A major shift in perception of national water policy (Hindu 04 November 2010)

The success of the new approach will depend on political will and an infrastructure to facilitate science-based watershed management.
THE ISSUE: India faces the task of a transition from an infrastructure of existing water structures to making them part of a watershed-based local management system. Photo: U. Subramanyam
The success of the new approach will depend on political will and an infrastructure to facilitate science-based watershed management.
In the article “Approach to new national water policy”, its author Ramaswamy R. Iyer (Editorial page, October 29, 2010) argues eloquently for a departure from incrementally building on the Ministry of Water Resources' National Water Policy of 2002 to a holistic approach starting from scratch. At its core, the new approach recognises that water availability is finite and variable, and that economic growth is incompatible with limited water availability. Painful choices are to be made in sharing the vital resource under an overarching philosophy of ecological health and social justice, guided by Gandhiji's dharma of balancing rights with responsibility. In the new approach, mega projects will play a subordinate role, with water management being implemented at local levels.
Placed in context, Mr. Iyer's approach signals an unmistakable shift from a supply-demand mindset to holistic science-based management. In its mid-term appraisal report of the XIth Plan, the Planning Commission recognised, based on persuasive scientific evidence, that India's water situation is even more serious than originally assessed, and concluded that a solution cannot be found unless “we can come out of the silos into which we have divided water and take a holistic view of the hydrological cycle”. In May, the Prime Minister's Climate Council presented its Water Mission to the people, suggesting that water conservation should be a people's movement in India, and that all water data be in the public domain to mobilise citizens, and local and State governments for dedicated actions on water conservation and augmentation. The mission also envisions an approved National Water Policy in place by 2013.
Considering that Mr. Iyer is a former Secretary of Water Resources, it is clear that there is a definite shift in perception of a national water policy at the highest levels of governance. The shift eschews supply-demand philosophy, embracing, instead, science-based management with people's participation at various levels of decision-making. The new vision is radical, and introduces extraordinary challenges to get a National Water Policy approved by 2013.
The challenges
Perhaps the greatest challenge confronting the new approach concerns adaptation to limited water availability, and wean away from an aspiration for growth. The concept is deceptively simple, but the political difficulties involved are enormous. Will there be a will to find a way out?
The second challenge confronting the new approach concerns “local management”, which may be understood differently by different people. In the context of holistic management based on the hydrological cycle, local management implies management over watersheds, rather than administrative units. In turn, watersheds are hierarchical structures, with numerous small ones imbedded in larger ones. In general, a viable watershed as a unit for management will be a collection of watersheds whose size, disposition and boundaries will depend on local physiographical and geological conditions. The implication is that local management will entail many communities (villages, towns, cities) cooperatively coming together to conjunctively share their surface water and groundwater, drawing upon expertise from scientists and engineers.
The California example
As an example of local management, the well known Silicon Valley of California is instructive. The citizens of the Valley have assumed ownership of all water in their watershed, and have been operating a water system for over seven decades, integrating surface water, groundwater, artificial recharge, imported water, water reuse, water treatment, and public education. Comprising over 15 cities, the Silicon Valley watershed is a collection of some 23 smaller watersheds, covering an area of about 3,400 sq.km. At the core of this democratically managed watershed is a competent cadre of scientists, engineers, and biologists, aided by a well laid out network of monitoring stations. A democratically elected board makes management decisions based on input from its technical staff, portraying an admirable synergism between science and policy.
Against this backdrop, one finds India faced with an immense task of a transition from an infrastructure of existing tanks, canals and other water structures, to making them part of a watershed-based local management system. This transition has to be achieved through holistic principles guided by the hydrological cycle. I
n sheer scope, this transition will be unprecedented anywhere in the world, requiring the imaginative application of hydrological, hydro-geological and ecological principles. Such an application will have to be aided by well-designed long-term monitoring systems, the data from which will form the basis of dynamic sustainable management.
It is obvious that the success of the new approach, founded on local management, requires for its success the setting up of a science-engineering infrastructure, supported by adequate trained personnel and academic research. Simultaneously, appropriate legal mechanisms have to be set in place enabling local citizens to take ownership of water as a necessary prerequisite for management. It is almost certain that the new venture will require the creation of new institutions.
The emerging holistic perception of a national water policy based on the hydrological cycle is ambitious and audacious. Its success will depend on courageous leadership from the Central Government, and its ability to persuade a well-informed citizen to rise up to Gandhiji's concept of dharma in which rights flow from responsibilities.
(T.N. Narasimhan is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley. Email: tnnarasimhan@LBL.gov)

