To,
Sri Tejendra Khanna,
Hon'ble Lt Governor
DELHI
Respected Sir,
Greetings for the 60th anniversary of the nation's REPUBLIC DAY from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.
Sir, apropos the news item published in today's (26 Jan 10) Indian Express, informing about the Yamuna river bed plans, we take pleasure in complimenting your honour in taking a firm stand on the question of ill conceived channelisation plans a la river Thames and Danube in Europe, as also the fact that having already lost around 3000 ha of the 9700 ha of the river bed/flood plain to hare-brained schemes, the city can ill afford to lose any more to concretisation and non river friendly activities. Also in firmly turning down fancy plans like the Formula One racing track in the river bed/flood plain.
While we fully endorse your plans to make the river accessible to people in the city and the visitors to it (so that a greater sense of ownership and realisation of the importance of the river dawns on them), we suggest that DDA may be advised suitably by your honour to make its future plans for the river bed public in its entirety before finalisation and invite comments and suggestions on any new activity (san concretisation) in the name of recreation promotion planned in the river bed/flood plains. In addition, we request once again that the entire Zone O (river zone) under the MPD 2021 be legally protected (under Environment Protection Act, 1986) to guard against any future threats to it.
Sir, it is also urgent that a political process be initiated for a time bound dialogue with Haryana and UP to ensure a steady and adequate flow in the river, round the year, which is sine qua non for its revival.
With warm regards,
Manoj Misra
Convener
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Rivers in western Uttar Pradesh dangerously polluted (Sun, Jan 24 2010)
Meerut, Jan 24 (IANS) Six rivers in western Uttar Pradesh, including the Yamuna, are now so polluted that they should be classified as dead, says a new study.
The study, carried out by local NGO Neer Foundation as part of a project of the World Water Monitoring Day Organisation, found that six of the rivers they checked were so heavily polluted that no life could exist in them, and they were dangerous even to bathe in.
The World Water Monitoring Day Organisation has been set up by the World Environment Federation of the US and the International Water Association of the Netherlands. The two agencies are carrying out water purity surveys in rivers across the world. The project started in 2007 and is likely to end by 2012.
The study in India was helped by several thousand children from 800 schools across western Uttar Pradesh.
The project's coordinator, Raman Tyagi of Neer Foundation, said the condition of the six rivers was 'deadly alarming'.
Apart from the Yamuna, the rivers are Hindon, Krishni, Kali East, Kali West and Dhamola.
The study was conducted in Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Gautam Budh Nagar, Etah, Aligarh and Agra districts.
'We had collected more than 70 samples between June and November 2009 from rivers at various places. The results were deadly alarming and eye-opening and we never expected that the pollution would rise that much,' Tyagi said.
The samples were checked for turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and degree of acidity (pH value).
Turbidity -- that indicates the lack of clarity of water -- was found to be around 100 Jackson Turbidity Units (JTU) in these rivers. The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) says a turbidity level above 40 JTU is dangerous.
In many places, the water had no dissolved oxygen at all, so no life could exist there and the river was effectively dead, the study found.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says dissolved oxygen level in river water should be at least eight parts per million.
The water was found to be highly alkaline, with a pH value between 9-10. A pH value of 7 indicates the water is neutral, and the US EPA says the pH of river water should be between 6.5 and 7.5.
'The temperature of the water in these rivers was also found to be very high. The US and Dutch agencies were shocked to learn of such high values in our rivers. The clarity of water at most of these places was almost zero,' Tyagi said.
'There were large quantities of industrial and toxic waste from chemical, paper and other factories, and that was why the dissolved oxygen level was zero. Aquatic life in these rivers is dying.'
The Hindon river is a 260-km-long tributary of the Yamuna; it starts in Saharanpur. The Krishni, about 78 km long, also starts in Saharanpur and flows till Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. The Kali East rises in Muzaffarnagar and flows 300 km before ending in Kannauj. The Kali West flows from Saharanpur and ends in Meerut after flowing for 75 km. The 52-km-long Dhamola river flows mostly in Saharanpur district.
(S.P. Singh can be contacted at spsinghg@gmail.com)
The study, carried out by local NGO Neer Foundation as part of a project of the World Water Monitoring Day Organisation, found that six of the rivers they checked were so heavily polluted that no life could exist in them, and they were dangerous even to bathe in.
The World Water Monitoring Day Organisation has been set up by the World Environment Federation of the US and the International Water Association of the Netherlands. The two agencies are carrying out water purity surveys in rivers across the world. The project started in 2007 and is likely to end by 2012.
The study in India was helped by several thousand children from 800 schools across western Uttar Pradesh.
The project's coordinator, Raman Tyagi of Neer Foundation, said the condition of the six rivers was 'deadly alarming'.
Apart from the Yamuna, the rivers are Hindon, Krishni, Kali East, Kali West and Dhamola.
The study was conducted in Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Gautam Budh Nagar, Etah, Aligarh and Agra districts.
'We had collected more than 70 samples between June and November 2009 from rivers at various places. The results were deadly alarming and eye-opening and we never expected that the pollution would rise that much,' Tyagi said.
The samples were checked for turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and degree of acidity (pH value).
Turbidity -- that indicates the lack of clarity of water -- was found to be around 100 Jackson Turbidity Units (JTU) in these rivers. The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) says a turbidity level above 40 JTU is dangerous.
In many places, the water had no dissolved oxygen at all, so no life could exist there and the river was effectively dead, the study found.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says dissolved oxygen level in river water should be at least eight parts per million.
The water was found to be highly alkaline, with a pH value between 9-10. A pH value of 7 indicates the water is neutral, and the US EPA says the pH of river water should be between 6.5 and 7.5.
'The temperature of the water in these rivers was also found to be very high. The US and Dutch agencies were shocked to learn of such high values in our rivers. The clarity of water at most of these places was almost zero,' Tyagi said.
'There were large quantities of industrial and toxic waste from chemical, paper and other factories, and that was why the dissolved oxygen level was zero. Aquatic life in these rivers is dying.'
The Hindon river is a 260-km-long tributary of the Yamuna; it starts in Saharanpur. The Krishni, about 78 km long, also starts in Saharanpur and flows till Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. The Kali East rises in Muzaffarnagar and flows 300 km before ending in Kannauj. The Kali West flows from Saharanpur and ends in Meerut after flowing for 75 km. The 52-km-long Dhamola river flows mostly in Saharanpur district.
