbouring countries. For instance, India and Bangladesh continue to be at loggerheads over the distribution of water from the River Ganges that flows through both countries. (ANI)

How to increase Water User Efficiency in Irrigation Sector

How to increase Water User Efficiency in Irrigation Sector

Some of the management practices that need to be taken up in right earnest are

• Implementation of restructured CAD&WM programme in States
• Participatory irrigation management (PIM), modernisation of irrigation system
• Rationalization of water rates
• Benchmarking of irrigation systems
• Conjunctive use of surface and ground water
• On farm management, etc.

Africa and Water Resources Management (WRM)

• Water management is critical for meeting Africa’s development challenges.
• Though water is vital for agriculture, only about 7 per cent of Africa’s cultivated land is irrigated.
• Hydropower is also largely undeveloped in Africa; less than 10 per cent of its potential has been tapped.
• Water for people and animals is vital for survival and livelihoods, yet only 58 per cent of Africans have access to safe drinking water.
• In addition, the majority of people in Africa live in countries which share water with other countries, such as the riparian countries of the Gambia, Nile, Niger, Senegal, Zambezi, Volta and Congo River basins. They are amongst the poorest and most food insecure countries in the world, in regions that are highly vulnerable to water shocks, including recurrent floods and droughts.
• In addition to natural climate variation in Africa there is an urgent need to determine and mitigate the potential impacts of climate change and to ensure that growth and poverty reduction efforts result in resilience to climate change. The centrality of shared waters in Africa has motivated many countries to seek regional cooperation through river basin organizations.

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Source : World Bank's site