More funding for Ganga clean-up (The Hindu 03 November 2010)

To maintain projects to clean the river and restore its environmental health
Centre to consider Uttarakhand's demand for free power in compensation for scrapped projects
Conservation Action Plan approved for Gangetic dolphin, the national aquatic animal
New Delhi: States through which the Ganga flows will soon be given additional funding to operate and maintain projects to clean the river and restore its environmental health. However, States lobbied for more aid and free power to those affected by scrapping of hydel projects.
At a meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, held on Monday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal demanded that his State be granted 2,000 MW of free power in compensation for scrapped projects.
The NGRBA ratified the decision of the three-man Ministerial committee — comprising Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh — to abandon three major hydel projects along the Bhagirathi which runs through the State. The Loharinag Pala, Bhaironghati and Pala Maneri projects were shelved following protests by local communities, environmental activists and religious leaders.
The NGRBA also gave in principle approval to declare the 135-km stretch between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi an eco-sensitive zone. This means no hydel project will be allowed there, according to Mr. Ramesh. Much industrial and developmental activity will also be banned, while the rest will be governed by strictly monitored eco-management plans.
The NGRBA said the Central government would bear 70 per cent of the cost of operating and maintaining projects set up to prevent pollution, clean the river and improve its environmental status, for up to five years. The Centre already funds the cost of setting up these projects.
However, the affected States lobbied for a burden-sharing formula of 90 per cent by the Centre and 10 per cent by States. The Centre said it would consider this request, as well as Uttarakhand's demand for compensatory free power.
By April 2011, the government also expects to finalise a $ 1 billion line of credit from the World Bank for NGRBA projects. Last year the NGRBA approved Rs. 1,400 crore worth of projects.
The meeting also approved a Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic dolphin, recently declared the national aquatic animal.
“There are less than 2,000 Gangetic dolphins left,” said Mr. Ramesh. “One of the main aims of the Ganga river cleaning programme will be to increase the number and distribution of the dolphin.”

Bengal gets Rs 539 cr for cleansing Ganga (The Hindu Business Line 03 November 2010)

The West Bengal government will receive Rs 539 crore from the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) for cleaning up the Ganga river basin. An additional Rs 800 crore worth of proposals have also been sent to the authority for clearance.
Giving this information here on Tuesday, the State Urban Development Minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, who had attended a meeting organised by the NGRBA in Delhi on Monday, said that 17 proposals worth Rs 139 crore had already been sanctioned while another Rs 400 crore worth of projects would be sanctioned soon.
An additional Rs 800 crore worth of proposals relating to upgradation of sewage lines along river banks and their networking with the Ganga river have also been presented for clearance.
“Under Phase I of the Ganga Action Plan, work on 110 schemes has started and another 177 schemes have begun under Phase II. Around Rs 186 crore and Rs 248 crore has already been spent in carrying out schemes under the two phases,” Mr Bhattacharya said.

“DMRC residential complex is Delhi's Adarsh society” (The Hindu 04 November 2010)