(S.P. Singh can be contacted at spsinghg@gmail.com)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
गेम्स के दौरान यमुना छुपाओगे? ( Nav Bharat Times- 23 Jan. 2010)
नई दिल्ली ।।
यमुना की दुर्दशा के मद्देनजर खेल मंत्री एम. एस. गिल ने शुक्रवार को हैरत जताते हुए कहा कि कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स के दौरान क्या अधिकारी विदेशी लोगों को नदी के नजदीक जाने से रोकेंगे! उन्होंने कहा कि नाले में तब्दील हो चुकी यमुना आज एक 'हॉरर' है।
उद्योग संगठन एसोचैम ने 'ब्रैंड: कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स दिल्ली 2010' इवेंट का आयोजन किया था। इस मौके पर खेल मंत्री ने कहा कि यमुना काफी प्रदूषित हो चुकी है, सो यह मुमकिन है कि हमें सभी विदेशी विजिटर्स को नदी के नजदीक जाने से रोकना पड़े। गिल ने ध्यान दिलाया कि नदी को साफ करने की सारी कोशिशें बेकार साबित हुई हैं। एक तरफ तो हम यमुना जैसी नदियों को धार्मिक प्रतीक के तौर पर देखते हैं, दूसरी तरफ हम शहर के ड्रेनेज के तौर पर उसका इस्तेमाल करते हैं। यमुना अब एक हॉरर है और हैरत है कि हम अब भी उससे धार्मिक रिश्ता जोड़े हुए हैं। हम अपने धार्मिक प्रतीकों को बचाने के लिए बहुत कम काम कर रहे हैं।
गिल ने कहा कि करीब 10 हजार एथलीट और लाखों टूरिस्ट कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स के दौरान दिल्ली आएंगे, ऐसी उम्मीद की जाती है। हमें एक अच्छा मेजबान बनना चाहिए और यह दिखाना चाहिए कि शहर की बेहतरीन चीजें सामने आएं। गिल ने निराशा जताई कि इंडस्ट्री भी नदी में सीवेज का डिस्चार्ज रोकने में नाकाम है, जबकि यमुना को साफ रखने में उद्योगों को भी भूमिका निभानी होगी।
यमुना की सफाई पर बहा पैसा
यमुना एक्शन प्लान -1 (1993-2003)
कुल खर्च - 680 करोड़ रुपये
यमुना एक्शन प्लान -2 (2004 के बाद)
तय राशि - 624 करोड़ रुपये
जल बोर्ड का खर्च (कैग रिपोर्ट)
1998-99 में 285 करोड़ रुपये
1999-2004 में 439 करोड़ रुपये
यमुना की सफाई पर डीएसआईडीसी ने किया खर्च -147 करोड़ रुपये
यमुना एक नजर में -
-दिल्ली में इसका प्रवेश पल्ला गांव से शुरू होता है और साउथ में जैतपुर गांव के पास से गुजरकर यह दोबारा हरियाणा में प्रवेश कर जाती है।
- दिल्ली में इसकी लंबाई करीब 50 किलोमीटर है। पल्ला से वजीराबाद बैराज तक प्रदूषण न के बराबर है, लेकिन उसके बाद जैतपुर तक 25 किलोमीटर में इसका प्रदूषण स्तर काफी गंभीर है।
- दिल्ली में यमुना का दायरा 97 वर्ग किलोमीटर है जिसमें से 16.45 वर्ग किलोमीटर पानी में है जबकि 80.55 वर्ग किलोमीटर के इलाके में पानी नहीं होता।
- यमुना की अधिकतर चौड़ाई डेढ़ से तीन किलोमीटर है।
- यमुना में 17 बड़े नाले गिरते हैं जिनमें से नजफगढ़ नाला सबसे बड़ा और सबसे अधिक प्रदूषित है। इस नाले में शहरी क्षेत्र के 38 और ग्रामीण इलाकों के तीन नाले गिरते हैं।
- राजधानी में यमुना नदी के ऊपर से सात पुल गुजरते हैं जिनमें वजीराबाद, कश्मीरी गेट बस अड्डा, पुराना यमुना पुल, आईटीओ, निजामुद्दीन, टोल ब्रिज और ओखला शामिल हैं।
- यमुना में तीन बांध बने हुए है जिनमें वजीराबाद, आईटीओ और ओखला शामिल है।
यमुना की दुर्दशा के मद्देनजर खेल मंत्री एम. एस. गिल ने शुक्रवार को हैरत जताते हुए कहा कि कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स के दौरान क्या अधिकारी विदेशी लोगों को नदी के नजदीक जाने से रोकेंगे! उन्होंने कहा कि नाले में तब्दील हो चुकी यमुना आज एक 'हॉरर' है।
उद्योग संगठन एसोचैम ने 'ब्रैंड: कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स दिल्ली 2010' इवेंट का आयोजन किया था। इस मौके पर खेल मंत्री ने कहा कि यमुना काफी प्रदूषित हो चुकी है, सो यह मुमकिन है कि हमें सभी विदेशी विजिटर्स को नदी के नजदीक जाने से रोकना पड़े। गिल ने ध्यान दिलाया कि नदी को साफ करने की सारी कोशिशें बेकार साबित हुई हैं। एक तरफ तो हम यमुना जैसी नदियों को धार्मिक प्रतीक के तौर पर देखते हैं, दूसरी तरफ हम शहर के ड्रेनेज के तौर पर उसका इस्तेमाल करते हैं। यमुना अब एक हॉरर है और हैरत है कि हम अब भी उससे धार्मिक रिश्ता जोड़े हुए हैं। हम अपने धार्मिक प्रतीकों को बचाने के लिए बहुत कम काम कर रहे हैं।
गिल ने कहा कि करीब 10 हजार एथलीट और लाखों टूरिस्ट कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स के दौरान दिल्ली आएंगे, ऐसी उम्मीद की जाती है। हमें एक अच्छा मेजबान बनना चाहिए और यह दिखाना चाहिए कि शहर की बेहतरीन चीजें सामने आएं। गिल ने निराशा जताई कि इंडस्ट्री भी नदी में सीवेज का डिस्चार्ज रोकने में नाकाम है, जबकि यमुना को साफ रखने में उद्योगों को भी भूमिका निभानी होगी।
यमुना की सफाई पर बहा पैसा
यमुना एक्शन प्लान -1 (1993-2003)
कुल खर्च - 680 करोड़ रुपये
यमुना एक्शन प्लान -2 (2004 के बाद)
तय राशि - 624 करोड़ रुपये
जल बोर्ड का खर्च (कैग रिपोर्ट)
1998-99 में 285 करोड़ रुपये
1999-2004 में 439 करोड़ रुपये
यमुना की सफाई पर डीएसआईडीसी ने किया खर्च -147 करोड़ रुपये
यमुना एक नजर में -
-दिल्ली में इसका प्रवेश पल्ला गांव से शुरू होता है और साउथ में जैतपुर गांव के पास से गुजरकर यह दोबारा हरियाणा में प्रवेश कर जाती है।
- दिल्ली में इसकी लंबाई करीब 50 किलोमीटर है। पल्ला से वजीराबाद बैराज तक प्रदूषण न के बराबर है, लेकिन उसके बाद जैतपुर तक 25 किलोमीटर में इसका प्रदूषण स्तर काफी गंभीर है।
- दिल्ली में यमुना का दायरा 97 वर्ग किलोमीटर है जिसमें से 16.45 वर्ग किलोमीटर पानी में है जबकि 80.55 वर्ग किलोमीटर के इलाके में पानी नहीं होता।
- यमुना की अधिकतर चौड़ाई डेढ़ से तीन किलोमीटर है।
- यमुना में 17 बड़े नाले गिरते हैं जिनमें से नजफगढ़ नाला सबसे बड़ा और सबसे अधिक प्रदूषित है। इस नाले में शहरी क्षेत्र के 38 और ग्रामीण इलाकों के तीन नाले गिरते हैं।
- राजधानी में यमुना नदी के ऊपर से सात पुल गुजरते हैं जिनमें वजीराबाद, कश्मीरी गेट बस अड्डा, पुराना यमुना पुल, आईटीओ, निजामुद्दीन, टोल ब्रिज और ओखला शामिल हैं।
- यमुना में तीन बांध बने हुए है जिनमें वजीराबाद, आईटीओ और ओखला शामिल है।
Funds for interceptor project sanctioned (The Hindu- 27 Jan. 2010)
Staff Reporter
Sewer project to clean up the Yamuna will take four years to complete
The interceptors will catch all the sewage that flows from the city into the river
‘With Rs.1,260 crore sanctioned, remaining money will be raised by the Delhi Government’
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board’s ambitious interceptor sewer project to clean up the Yamuna has moved a step closer towards realisation. The project that was hanging fire for lack of funds was sanctioned money by the Expenditure Finance Committee of the Union Finance Ministry this past week. The EFC, which met on January 21, has agreed to sanction Rs.460 crore towards the project for setting up interceptor under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and a loan of Rs.800 crore has been sanctioned by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). The project that will take four years to complete requires about Rs.1,700 crore. According to sources, with Rs.1,260 crore sanctioned, the remaining money will be raised by the Delhi Government. “If the money is sanctioned in time and the tendering process is complete by February, work on the project can start by June. It will take about four years to complete,” say sources.
The project envisages making the Yamuna a zero-sewage zone. The interceptors will catch all the sewage that flows from the city into the river. Sewage from 18 big drains across the city in the absence of an interceptor flow into the Yamuna. The Jal Board hopes to change that with the proposed project where filth and sewage will be intercepted and treated before releasing it into the river.
“All the sewage from the minor drains will be tapped into the three major drains -- Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahdara -- and then will be treated before being discharged into the Yamuna,” said sources.
Even as the Delhi Jal Board has been touting the project as an effective means to curb pollution in the Yamuna, the Centre for Science and Environment has petitioned the Supreme Court against the project. In its report on “Sewage Canal: How to clean the Yamuna”, the CSE has claimed a “paradigm shift is needed in the approach to clean the river”. The CSE case in the Supreme Court objecting to the interceptor sewers system is coming up for hearing this Wednesday.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
Sewer project to clean up the Yamuna will take four years to complete
The interceptors will catch all the sewage that flows from the city into the river
‘With Rs.1,260 crore sanctioned, remaining money will be raised by the Delhi Government’
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board’s ambitious interceptor sewer project to clean up the Yamuna has moved a step closer towards realisation. The project that was hanging fire for lack of funds was sanctioned money by the Expenditure Finance Committee of the Union Finance Ministry this past week. The EFC, which met on January 21, has agreed to sanction Rs.460 crore towards the project for setting up interceptor under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and a loan of Rs.800 crore has been sanctioned by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). The project that will take four years to complete requires about Rs.1,700 crore. According to sources, with Rs.1,260 crore sanctioned, the remaining money will be raised by the Delhi Government. “If the money is sanctioned in time and the tendering process is complete by February, work on the project can start by June. It will take about four years to complete,” say sources.
