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dam-l LS: The never-ending river sutra
The never-ending river sutra
Indian Express
Tuesday, October 12, 1999
By Yoginder K. Alagh
The seriousness of the water crisis that India is facing and the fact that
it will get worse before we turn it around, only if we make an effort, is
just being dimly realised. In terms of per-capita water availability, India
and China are at the bottom of the league. Per person water availability of
most larger countries is five to ten times higher than ours. At present our
availability is higher than China, but with our population growing faster,
in a couple of decades it will be the other way round. Interestingly, for
every solution that we have, some group is happy to create a problem.
For example, there has been a lot of comment on the Cauvery. Very little
was well informed. For starters, it is somewhat exaggerated to start
talking of a crisis in the garden areas of Karnataka and in Thanjavur, in
September. True, the monsoon cycle in that part of India is different from
the rest and rice in Tanjore is grown thrice, but the peak of filling in
the four dams in the upper reaches in Karnataka, as also inthe Mettur
reservoir on the borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, is the first
fortnight of October. To cry wolf before that is not very credible.
In the earlier crisis years in the Cauvery, a bad year followed a few good
years. The farmer had sown on the basis of plentiful supplies he was
getting earlier and then was literally left high and dry. In a well-ordered
system, he should be told in October what he would be getting, but our
systems are not well ordered. It is not that the ryot in Tanjore does not
know that there are good and bad years, for he has a history of irrigated
agriculture of two centuries, and the flows in the river varied. To start
mourning the Cauvery accord in September was very Indian, but not quite
realistic.
Two aspects need noting. First, the second level of reconciliation in the
accord, namely the official and technical level, has to be alert,
pro-active and anticipate problems. History and hydrology must be exhausted
before the fireworks begin at the highest levels. Second,everything
possible should be done to supplement the available water supplies,
particularly in water-short years. When I was asked by the then prime
minister to look into the problem, the farmer had not been told that the
year was hydrologically bad and so all hell broke loose. Apart from a
sharing formula, I kept on saying in public that adversity should be turned
into advantage. The Tanjore delta has quantities of groundwater. The chief
ministers of Tamil Nadu have argued that ground water should not be taken
into account because they are afraid that in our system if you are
efficient you are punished. If you use groundwater or convey water more
efficiently, you will get less water. But allocation rules are made by men
and can be such that those who are efficient are rewarded, rather than
punished. The canals in the garden areas of Karnataka were dug in the days
of the venerable M. Visvesarraya and if they are repaired, the same water
will go much farther. Also, water-saving devices like drips andsprinklers
can be used in the garden areas. It is important to build on accords,
rather than erode them. Next time resist the temptation of jumping to the
worse conclusion first.
Now the other big dispute, the Narmada. Soniaji came to Gujarat to help her
party and everybody went to her and said please solve the Narmada problem.
She was kind enough to promise help. Later Vajpayee Saheb came for the same
purpose and everybody went to him and said please solve the problem. He was
kind enough to promise help. We in Gujarat are in a happy position on this
national consensus. Now the last mile has to be covered to divert water in
that great engineering marvel, the Narmada main canal, as big as the Jamuna
in high flood. In Gujarat feelings naturally run high. We have built a
large part of the distribution system in many parts. This year the monsoon
was bad. Water scarcity started in September. I chair the advisory group
for one of the most successful attempts at water harvesting and minor
irrigation. The villagerssee the lower-level canals, but there is no water.
Meanwhile, there was a flood in the Narmada and millions of acrefeet of
water went into the sea.
Very little additional relocation is required to reach the level when water
will be diverted into the canal. There are some questions remaining. But it
is an engineering fact that you can go up to 320 feet, to divert water and
keep open the issue of crossing 430 ft to reach 454 ft. Wisdom lies in
taking the next step. With a Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and a
BJP government in Gujarat, only the lunatic fringe will talk of sellouts,
if an agreed solution is found. Civilised societies do not stop dissent,
particularly of the young, but they also go forward.
Thousands of crores of rupees have been spent on the Narmada. One of the
most efficient distribution system exists which has demonstrated
capabilities to deliver 0.6 acrefeet of water to the field for every
acrefeet released at the headworks. More than 8,000 families have left
their homes and built anew life. That is around 40,000 people. It is time
to cover the last mile here.
India's needs of water and energy will ultimately need cooperation with
neighbouring countries. Some progress has been made. A lot more needs to be
done. Water is critical to the security of the subcontinent. Thoughtful men
across borders are talking of transforming triangles of misery and poverty
into triangles of prosperity. But credible answers will require that we
make demonstrated progress at home.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.