It has come up in violation of laws and needs to be thoroughly probed: NGO
Delhi Urban Arts Commission inspects construction site after complaint
‘Complex does not have mandatory clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forests'
NEW DELHI: A sprawling residential complex being constructed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and a temporary bus shelter built by the Delhi Transport Corporation were inspected by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission in the Capital on Wednesday. These buildings, ostensibly with “permissions”, have come up on the Yamuna riverbed, a restricted site for concrete constructions.
The residential complex being built by the DMRC has come up on a piece of land that was cleared of over 400 shanties under the pretext that the slums were encroaching upon the riverbed. “This (the residential complex) is Delhi's equivalent of the infamous Adarsh Housing Society of Mumbai. It has come up in violation of laws and without any clearances and needs to be thoroughly probed,” says Manoj Misra, Convenor of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, a non-government organisation drawing attention to rules that have allegedly been flouted in constructing this building.
‘Green land'
Based on YJA's complaints and news reports published in The Hindu, a team of DUAC officials visited the riverbed to examine the constructions including the bus shelter set up by DTC and the residential complex of the DMRC.
“The land on which the complex with over 100 flats is coming up is marked as ‘green land'. The land use for this site does not allow construction. The land belongs to the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department and they had made it evident that the land use allows only greening and no construction can be allowed without obtaining permission for change of land use. The DMRC has not approached the DDA for change of land use and the construction is on in full swing,” said Mr. Misra.
While DUAC officials declined to comment, sources said the DMRC would have a lot of explaining to do. “The complex does not have the mandatory clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and from the DUAC as well. The structure can very well be demolished because it is illegal. The site on which is stands has been shown as a green area in the Master Plan as well,” said sources.
Bus shelter
Mr. Misra, who is also fighting for removal of the temporary bus shelter that was meant to be dismantled after the Commonwealth Games, adds: “The DMRC had the permission to construct only a yard, alignment and a station (the Yamuna Bank metro station) on the land, but they are going ahead with the construction of a depot and a residential complex as well. When the DDA sold them the land, it was only for the yard, alignment and station.”
Senior architect Kuldip Singh, who has been shown as the architect on the drawings for the complex, said he is no longer associated with the project.
“I was working with the DMRC for the yard, but I am no longer associated with it and therefore cannot comment on whether the clearances have been received or rules violated,” he said.
The DMRC for its part maintains that no norms have been flouted. A spokesperson said: “We have all the required clearances and certifications that are needed. The land was given for constructing a depot for Lines 3 and 4, Yamuna Bank metro station and staff quarters for the operations and maintenance staff.”

Metro flats on riverbed may run into trouble (Times of India 04 November 2010)

NEW DELHI: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) residential flats coming up next to the Akshardham Metro station might be in for major trouble. The organisation has neither got the land use changed from green to residential, nor has it reportedly got the mandatory clearances from Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC). According to sources, 90 flats are coming up in two 10-storey buildings. This was ironically the same spot where some years back Delhi government had removed over 600 jhuggis claiming that the land was on the riverbed and permitting residential use would be detrimental for the river. 'In 2009, DMRC had told the high court that it would not carry out construction of the flats but when the case was taken up to the Supreme Court, it said that the housing complex was required for its train cleaning and maintenance staff and that it would take necessary clearances before work was started. However, even then it did not submit to the court the plans for the building, how many flats it was proposing to construct, etc,'' said Vinod Jain of NGO Tapas. Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan added that the land was given to DMRC by the UP irrigation department on the condition that it would change the land use before starting construction. ''However, DMRC has violated the master plan by going ahead with construction without any such changes. It also did not apply to DUAC for any clearances,'' he said.

The towering similarity (Hindustan Times 04 November 2010)