The project envisages making the Yamuna a zero-sewage zone. The interceptors will catch all the sewage that flows from the city into the river. Sewage from 18 big drains across the city in the absence of an interceptor flow into the Yamuna. The Jal Board hopes to change that with the proposed project where filth and sewage will be intercepted and treated before releasing it into the river.
“All the sewage from the minor drains will be tapped into the three major drains -- Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahdara -- and then will be treated before being discharged into the Yamuna,” said sources.
Even as the Delhi Jal Board has been touting the project as an effective means to curb pollution in the Yamuna, the Centre for Science and Environment has petitioned the Supreme Court against the project. In its report on “Sewage Canal: How to clean the Yamuna”, the CSE has claimed a “paradigm shift is needed in the approach to clean the river”. The CSE case in the Supreme Court objecting to the interceptor sewers system is coming up for hearing this Wednesday.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
Steady supply (Indian Express/ The Op-Ed Page - 27 Jan. 2010)
Isher Judge Ahluwalia Posted online: Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010 at 0305 hrs
The water scenario in three cities of Karnataka, i.e., Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga was not very different from that in most other cities of India until recently. Water was available for 1 to 2 hours every 5 days or so, covering only 50 per cent of the population. Since all households did not have individual meters, a fixed rate of Rs. 90 per month was charged to all residents. The richer households met their additional water needs by buying water from tankers at a price of Rs.150 per tanker. Others would invest in storage tanks and electric pumps to make the most when water would flow. The poorer households would line up for hours on the day water would come through the pipes and would therefore miss reporting for work and forego their wages for the day. Today 25,000 individual households or almost 2 lakh residents enjoy the benefits of 24x7 water supply with a world class water distribution system.
This is the result of a pilot project with public-private partnership covering the three cities and costing Rs 237 crore over a period of 5 years. The pilot covers approximately 10 per cent of the population of these cities, which now has access to 24 x 7 water at a cost which is lower than what they paid for earlier, especially when account is taken of the payments for private supplies and loss of wages incurred while queueing up to get public supply of water. All property connections are metered and computerised records are maintained. Average monthly water bills range from Rs. 80 to Rs. 150 depending on consumption. Customer service centres operate 24x7 to address customer complaints and queries. With this pilot, the Karnataka Urban Water Sector Improvement Project (KUWASIP) has successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of providing water round the clock to all the residents of the pilot project area. Fittingly, the project received the National Urban Water Award for public private partnership from the President of India on August 13, 2009.
Arvind Shrivastava, managing director of the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, pointed out to us that in Gulbarga for the first six months, customers received their bills, based on actual consumption, but had only to pay the old fixed charge. After seeing that the new charges were mostly lower than earlier, the customers willingly switched to the new system of consumption-based payments.
The project focused on (i) physical investments in the system, and (ii) strengthening of institutions for service delivery. The latter, which in many ways is crucial, meant improving information systems, benchmarking services, pricing services to recover the cost of operations and management, and putting in place other measures designed to improve the performance of the public sector. The reforms covered the municipal corporations, the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB), and the Karnataka Urban Infrastruture Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC).
The role of the private operator, a French water company, Veolia Water, was to develop an investment programme to refurbish and transform the existing system and to implement the programme. The private sector involvement revolved around single accountability, with a review of the existing systems, data validation, system design, network revamp, and operations & maintenance — all handled by a single party. This was tied into a performance-based contract with stringent performance requirements and payments linked to achievement of the targets. The management fee of Rs. 22 crore to the private operator had a fixed component of 60 per cent, while the remaining 40 per cent was linked to performance. The contract also included a maximum bonus of Rs. 5.6 crore and a penalty of up to 10 per cent in case of failure to meet the performance targets. In the event, “all performance targets were met”, said a beaming Mr K.A. Joseph, regional director of the private company.
The operator was responsible for providing 100 per cent customer connections as well as billing. Actual collections remained with the corporations. Providing adequate bulk water to the private operator was the responsibility of the KUWSDB. The project has comprehensively proved wrong the perception that 24x7 requires more bulk water. Against the 135 lpcd assumed for the project, average water consumption is actually 100 lpcd. The funding for the project came from the World Bank (77 per cent) and the Government of Karnataka (23 per cent).
The project protects the interests of the poor through a cross-subsidy in the tariff structure such that a minimum lifeline supply of 8,000 litres per household is provided at a subsidised rate for the poor, and connection charges are also waived. Not having to store water in large containers means that household space is freed up. Improved water quality has also meant less spending on medicines for water-borne diseases. For example, cases of diarrhea and dysentery at the Belgaum Corporation Maternity Hospital dropped from 402 during the fiscal year 2005-06 to 177 during the fiscal year 2008-09.
A touching revelation during our interaction with the women in the slum area of Madhavpur in Hubli-Dharwad was the enthusiasm of the women for the project. When a politically motivated man tried to intervene by saying that 24x7 water is good but it should be made available cheaper and that women did not realise the value of money since they do not earn, the women protested by saying, first, that they were also earning wages and then, “what would men know about the inconvenience of bringing water from distant locations?” Their empowerment was writ large on their faces.
The political will at the level of the urban local body was evident in our discussion with the corporators. So was the effort at social intermediation. Mr P.S. Vastrad,
municipal commissioner, Hubli-Dharwad, highlighted the importance of involving the local NGOs who took the message of the benefits of the programme to the communities.
Much to the delight of the residents in other areas of the cities which were not covered in the pilot project, the Government of Karnataka has approved the up-scaling of the project to the entire population of the three corporations within the framework of public-private partnership. If three cities in Karnataka have shown that 24x7 water is
indeed deliverable, should other cities and other states of India be far behind?
Isher Judge Ahluwalia is the chairperson of ICRIER and chair of the High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure. Ranesh Nair is a consultant to the committee. Views are personal
The water scenario in three cities of Karnataka, i.e., Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga was not very different from that in most other cities of India until recently. Water was available for 1 to 2 hours every 5 days or so, covering only 50 per cent of the population. Since all households did not have individual meters, a fixed rate of Rs. 90 per month was charged to all residents. The richer households met their additional water needs by buying water from tankers at a price of Rs.150 per tanker. Others would invest in storage tanks and electric pumps to make the most when water would flow. The poorer households would line up for hours on the day water would come through the pipes and would therefore miss reporting for work and forego their wages for the day. Today 25,000 individual households or almost 2 lakh residents enjoy the benefits of 24x7 water supply with a world class water distribution system.
This is the result of a pilot project with public-private partnership covering the three cities and costing Rs 237 crore over a period of 5 years. The pilot covers approximately 10 per cent of the population of these cities, which now has access to 24 x 7 water at a cost which is lower than what they paid for earlier, especially when account is taken of the payments for private supplies and loss of wages incurred while queueing up to get public supply of water. All property connections are metered and computerised records are maintained. Average monthly water bills range from Rs. 80 to Rs. 150 depending on consumption. Customer service centres operate 24x7 to address customer complaints and queries. With this pilot, the Karnataka Urban Water Sector Improvement Project (KUWASIP) has successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of providing water round the clock to all the residents of the pilot project area. Fittingly, the project received the National Urban Water Award for public private partnership from the President of India on August 13, 2009.
Arvind Shrivastava, managing director of the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, pointed out to us that in Gulbarga for the first six months, customers received their bills, based on actual consumption, but had only to pay the old fixed charge. After seeing that the new charges were mostly lower than earlier, the customers willingly switched to the new system of consumption-based payments.
The project focused on (i) physical investments in the system, and (ii) strengthening of institutions for service delivery. The latter, which in many ways is crucial, meant improving information systems, benchmarking services, pricing services to recover the cost of operations and management, and putting in place other measures designed to improve the performance of the public sector. The reforms covered the municipal corporations, the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB), and the Karnataka Urban Infrastruture Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC).
The role of the private operator, a French water company, Veolia Water, was to develop an investment programme to refurbish and transform the existing system and to implement the programme. The private sector involvement revolved around single accountability, with a review of the existing systems, data validation, system design, network revamp, and operations & maintenance — all handled by a single party. This was tied into a performance-based contract with stringent performance requirements and payments linked to achievement of the targets. The management fee of Rs. 22 crore to the private operator had a fixed component of 60 per cent, while the remaining 40 per cent was linked to performance. The contract also included a maximum bonus of Rs. 5.6 crore and a penalty of up to 10 per cent in case of failure to meet the performance targets. In the event, “all performance targets were met”, said a beaming Mr K.A. Joseph, regional director of the private company.
