The Hindu
Son of the soil: Farmers should be encouraged to adopt practices that retain
moisture in the soil for longer periods. Photo: S.K. Mohan
AP Parched
earth: Resilience to climate change can be addressed through better water
management and conservation of bio-diversity.
There is an urgent need to study the
impact of climate change on water and protect water sources
A new report on water sector options
in the face of changing climate has called for fresh approach to studying
alterations in the patterns of rainfall and snowfall, availability of surface
and ground water and the existing water infrastructure.
The report—Water Sector Options for
India in a Changing Climate-- laments the lack of studies in the country on the
impact of climate change in the water sector, but at the same time is
optimistic about the situation offering a `unique opportunity’ for revisiting
the sector for better understanding, planning and management.
Dedicated to communities around the
world whose lives have been disrupted by climate change brought about due to
high consumption lifestyle of the elite, the report, published by the South
Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, reviews the situation in the context
of the international framework of climate change vis-a-vis adaptation,
mitigation, technology and economics.
India needs to immediately come out
with a report on the state of impact of climate change in the water sector, it
says. Trends in quantum, peaks and pattern of long-term annual rainfall,
resultant impact on river flows and ground water recharge are crucial issues
for equitable distribution of water and its management. Transparency and
sharing of data is the key to finding solutions.
Seeking top priority to rain-water
harvesting, ground water recharge and incentives for changing cropping patterns
and methods, the report points out that the irregularity in monsoon rains is
hugely impacting farmers, particularly the rain-fed ones who form 60 per cent
of the entire farming community.
``By way of adaptation strategies,
we need to make local rainwater harvesting and ground water recharge our top
priority in our water resources policy, programmes and practices,’’ it points
out.
The document extols the government
to take water related issues to the grassroots and spread good examples of
resilience (adaptation) to climate change with local communities and use of
traditional knowledge and techniques.
Documenting some of the case studies
on innovative ways to mitigate the impact of changes in rainfall patterns, the
report highlights the potential of up-scaling such examples to find solutions
to adaptation, sustainable and democratic water management, conservation of
biodiversity and poverty alleviation.
Stressing the need for switching to
cropping patterns and techniques that conserve water (as in system of rice/crop
intensification), it emphasises the need for the system of forecasting rains to
be made more accurate. “This key information should be made available to
farmers, decision-makers and people.’’
Farmers should be encouraged to use
practices that increase the carbon content in soil so that moisture is retained
for longer periods, especially during gaps between rainfalls. The use of
reservoir operations should be transparent, accountable and participatory to
reduce the flood disaster potential during unforeseen changes in climate.
At the same time, the report touches
upon a hitherto ignored aspect of impact of climate change: Compensation to
farmers who suffer the impact of climate change, which is not of their making.
Referring to the melting of
Himalayan glaciers, the report says that no clear picture is available of the
extent of loss of snow in area and volume, but research provides some
indicators of how the different basins were going to be affected.
“However, there are still a lot of
variables and even the available information is not all in public domain. Our
knowledge base is poor. The answer is not in building big storage dams to
compensate these losses as that would actually increase the problems as such
projects destroy the forests, rivers, biodiversity and also emit methane in
tropical and sub tropical climates. Destruction of all these resources would reduce
the adaptation capacity of the communities near the glaciers and society in
general.’’
The better option, the report points
out, would be to create small, localised storages that can serve local
communities and can be maintained by them. The country requires urgent action
to protect existing groundwater recharge systems and to create more by saving
every drop of rain where it falls.
Even as the Water Resources Ministry
is working out a new water resources policy, the report sets the agenda for a
revamped policy: “It should be equitable, sustainable, participatory,
decentralised, democratic with a transparent approach to water management based
on sound knowledge and data.”
Further, this approach would need to
include a protection strategy for the rivers, forests, wetlands, water bodies,
biodiversity, critical ecological habitats and groundwater reserves, as well as
demand-side management.
Clearly, the need of the hour is to
prioritise on how to manage the scarce resource that water is.
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