As we left the meeting on November 12, 2007 with the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the Commonwealth Games (CWG), then headed by Arjun Singh and which included all the high and mighty of the UPA 1 — including a current Union minister who had, in 2000 as a senior Opposition MP, questioned in Parliament the construction of the Akshardham complex on the river bed — we hoped that our appeal to relocate the proposed Games Village (khel gaon) away from the Yamuna river bed had struck a positive chord with the GoM. For our delegation led by veteran journalist and diplomat Kuldip Nayar had been told by the GoM, "you have made your case well, now leave it to us to decide."
Soon enough our faint hopes were dashed to the ground as the GoM began to troop out of the meet just after we left. An overwhelming political consideration for choosing the river bed as the site of the Games Village had overridden our appeal against the construction of the high-rise luxury apartments strangely called 'village' on the ecologically fragile and seismically risky river bed. It's notable that during all our meetings with senior political and executive functionaries involved with the planning of the CWG, no one ever disputed the facts we presented to them. Yet, most defended the location of the Village on the ground that there was little time left or little of the river bed is involved or, a rather bizarre reasoning, that 'I can cite you ten more reasons why the site is wrong, but I have a duty to perform'.
We were once even advised to pray when we raised an obvious query: what would happen if the floods were to come calling just before the Games in 2010? We all know that floods in Yamuna in September almost led to the Games being called off. Incidentally when the MCD, which was battling both an outbreak of dengue and a flooding river, blamed the wrong site selection for the Village, it only strengthened the argument that we had been trying to bring to the attention of the authorities since 2007.
No one was willing to look into the encroachment of the river bed by a state agency, while a committee constituted by the Delhi High Court went about removing, at times even forcefully, jhuggi jhopris from around the same river bed. That an unsavoury precedence was about to be set by the state using an existing wrong, the Akshardham complex, to justify another mattered little to anyone.
So now after the Games, when a number of investigating agencies are looking into the cases of corruption and mismanagement, we remain flabbergasted as to why the fountainhead of it all, namely the politically-instigated and motivated selection of a site on the river bed for the Village in the eastern part of a city whence all but one of the Games venues were located there, remains un-investigated.
Moreover, the ripple effects of the decision come in the form of the construction of an unnecessary flyover over a bridge and an elevated road on a drain, raising of sound barriers along the nearby railway track and the national highway, conversion of a temporary parking space on the river bed into a permanent bus depot etc.
In view of the recent high-profile land grab incident in Mumbai, it's odd as to how, on environmental grounds, the construction of a multi-storey building on the river bed is any different from a similar construction on a coast? While the latter doesn't have a clearance from the environment ministry, the former has a clearance that saw four versions and three ultimatums before permission to construct temporary structures got converted into allowing the construction of permanent ones.
Let the investigating agencies probe the Village ab initio so that the uncanny parallels between it and the Adarsh society scam are brought to light. For example, if flats in Adarsh society were meant for the Kargil war heroes and war widows, then the Games Village, which is now being eyed by many within and outside the government, was originally meant to become university accommodation.
Thus, while issues of morality and avarice may be the foundation of the 'wrong' in the case of Adarsh, in this case it's khel gaon's dangerous location, which is prone to both floods and earthquakes. But is anyone either listening or interested?
Manoj Misra is Convener, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan. The views expressed by the author are personal.

NGO demands removal of bus shelter from Yamuna bed (The Hindu 03 November 2010)

Expressing concern over the presence of a parking lot on the riverbed, non-government organisation Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has written to Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna seeking restoration of the river land and removal of the structure put up by the Delhi Transport Corporation.
During the Commonwealth Games the DTC was permitted to set up a temporary bus shelter for vehicles to be used to ferry the athletes and Games staff. However, the shelter continues to remain on the riverbed, much to the disappointment of environmentalists and water conservation activists.
YJA convenor Manoj Misra has now written to the L-G to issue “appropriate directions” to the Delhi Development Authority for urgent action against the DTC so that the riverbed can be rid of encroachments.
In his letter, Mr. Misra has written: “….despite it being more than a fortnight since the CWG 2010 concluded in the city, the DTC seems to be making no efforts to remove their structures erected on the riverbed along Ring Road opposite the Indraprastha Park, while your honour had given them only a week's time after the conclusion of the games.”
Pointing out that the shelter is in violation of the terms and conditions set by the L-G himself, the YGA functionary said the shelter was in temporary possession of the DTC to park 300 of their buses meant for the ready use by the athletes and officials residing at the nearby Games Village.
‘Illegal occupation'
“Your (L-G's) conditions as under were very clear and specific and we fail to understand as to where from is the DTC getting a mandate to continue their increasingly becoming unauthorised and even illegal occupation of the said land,” the letter states.
As per an earlier order, no permanent construction will be allowed at the site (riverbed), soft parking will be developed only by compressing the earth or by providing perforated paver blocks, land will remain with the DDA and will be licensed to the Delhi Government and DTC for temporary stabling of buses till one week after the Games are over.
The temporary infrastructure was to be dismantled soon after the Games got over.
A team of officials from the Delhi Urban Arts Commission will inspect the riverbed on Wednesday to examine the encroachments that the YJA has alleged have come up on the critical zone. The YJA had earlier drawn attention towards a residential complex being built by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which is being constructed without the mandatory clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and of the DUAC.