The operator was responsible for providing 100 per cent customer connections as well as billing. Actual collections remained with the corporations. Providing adequate bulk water to the private operator was the responsibility of the KUWSDB. The project has comprehensively proved wrong the perception that 24x7 requires more bulk water. Against the 135 lpcd assumed for the project, average water consumption is actually 100 lpcd. The funding for the project came from the World Bank (77 per cent) and the Government of Karnataka (23 per cent).
The project protects the interests of the poor through a cross-subsidy in the tariff structure such that a minimum lifeline supply of 8,000 litres per household is provided at a subsidised rate for the poor, and connection charges are also waived. Not having to store water in large containers means that household space is freed up. Improved water quality has also meant less spending on medicines for water-borne diseases. For example, cases of diarrhea and dysentery at the Belgaum Corporation Maternity Hospital dropped from 402 during the fiscal year 2005-06 to 177 during the fiscal year 2008-09.
A touching revelation during our interaction with the women in the slum area of Madhavpur in Hubli-Dharwad was the enthusiasm of the women for the project. When a politically motivated man tried to intervene by saying that 24x7 water is good but it should be made available cheaper and that women did not realise the value of money since they do not earn, the women protested by saying, first, that they were also earning wages and then, “what would men know about the inconvenience of bringing water from distant locations?” Their empowerment was writ large on their faces.
The political will at the level of the urban local body was evident in our discussion with the corporators. So was the effort at social intermediation. Mr P.S. Vastrad,
municipal commissioner, Hubli-Dharwad, highlighted the importance of involving the local NGOs who took the message of the benefits of the programme to the communities.
Much to the delight of the residents in other areas of the cities which were not covered in the pilot project, the Government of Karnataka has approved the up-scaling of the project to the entire population of the three corporations within the framework of public-private partnership. If three cities in Karnataka have shown that 24x7 water is
indeed deliverable, should other cities and other states of India be far behind?
Isher Judge Ahluwalia is the chairperson of ICRIER and chair of the High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure. Ranesh Nair is a consultant to the committee. Views are personal
Towards sustainable water management ( The Hindu. News Analysis/Opinion- 25 Jan. 2010)
T.N. Narasimhan
An international private-social group foresees India’s water demand exceeding availability by a factor of two by 2030. Time is now for India to take on the daunting task of formulating a unifying national water policy.
The 2030 Water Resources Group is a consortium of private-social sector organisations formed in 2008 to provide insights into emerging world-wide water issues. In a report, “Charting our water future” issued in 2009, the group provides a candid, fact-based integrated assessment of the global water situation over the next two decades.
Globally, current withdrawals of about 4,500 cubic km exceed the availability of about 4,200 cubic km. By 2030, the demand is expected to increase to about 6,900 cubic km, with a slight drop in availability to 4,100 cubic km. Thus, by 2030, a global deficit of 40 per cent is forecast. For India, the annual demand is expected to increase to almost 1,500 cubic km, against a projected availability of 744 cubic km; a deficit of 50 per cent. The report admits unavoidable uncertainties in these estimates. As an independent check, an alternative perspective merits consideration.
India’s average annual precipitation is about 1,170 mm, and the land area is 3.28 million sq. km. Thus, the volume of annual precipitation input is 3,840 cubic km. The projected availability of 744 cubic km constitutes about 19 per cent of this amount. In comparison, California, known for its spectacular hydraulic-engineering structures, diverts about 18 per cent of its annual rainfall. For a variety of reasons, California is already contemplating a 20 per cent reduction in water use over the coming decade. Conservatively, if we assume that India may harness 15 per cent of rainfall with careful management, an annual availability of about 600 cubic km is perhaps a reasonable figure to comprehend the scope of India’s water crisis.
Looking to the future, the report stresses that closing the gap between supply and demand will be very difficult. Rather than claiming to provide solutions to all water problems, the authors cautiously consider the report a starting point for meaningful dialogue among all stakeholders for action towards credible solutions. In this spirit, we may examine the implications of their findings to India’s water situation.
In the broadest sense, two questions arise: What do the findings portend for India’s economic growth? How should India respond to the impending crisis?
Concerning economic growth, even a modest 6 per cent annual growth implies a real tripling of the economy by 2030. Is this achievable, if the annual availability is limited to about 600 cubic km? What rate of economic growth should India reasonably plan for?
The question how India should respond is of fundamental importance. India’s greatest challenge is to set in place an equitable, efficient system of governance for sharing a finite resource among all segments of society, simultaneously preserving the integrity of the resource for future generations.
At the time of independence, the annual availability of water in abundant quantities was taken for granted, and India’s Constitution declared water to be a State subject, with the Union government playing a role in inter-State issues. The Constitution does not explicitly recognise water’s unique attributes as a finite resource, widely variable in space and time, and vital for the sustenance of all living things.
At the beginning of the 21st century, when confronted with the imperative of sharing this vital resource among all segments of society according to the values of justice and equality assured in the preamble, one finds a conspicuous lack of philosophical authority necessary to make decisions on the allocation, prioritisation, protection, regulation, and management of water resources. This want of a philosophical basis is manifest in a lack of a national water policy. If so, what might be an appropriate philosophical approach?
India is about as large as Europe without Russia. Both have long histories of human habitation. India comprises 28 States and 7 Union Territories. Europe is a union of 27 independent nations. In 2000, the European Union issued the far-reaching Water Framework Directive with the goal of achieving sustainable management of water. The Directive requires all member-states to establish water laws conforming to common hydrological principles applied over river basins, with the active participation of citizens. The Directive’s philosophical foundation is set forth in the preamble: “Water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such.”
In 1976, a committee on Earth Resources, Time, and Man of the International Union of Geological Sciences observed: “Mankind is on the threshold of a transition from a brief interlude of exponential growth to a much longer period characterised by rates of change so slow as to be regarded essentially as a period of non-growth. Although the impending period of transition to very low growth rates poses no insuperable physical or biological difficulties, those aspects of our current economic and social thinking which are based on the premise that current rates of growth can be sustained indefinitely must be revised. Failing to respond promptly and rationally to these impending changes could lead to a global ecological crisis in which human beings will be the main victims.” This observation clearly anticipates the findings of the 2030 Water Resources Group.
Even with the best available technologies, the finiteness and unpredictable variability of water resource systems place severe limits on human aspirations for prosperity. At present, India is in a difficult position of not only accepting this reality but also having to take concrete steps to adapting to the reality.
A related development. A November 2009 report, “A framework for India’s water policy” of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, discusses India’s water endowments and the human challenges confronting sustainable water management.
(T.N. Narasimhan is in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley. tnnarasimhan@LBL.gov)
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
An international private-social group foresees India’s water demand exceeding availability by a factor of two by 2030. Time is now for India to take on the daunting task of formulating a unifying national water policy.
The 2030 Water Resources Group is a consortium of private-social sector organisations formed in 2008 to provide insights into emerging world-wide water issues. In a report, “Charting our water future” issued in 2009, the group provides a candid, fact-based integrated assessment of the global water situation over the next two decades.
Globally, current withdrawals of about 4,500 cubic km exceed the availability of about 4,200 cubic km. By 2030, the demand is expected to increase to about 6,900 cubic km, with a slight drop in availability to 4,100 cubic km. Thus, by 2030, a global deficit of 40 per cent is forecast. For India, the annual demand is expected to increase to almost 1,500 cubic km, against a projected availability of 744 cubic km; a deficit of 50 per cent. The report admits unavoidable uncertainties in these estimates. As an independent check, an alternative perspective merits consideration.
India’s average annual precipitation is about 1,170 mm, and the land area is 3.28 million sq. km. Thus, the volume of annual precipitation input is 3,840 cubic km. The projected availability of 744 cubic km constitutes about 19 per cent of this amount. In comparison, California, known for its spectacular hydraulic-engineering structures, diverts about 18 per cent of its annual rainfall. For a variety of reasons, California is already contemplating a 20 per cent reduction in water use over the coming decade. Conservatively, if we assume that India may harness 15 per cent of rainfall with careful management, an annual availability of about 600 cubic km is perhaps a reasonable figure to comprehend the scope of India’s water crisis.
Looking to the future, the report stresses that closing the gap between supply and demand will be very difficult. Rather than claiming to provide solutions to all water problems, the authors cautiously consider the report a starting point for meaningful dialogue among all stakeholders for action towards credible solutions. In this spirit, we may examine the implications of their findings to India’s water situation.
In the broadest sense, two questions arise: What do the findings portend for India’s economic growth? How should India respond to the impending crisis?
Concerning economic growth, even a modest 6 per cent annual growth implies a real tripling of the economy by 2030. Is this achievable, if the annual availability is limited to about 600 cubic km? What rate of economic growth should India reasonably plan for?
The question how India should respond is of fundamental importance. India’s greatest challenge is to set in place an equitable, efficient system of governance for sharing a finite resource among all segments of society, simultaneously preserving the integrity of the resource for future generations.
At the time of independence, the annual availability of water in abundant quantities was taken for granted, and India’s Constitution declared water to be a State subject, with the Union government playing a role in inter-State issues. The Constitution does not explicitly recognise water’s unique attributes as a finite resource, widely variable in space and time, and vital for the sustenance of all living things.
At the beginning of the 21st century, when confronted with the imperative of sharing this vital resource among all segments of society according to the values of justice and equality assured in the preamble, one finds a conspicuous lack of philosophical authority necessary to make decisions on the allocation, prioritisation, protection, regulation, and management of water resources. This want of a philosophical basis is manifest in a lack of a national water policy. If so, what might be an appropriate philosophical approach?
India is about as large as Europe without Russia. Both have long histories of human habitation. India comprises 28 States and 7 Union Territories. Europe is a union of 27 independent nations. In 2000, the European Union issued the far-reaching Water Framework Directive with the goal of achieving sustainable management of water. The Directive requires all member-states to establish water laws conforming to common hydrological principles applied over river basins, with the active participation of citizens. The Directive’s philosophical foundation is set forth in the preamble: “Water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such.”
In 1976, a committee on Earth Resources, Time, and Man of the International Union of Geological Sciences observed: “Mankind is on the threshold of a transition from a brief interlude of exponential growth to a much longer period characterised by rates of change so slow as to be regarded essentially as a period of non-growth. Although the impending period of transition to very low growth rates poses no insuperable physical or biological difficulties, those aspects of our current economic and social thinking which are based on the premise that current rates of growth can be sustained indefinitely must be revised. Failing to respond promptly and rationally to these impending changes could lead to a global ecological crisis in which human beings will be the main victims.” This observation clearly anticipates the findings of the 2030 Water Resources Group.
Even with the best available technologies, the finiteness and unpredictable variability of water resource systems place severe limits on human aspirations for prosperity. At present, India is in a difficult position of not only accepting this reality but also having to take concrete steps to adapting to the reality.
A related development. A November 2009 report, “A framework for India’s water policy” of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, discusses India’s water endowments and the human challenges confronting sustainable water management.
(T.N. Narasimhan is in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley. tnnarasimhan@LBL.gov)
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
Yamuna bed set for green, tourist-friendly makeover( Indian Express- Tuesday , Jan 26, 2010)
Esha Roy
New Delhi : While Union Sports minister M S Gill last week said the Yamuna is so dirty that foreign visitors should be kept away from the river during the Commonwealth Games, plans are afoot to make the riverbed a tourist-friendly zone — keeping in mind environmental issues.
Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna said there are plans to make concentric layers or sub-zones on the riverbed. He said, “The peripheral layer will allow recreational activities for visitors, like picnics.”
Khanna heads the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which plans land-use of the area.
Maintaining too much construction on the riverbed will not be entertained, Khanna told Newsline that DDA already has a plan in place by which this can be done.
Khanna chaired a high-level meeting last week in which feasibility and implementation of the plan had been discussed. “There will be three layers on the riverbed,” he said. “At the heart of the riverbed, alongside Yamuna, will be a biodiversity zone. There will be no construction here, and visitors will not be allowed to enter. The next layer will be the ‘interactive zone’ — while heavily forested, people will be allowed to enter this area.
“The last zone, farthest from the river, will be permitted to host recreational activities,” he said.
Khanna said at least 3,000 hectares of approximately 10,000 hectares of the riverbed had been “lost” to construction. So, “it is important to make judicious use of the remaining 7,000 hectares”.
While the nature of “recreational activities” is yet to be determined, he said a few suggestions that came up — a Formula One course, among others — during the meet were turned down.
Ruling out canalisation of the Yamuna, Khanna said this was not possible in Delhi due to the nature of the river and the pattern of rainfall in the city. “We studied the possibility of canalisation and ruled that out — this is primarily because rainfall pattern in our country is very different from that of Europe, and the amount of surface run-off in Delhi is much higher.
“The Yamuna also carries a very heavy silt load. While it has been possible to canalise the Thames or the Danube, this is not the case with the Yamuna.”
Khanna said his main aim would be to “preserve as much of the riverbed as possible”.
He said there are 20 “experimental wells” on the riverbed to study the pollution levels and the feasibility of cleaning the river.
Yamuna’s Delhi course
* Covers a length of 48 km — 22 km in urban area. Width varies from 1.5 km to 3 km
* Enters city at Palla and exits at Jaitpur, South Delhi
* Zone ‘O’ of DDA’s masterplan deals with land-use of riverbed and covers approximately 9,700 hectares
* 7 road bridges, 2 railway bridges, 1 Metro bridge, and 2 fair-weather pontoon bridges cross it
* 22 of city’s major drains discharge effluent into it
On riverbed
Existing structures on riverbed include the Delhi Secretariat (houses CM and her Cabinet), Samadhi complex, Akshardham temple, cremation grounds, sports complexes, thermal and gas power stations, bathing ghats, sewerage treatment plants, fly ash ponds and fly ash brick plants. Most of the riverbed is used for agriculture.
Friday, January 22, 2010
New water recycling plant inaugurated in Capital (The Hindu, 20.1.2010)
Staff Reporter
Will add 11 MGD of water to Delhi’s distribution system
More water: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit having a look at the recycling plant after its inauguration in the Capital on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: A new water recycling plant that will put an additional 11 million gallons a day (MGD) of water into the Capital’s distribution system was inaugurated by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at Wazirabad here on Tuesday. The city’s second recycling plant, the Wazirabad recycling plant is also an energy-efficient system.
The plant uses advanced technologies over a multi-level treatment process, removes impurities from water that was otherwise discarded during the water treatment process and makes it fit for human consumption.
The Chief Minister said since water is a finite resource it is the responsibility of every citizen to promote its efficient usage. Setting up integrated recycling plants at the water treatment plants is only a step in that direction, she said.
The Rs.27.8-crore recycling plant will add another 11 MGD to the existing water capacity, benefiting more than five lakh people, especially residents of the Burari area in North Delhi.
The plant will treat the wastewater generated during the initial process of raw water treatment and will be fully integrated with the existing water treatment facility in Wazirabad.
Referring to the efforts being made by the Delhi Jal Board toward improving the water system in the city, the Chief Minister said the Board is building similar fully-integrated recycle water treatment plants at the Bhagirathi (10 MGD) and Chandrawal (8 MGD) water treatment complexes as well. A recycling plant at Haiderpur commissioned last year is already running at full capacity.
By the time all these projects are ready this coming March, she said, a total of 45 MGD would have been added to Delhi’s water supply system. Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson Ramakant Goswami said these recycling treatment plants would help in saving roughly 10 per cent of the water that was earlier discarded as wastewater generated during water treatment operations.
Delhi Jal Board Chief Operating Officer Ramesh Negi said the Board is constantly on the look-out for innovative ways to make the best use of available resources by introducing advanced technological interventions in the system.
He said the Wazirabad recycling plant has been designed to ensure that no wastewater will be generated from the recycling plant. The system is based on advanced treatment technology; therefore even wastewater generated during the recycling process is re-fed into the system leaving minimal waste.
Mr. Negi said the Jal Board is currently undertaking several projects to develop water and wastewater-related infrastructure in Delhi. Taking a comprehensive view of the situation, these projects include augmentation and development of water sourcing and supply systems, improving operational efficiencies in existing processes and development of sewage treatment infrastructure of the city.
Will add 11 MGD of water to Delhi’s distribution system
More water: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit having a look at the recycling plant after its inauguration in the Capital on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: A new water recycling plant that will put an additional 11 million gallons a day (MGD) of water into the Capital’s distribution system was inaugurated by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at Wazirabad here on Tuesday. The city’s second recycling plant, the Wazirabad recycling plant is also an energy-efficient system.
The plant uses advanced technologies over a multi-level treatment process, removes impurities from water that was otherwise discarded during the water treatment process and makes it fit for human consumption.
The Chief Minister said since water is a finite resource it is the responsibility of every citizen to promote its efficient usage. Setting up integrated recycling plants at the water treatment plants is only a step in that direction, she said.
The Rs.27.8-crore recycling plant will add another 11 MGD to the existing water capacity, benefiting more than five lakh people, especially residents of the Burari area in North Delhi.
The plant will treat the wastewater generated during the initial process of raw water treatment and will be fully integrated with the existing water treatment facility in Wazirabad.
Referring to the efforts being made by the Delhi Jal Board toward improving the water system in the city, the Chief Minister said the Board is building similar fully-integrated recycle water treatment plants at the Bhagirathi (10 MGD) and Chandrawal (8 MGD) water treatment complexes as well. A recycling plant at Haiderpur commissioned last year is already running at full capacity.
By the time all these projects are ready this coming March, she said, a total of 45 MGD would have been added to Delhi’s water supply system. Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson Ramakant Goswami said these recycling treatment plants would help in saving roughly 10 per cent of the water that was earlier discarded as wastewater generated during water treatment operations.
Delhi Jal Board Chief Operating Officer Ramesh Negi said the Board is constantly on the look-out for innovative ways to make the best use of available resources by introducing advanced technological interventions in the system.
He said the Wazirabad recycling plant has been designed to ensure that no wastewater will be generated from the recycling plant. The system is based on advanced treatment technology; therefore even wastewater generated during the recycling process is re-fed into the system leaving minimal waste.
Mr. Negi said the Jal Board is currently undertaking several projects to develop water and wastewater-related infrastructure in Delhi. Taking a comprehensive view of the situation, these projects include augmentation and development of water sourcing and supply systems, improving operational efficiencies in existing processes and development of sewage treatment infrastructure of the city.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
A water-less future (The Hindu) 10 January 2010
Can you manage a family of five or more on four buckets of water day? That is a maximum of 80 litres a day. Not per person but for five people. Therefore, 20 litres per person per day. And then there are days when there is not a drop of water. This is the challenge facing millions of people, not in a water-deprived desert area but in Mumbai, the city with the best supply of water of any city in India.
So if people predict that the next water wars in this decade will take place not between nations but between communities in our cities, they are not far off the mark. The wars will be between the poor, the most deprived, and between the rich and the poor. The rich will also suffer water cuts, as they already do. But they will manage without having to face too much hardship because they will always have the ability to hoard, store and buy water. The poor, on the other hand, will get less than they already do, which is little enough. And without permanent housing, they will never have the same ability to store water, as do those who live in puccabuildings. So the gap between the rich and the poor will be defined through access to water.
Increased burden
With this scarcity, the burden on women will increase, as it already has. Receding water tables and decreasing snow melt have forced millions of women, in deserts and mountain regions, in villages and towns, to work harder to find water. Somehow they must fulfil their principal duties of washing, cleaning, cooking — and so they scrounge and beg, and walk longer distances to fetch that one, two or three buckets of precious water.
The other reality that is emerging is how, in times of scarcity, no one wants to share, be generous, least of all those who have enough. Housing societies in Mumbai, for instance, are making rules not allowing “outsiders” from taking out water from the buildings. These “outsiders” are actually the “insiders”, the domestic help in all our homes without whom our lives would be really difficult. They are the people who cook and clean and wash. They do this in homes where water flows through taps. And then when they finish work, they go out of the buildings to their homes in a slum where there are days without a drop of water. Yet, we feel justified in denying such people water at times of acute need. There is no culture in the world that defends the denial of water to a thirsty or needy person. Yet, the urban middle class ethos is defending just this.
Islands of indulgence
Islanded from this growing reality of the water crisis are also the gated communities and “future cities” that bore down and pull up the common resource from underground water springs, unmindful of the impact on people dependent on these streams. As a result, people who always had enough for their needs are now the needy while those with the financial resources to build these new urban islands feel no compunction in justifying the wasteful use of what they like to call “their” water. While their pools and fountains never run dry, the villages around them wonder why their wells have no water.
These are times where we need to learn from those who survive on practically no water, or very little. There are hundreds of examples in India of traditional communities who have survived on very little. Yet, their example is rarely heeded. Instead, the trend in urban development, particularly, is more waste and less conservation based on a totally unrealistic understanding of the availability of water as a common resource.
There is one community that can certainly teach us, and the whole world, the value of water. And that is the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert. A fascinating book on water that those planning our water policy should read is Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Droughtby James G. Workman (published by Walker Publishing Co., New York, 2009). Workman, an international water expert, studied the Bushmen in the heart of the Kalahari Desert in present-day Botswana. And he realised that these are the real water experts. The situation in which the Bushmen survived is something we cannot imagine. Yet survive they did, until non-Bushmen decided to cut off their access of water and forced them to move.
An ethics of sharing
Workman describes the Bushmen “code of conduct” with regard to water. It “allows people to negotiate informally over the water resources they require, reaching out to partners with whom to exchange if and when they need more or less. People increased supply by efficiently reducing demands, and the benevolent result of their integrated informal right to water brought Bushmen into a relative state of social abundance.”
A wonderful phrase — “state of social abundance”. Instead what we are seeing in our cities is precisely the opposite because of an ethos that despises generosity and sharing. Explaining further the Bushmen's approach to the crisis of water, Workman writes:
Prepared for extreme deprivation, Kalahari Bushmen chose the hard responsibility of a dry reality over a government-dependent fantasy of water abundance. Outside of their reserve the so-called civilised world found that for all our military might and Internet bandwidth, certain things still lie beyond our grasp. We discover we cannot ‘regulate' our climate, clouds or rain. Out here, while elected leaders kneel to pray for a thundershower that will provide temporary relief, the increasingly dry hot wind whistles through the thorn trees in the central Kalahari and whispers the ancient secret those last defiant Bushmen never forgot. We don't govern water. Water governs us.”
Indeed, water will govern us. It will also determine whether we can be a humane society.
Email the writer: sharma.kalpana@yahoo.com
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The tragedy of Delhi’s water loss (The Hindu- 07 Jan. 2010)
Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
NEW DELHI: Delhi’s inability to curb water leakage and theft is largely to be blamed for the absence of piped water supply to large parts of the Capital as the total distribution losses are to the order of 40 per cent.
NEW DELHI: Delhi’s inability to curb water leakage and theft is largely to be blamed for the absence of piped water supply to large parts of the Capital as the total distribution losses are to the order of 40 per cent.
A study conducted by the Delhi Committee of the ASSOCHAM reveals that the distribution losses are primarily due to leakages in a network of nearly 9,000-km-long water supply lines and because of theft committed through unauthorised connections.
Pointing out that this figure was quite high even in comparison to the 10 per cent to 20 per cent losses seen in the developing countries, the study notes that the percentage of unaccounted-for water calculated from the difference between water produced and pumped was also very high at 35 per cent to 40 per cent.
The current gap between supply and demand of water being nearly 1,300 million litres of water, ASSOCHAM secretary-general G.S. Rawat said that with Delhi’s population likely to exceed 19 million by 2011 from the current level of about close to 16 million, the availability of both power and water would have to be raised manifold to meet the rise in demand.
At present, as against a demand of 4,300 million litres per day, Delhi supplies only about 3,000 million litres of water.
The study found that conservative pricing of resource and associated services along with non-metering of 23 per cent of the water connections has also discouraged prudent use of water.
It notes with concern that Delhi has an average of only four hours of water supply a day. And while the Delhi Jal Board supplies over 3,000 million litres per day, only about 1,700 million litres actually reaches the consumers due to infrastructural constraints and problems.
With as much as 40 per cent of the water being lost due to leaking pipes, many households go without water. As per the study, 27 per cent of homes in Delhi receive tap water for less than three hours a day.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Letter to PM (River Health Index- 07 Jan. 2010)
To,
Dr Manmohan Singh,
Hon’ble Prime Minister
Government of IndiaNew Delhi
Respected Sir,
Greetings for a HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2010 from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan!
It is our fond hope that the steps initiated by the UPA government under your leadership for the revival of river Ganga in the last year, would fructify soon so that the other rivers in the country also benefit from the Ganga experience.
In this context allow us to recall that your honour had constituted on 24th August 2007 a high powered committee called the Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA) under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Lt Governor of Delhi with a well defined mandate and a 3 monthly reporting schedule.
We at Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, campaigning for the revival of the river Yamuna since early 2007, have with interest tried to follow the progress of the said high powered committee.
While we note with respect and appreciation that soon after taking up the charge of the Committee and holding of a number of its meetings, the Hon’ble Lt Governor found it appropriate to declare a moratorium (as an intent) on any new construction in the river bed / flood plain in Delhi (and has kept to it) but the fact remains that the said moratorium is no more than the honest word of a high level authority with little guarantee of it being kept, if for whatever reason and sooner or later, the present incumbent demits his office. We have not come across any official communication or order, other than through word of mouth, as reported in the media that confirms the said moratorium.
In any case, the fact remains that your honour had constituted the said high powered Committee as an interim measure till the said Committee in accordance with point e) of its terms of reference (TOR) came up with a suggested design for a statutory framework, which takes forward the policy framework and an integrated plan for the river which addresses issues of both quantity in terms of river flow and quality in the Yamuna river. The said policy framework as well as the integrated plan for the river was to be devised by the Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA). The only thing that one has heard for the river for quite some time is the much advertised Sewage Interceptor Scheme of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which experts like the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have adversely critiqued on several grounds. But even this scheme, if and when successful, would only be able to address the quality aspect of the river and the paramount issue of quantity in terms of river flow would remain unaddressed.
For us at the YJA it is a measure of grave concern that even after almost two and a half years of the constitution of the said high powered Committee there is nothing in the public domain in the nature of either any policy framework; an integrated plan for the river or the suggested design for a statutory framework, in the absence of which while the river’s interest continues to suffer there are activities (impacting both the flow in the river and the river’s flood plain) taking place or planned both upstream and downstream of Delhi in Haryana and in UP which would compromise the future of the river for all times to come. The recent construction plans in the river bed along the river between NOIDA and Agra as well as in Agra and in Vrindavan (being vehemently opposed by local groups) and water abstraction plans upstream in Haryana are but few examples of what is in store for the already beleaguered river. Thus it may later be too late for any remedial action/s for the river to be initiated or successfully implemented.
We believe that it is time that on the lines of river Ganga, a River Basin Authority for the revival of river Yamuna is also created so that the urgent issues concerning the life-line river Yamuna are also taken up in an integrated manner and on a priority basis.
We at the YJA hope that your honour would find time from your busy schedule to attend to this humble yet urgent appeal from us.
Warm regards,
Manoj Misra
Convenor
Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan
Dr Manmohan Singh,
Hon’ble Prime Minister
Government of IndiaNew Delhi
Respected Sir,
Greetings for a HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2010 from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan!
It is our fond hope that the steps initiated by the UPA government under your leadership for the revival of river Ganga in the last year, would fructify soon so that the other rivers in the country also benefit from the Ganga experience.
In this context allow us to recall that your honour had constituted on 24th August 2007 a high powered committee called the Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA) under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Lt Governor of Delhi with a well defined mandate and a 3 monthly reporting schedule.
We at Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, campaigning for the revival of the river Yamuna since early 2007, have with interest tried to follow the progress of the said high powered committee.
While we note with respect and appreciation that soon after taking up the charge of the Committee and holding of a number of its meetings, the Hon’ble Lt Governor found it appropriate to declare a moratorium (as an intent) on any new construction in the river bed / flood plain in Delhi (and has kept to it) but the fact remains that the said moratorium is no more than the honest word of a high level authority with little guarantee of it being kept, if for whatever reason and sooner or later, the present incumbent demits his office. We have not come across any official communication or order, other than through word of mouth, as reported in the media that confirms the said moratorium.
In any case, the fact remains that your honour had constituted the said high powered Committee as an interim measure till the said Committee in accordance with point e) of its terms of reference (TOR) came up with a suggested design for a statutory framework, which takes forward the policy framework and an integrated plan for the river which addresses issues of both quantity in terms of river flow and quality in the Yamuna river. The said policy framework as well as the integrated plan for the river was to be devised by the Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA). The only thing that one has heard for the river for quite some time is the much advertised Sewage Interceptor Scheme of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which experts like the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have adversely critiqued on several grounds. But even this scheme, if and when successful, would only be able to address the quality aspect of the river and the paramount issue of quantity in terms of river flow would remain unaddressed.
For us at the YJA it is a measure of grave concern that even after almost two and a half years of the constitution of the said high powered Committee there is nothing in the public domain in the nature of either any policy framework; an integrated plan for the river or the suggested design for a statutory framework, in the absence of which while the river’s interest continues to suffer there are activities (impacting both the flow in the river and the river’s flood plain) taking place or planned both upstream and downstream of Delhi in Haryana and in UP which would compromise the future of the river for all times to come. The recent construction plans in the river bed along the river between NOIDA and Agra as well as in Agra and in Vrindavan (being vehemently opposed by local groups) and water abstraction plans upstream in Haryana are but few examples of what is in store for the already beleaguered river. Thus it may later be too late for any remedial action/s for the river to be initiated or successfully implemented.
We believe that it is time that on the lines of river Ganga, a River Basin Authority for the revival of river Yamuna is also created so that the urgent issues concerning the life-line river Yamuna are also taken up in an integrated manner and on a priority basis.
We at the YJA hope that your honour would find time from your busy schedule to attend to this humble yet urgent appeal from us.
Warm regards,
Manoj Misra
Convenor
Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Bridge Construction Threat to Yamuna and Vrindavan (Harmonist staff on December 27, 2009 )
By Harmonist StaffNote: At the bottom of this article is a series of links which can help readers stay informed and participate in the effort to halt the construction of the bridge over Sri Yamuna River. Particularly everyone is encouraged to sign the petition linked below.The government of Uttar Pradesh, along with private contractors, has begun construction of a bridge that will cross Vrindavan’s Yamuna River in close proximity to the historic Kesi Ghat. The project is an effort to facilitate further growth in the area, nearby parts of which are already overwhelmed with buildings and people, particularly during certain times of the year in which pilgrims from all over the world flood Vrindavan to celebrate and honor various holidays.In recent days it seems that the issue is coming to a head with many devotees and environmental activists speaking out against the construction. One of the more prominent voices involved in the protest is that of K.P.S. Gill, former director general of police, who has previously been credited for cleaning up and helping to reduce crime in the area surrounding Kesi Ghat.Many are pointing out that the portions of Vrindavan that are already inhabited, polluted, and neglected are where money needs to be invested, whereas more expansion will only further degrade both the physical condition and the sanctity of the dhama.On December 25, a kirtan/protest procession and Yamuna puja were organized. Residents of Vrindavan and Vaishnavas from various institutions attended, but apparently not without opposition. There are reports that police were sent to the Sandipani Muni School in an attempt to prevent the five hundred students therein from taking part in the protest. Additionally, the police are said to have threatened to cancel the visas of foreign teachers in the school. Despite the threats and actions of the police it seems that the children did indeed participate. No word has come as to whether the protest has had or will have any impact, but some feel the effort is likely to be too little too late, considering many have known about the bridge plans for years now.There has at least been some encouraging news circulating on the Internet in the form of a message from Vaishnavacharya Chandan Goswami of the Goswami family of Sri Sri Radha Raman temple. The message reads as follows:We have been protesting since day one and asked everyone to join with us. Sad to say all the gurus agree that this construction is wrong, but no one wants to protest against it. In a couple of days we are having a meeting with Satish Chandra Mishra, who is the second strongest person of the state because of whom Vrindavan got the package of reinnovation.According to the law of the archeological department of India, the area up to 100 metres from a monument is designated as a prohibited area and up to 200 meters as a regulated area.“No development is permitted within 100 metres of any monument preserved by the State Archaeology Department or by the Archaeology Survey of India.”There is a Jugal Kishore Temple which is situated on the back side of Kesi Ghat. Because of this law now we have made them stop the construction work and filed the FIR against them.JP Group, the contractor, has called back his project manager and half of the labor has left. Now three things can happen:-1. Either they make bridge after 300 meters radius which will make this bridge far from Kesighat.2. Or they can stop the work altogether.3. Or they can work on our idea which we have proposed to them.The result will be out in few weeks as we are taking serious actions against them.It must be noted that a significant number of those involved in the effort to reverse the bridge construction do have some involvement, to one degree or another, in its inception. Not only has the sheer number of pilgrims to Vrindavan increased, but more and more of those pilgrims are coming from Western cultures and expecting some degree of Western accommodations. All of this translates into business opportunities, which the government and others are seeking to capitalize on.There are some efforts taking place on social-networking site Facebook to unite concerned parties and keep the flow of information steady. One such group can be accessed here.There has also been talk of raising money to place an ad on Facebook itself, particularly in India, in order to promote awareness and support of the opposition. It is not completely clear who is organizing this effort, but interested parties can start here.Lastly, there is an online petition available to stop the Yamuna Bridge construction, available here.Pictures of the protest procession can be seen here.
Against Bridge Building Across Holy Yamunaji (shukasari.blogspot.com- 07 Dec. 2009)
In order to pursue money which is like honey for almost everyone, certain individuals and political bodies do not care for the destruction of historical or religious sites. Thus the building of a bridge across Yamuna takes place. Many devotees and well-wishers are protesting. This will bring about an ecological destruction of the Kesi Ghat area.
Here we are trying to preserve what is ours, yet there are those who are bent on seeing it go forever.
The heart bleeds. The eyes cries. The body quiver with uncontrollable rage. Yet never to give up, we shall rise.
It may bring in the big tourists' money. But at what cost???Firstly, the residents of Vrindavan, especially the sadhus should be consulted in this matter. Instead, the construction is simply going on. I suppose at the end of the day, only the Lord knows His own big plan. Still we protest and we try and we pray. Let us all join our hearts and hands, and with Srila Gurudeva's blessings. protest against such destruction.
Vrindavan eco-activists launch Save Yamuna campaign (Daily Times India)
Vrindavan eco-activists launch Save Yamuna campaign
Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 26 (IANS) Even as preparations are underway here for a large religious festival starting next month, eco-activists led by former director general of police K.P.S. Gill and working under the Save Yamuna to Save Vrindavan campaign have demanded rethinking on building a new bridge at the heritage Keshi Ghat.
Though district authorities are working overtime to ensure that basic civic infrastructure is ready by early January for the festival they call a Kumbh Mela, leaders of various Akharas (Hindu sects) in Vrindavan are not satisfied with the state of preparedness.
“Time is running out and our chief worry is the sad state of river Yamuna,” a sadhu near the Keshi Ghat said.
A festival is held every 12 years in Vrindavan, the centre of Sri Krishna’s Braj Bhoomi, that attracts millions of devotees. Situated on the banks of the Yamuna river, Vrindavan attracts hundreds of thousands of Krishna devotees from all parts of the world for the festival, this time beginning Jan 20.
A tented township is coming up on the dry river bed where hundreds of organisations, eco-groups and sadhus of different Hindu sects will put up stalls. District Magistrate Dinesh Shukla has constituted a committee to monitor the progress of the civil works.
Acharya Jaimini, an eminent musicologist of Vrindavan, told IANS: “So far the town is ill-prepared for hosting a big show like the Kumbh. They should have started six months ago.”
District authorities said a request had been made to the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department to release water in the river so that the pollution level is brought down and there is enough water for the mass bathing programme.
Hundreds of temples and dharamshalas (guest houses) in the pilgrimage town are gearing up to meet the expected rush of pilgrims to begin immediately after Makar Sankranti, Jan 14.
Braj Foundation, an NGO, is engaged in resurrecting and restoring heritage spots and water bodies, according to Raghav Mittal, project director.
Meanwhile, environmentalists and eco-activists marched in a procession Friday afternoon to protest construction of the new bridge.
“The new bridge will also increase the level of pollution in the river,” an activist said.
A sadhu said Yamuna was the lifeline of Braj Mandal. “The river has to be saved at any cost.”
Monday, January 4, 2010
NOTES FROM BRIJ KHANDELWAL, AGRA
Agra district authorities are planning yet another symbolic Yamuna Cleaning on January 11. School kids and all those who claim to be working for Yamuna's restoration of health, plus the NGOs, theatre groups, media organisations, are being roped in to clean some ghats and march in a procession.Wonderful initiative.
But will that be enough?
These well meaning folks have to be reminded that the real problems are political:
Unfortunately the district authorities and the state government departments lack the will and vision to do what should have been done years ago. They have the legal sanction.And dont forget that the Yamuna ghats were demolished at the order of late Sanjay Gandhi. The whole Yamuna Kinara road was forcibly cleared of temples, ghats and community facilities.
To put things in perspective:
The Yamuna Kinara road has not been cleared as yet of transport companies, even after 30 years. The transporters are powerful people and they always manage to bribe away decision makers. In recent months the divisional commissioner has thrice ordered their shifting. Can the district magistrate do that? The Hathi Ghat is being used to park trucks which are washed and all oily waste flows into the river.
Agra's share of Yamuna water has to be fixed. Delhi is taking all the water. Haryana draws large quantities. Even Rajasthan's share is fixed. What about the claim of downstream cities. Why is Okhla barrage, of the UP government, holding back water for Delhi's consumption?
More importantly why are effluents and untreated water being discharged by Delhi into the river. For good 22 kms Yamuna flows into the union territory and picks up all the pollutants and effluents, which people downstream consume.
What is the UP Pollution Control Board doing? How many cases has it filed against polluters? Has the directive of the Supreme Court to shift dhobies and dairies been implemented? If not why?
How many drains open into the river? How many have been plugged.? Last count by the pollution board officials said there were 19 nullahs opening into the river. And what is the state of the flood plains? How many unauthorised colonies have come up? What action has been taken against colonisers?
Some specialists have pointed out that the quality of water at the point where Yamuna enters Agra district is better but between Keitham and the Taj Mahal the water quality deteriorates. If that is true, the culprits should be booked for polluting the river. District authorities have to do that under the Prevention of Water Pollution Control Act which is mandatory and clear cut.
Awareness camps and processions are ok at the level of voluntary agencies. But district authorities need to act according to the law and the orders already pending in respect of Yamuna pollution. The Agra Nagar Nigam, the UP Pollution Control Board which has the police powers, and the District Magistrate of Agra along with other agencies must draw up an action programme and book polluters. Shift the transporters. Ask the UP horticulture department to develop and maintain the parks along the bank. The drains must be diverted to the treatment plants. The district magistrate should find out why pumping stations are not working and take immediate action.--
BRIJ KHANDELWAL
21/22. Free Ganj, AGRA-282004, India
Phones: 0562 4002937; 9997186708
email:agrabrij@gmail.com; brij.k@ians.in
But will that be enough?
These well meaning folks have to be reminded that the real problems are political:
Unfortunately the district authorities and the state government departments lack the will and vision to do what should have been done years ago. They have the legal sanction.And dont forget that the Yamuna ghats were demolished at the order of late Sanjay Gandhi. The whole Yamuna Kinara road was forcibly cleared of temples, ghats and community facilities.
To put things in perspective:
The Yamuna Kinara road has not been cleared as yet of transport companies, even after 30 years. The transporters are powerful people and they always manage to bribe away decision makers. In recent months the divisional commissioner has thrice ordered their shifting. Can the district magistrate do that? The Hathi Ghat is being used to park trucks which are washed and all oily waste flows into the river.
Agra's share of Yamuna water has to be fixed. Delhi is taking all the water. Haryana draws large quantities. Even Rajasthan's share is fixed. What about the claim of downstream cities. Why is Okhla barrage, of the UP government, holding back water for Delhi's consumption?
More importantly why are effluents and untreated water being discharged by Delhi into the river. For good 22 kms Yamuna flows into the union territory and picks up all the pollutants and effluents, which people downstream consume.
What is the UP Pollution Control Board doing? How many cases has it filed against polluters? Has the directive of the Supreme Court to shift dhobies and dairies been implemented? If not why?
How many drains open into the river? How many have been plugged.? Last count by the pollution board officials said there were 19 nullahs opening into the river. And what is the state of the flood plains? How many unauthorised colonies have come up? What action has been taken against colonisers?
Some specialists have pointed out that the quality of water at the point where Yamuna enters Agra district is better but between Keitham and the Taj Mahal the water quality deteriorates. If that is true, the culprits should be booked for polluting the river. District authorities have to do that under the Prevention of Water Pollution Control Act which is mandatory and clear cut.
Awareness camps and processions are ok at the level of voluntary agencies. But district authorities need to act according to the law and the orders already pending in respect of Yamuna pollution. The Agra Nagar Nigam, the UP Pollution Control Board which has the police powers, and the District Magistrate of Agra along with other agencies must draw up an action programme and book polluters. Shift the transporters. Ask the UP horticulture department to develop and maintain the parks along the bank. The drains must be diverted to the treatment plants. The district magistrate should find out why pumping stations are not working and take immediate action.--
BRIJ KHANDELWAL
21/22. Free Ganj, AGRA-282004, India
Phones: 0562 4002937; 9997186708
email:agrabrij@gmail.com; brij.k@ians.in
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