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Conserving the last drop:-
This editorials is part of 6 series essay that explores the issues of water scarcity and provide few good case studies.
Disclaimer :- This editorials are given as case studies, although the names of the people are not important from exam point of view, however few datas are important and they are highlighted.Keep 5 things in mind while reading this case study :-
- Where it is happening – the geographical extent
- Why it is happening ?
- What are the impacts ?
- What can be the solution ?
Here are the 6 parts :-
- Drilling for their Lives
- Telengana’s Tanker economy
- Drinking water, sipping Poison
- Interlinking, an idea with flaws
- Scarcity in Mettur’s vicinity
- Conservation – lessons form ancient India
Part -5 – Scarcity in Mettur’s vicinity
India is facing a dire need for greater and more efficient water storage, without which the country’s grossly insufficient storage capacity amplifies the effect of rainfall deficits, and exacerbates drought conditions. On the one hand, per capita availability of fresh water has declined sharply from 3,000 cubic metres to 1,123 cubic metres over the past 50 years, while the global average hovers at around 6,000 cubic metres. Simultaneously, each year India is estimated to lose the approximately two-thirds of the new water storage capacity to excessive siltation and improperly managed runoff. Between 1992 and 2004, for example, 200 large and medium-sized irrigation works were constructed yet the area irrigated by such schemes shrank by 3.2mn hectares. Unless sizeable investments are undertaken to de-silt reservoirs and repair damaged canals, dams and irrigation works some estimate that by 2050 India may well run short of water. The fourth installment of a six-part series examines the problems of water storage and surplus management in the Mettur Dam catchment area in Tamil Nadu.
The Story:-
Anbu, a businessman, from Govindappadi village near the majestic Mettur dam, is one of many residents caught in what seems to be an unusual predicament. “Our villages, despite proximity to the Cauvery, face acute drinking water scarcity,” he says, adding, “It is no better than the drought prone areas of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts.”
His story is not uncommon to this area. The Mettur dam may be the lifeline of the Cauvery delta supplying drinking water to almost one-third of the population of the state, but for villages surrounding the structure water scarcity is an everyday reality. Irrigation has also been compromised in the proximity of what should in theory be a water- zone, and after fighting for over four decades to divert the dam’s water to water bodies in the district farmers in delta are ready to throw in the towel.
N. Perumal, State General Secretary of the Tamil Maanila Congress Vivasaya Sangam is cynical. He says that despite receiving excess rainfall during the months of November-December, the rural areas of Salem district are bracing for an acute water crisis with Mettur Dam and other water bodies drying up fast. “The farm activities in about 45,000 acres in Salem, Namakkal and Erode districts under the Mettur dam’s East-West Canal scheme is undertaken with much difficulty every year,” he says, with a resigned air.
Frustrated by the constant wastage of surplus water released through 16-vent Ellis Saddle surplus channel, office-bearers of the Cauvery Surplus Water Action Committee complain, “It is painful to see surplus water flowing into the sea without benefiting anyone.”
If supply is this erratic during times of relative comfort, then how severe would water scarcity be when drought-like conditions grip the region?
Wasting precious water
Even though parts of Tamil Nadu have escaped the burning heat and dry conditions of North India, such as what the Marathwada region in Maharashtra is witnessing, the efficiency of water storage here inspires neither confidence nor hope.
The Mettur dam has “surplussed” more than 40 times in its 82 years of existence. Surplussing occurs during the southwest monsoon when five to 80 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water drains in to the sea, while 70 per cent of lakes in Salem remain dry.
Despite such surplussing, on Thursday the water level in the Mettur dam had dropped to an alarming 50.10 feet against its total capacity of 120 feet. While the inflow was only 44 cubic feet per second (cusec) 2,000 cusecs had to be discharged to supply drinking water to the delta districts. Even worse, it would appear that the discharge is not being taken up efficiently, either for drinking water or for irrigation. Instead it ends up as run-off, which is water that is wasted rather than channelled for any useful purpose.
On multiple occasions the farming community here demanded that the government harvest surplus water released from Mettur dam to fill water bodies in Salem, Namakkal and Erode. If the authorities had complied, the water-laden tanks, ponds and reservoirs in the area would have recharged the groundwater. They have not.
Silt accumulation
Besides poor water management owing to ineffective systems for tapping the run-off of surplus water, the accumulation of silt has been a serious obstacle to attaining full storage potential at the Stanley reservoir in Mettur. The Reservoir was constructed in 1934. Yet it has not been desilted even once. Such negligence has resulted in a situation where the Mettur dam has been losing on an average 0.4 per cent of its holding capacity due to silt and sand every year, according to A. Mohanakrishnan, former Advisor to State Government on Water Resources.
Today the dam’s actual capacity stands at only about 65 tmcft, down from its total capacity of 93.47 tm, with silt accumulation accounting for 20 per cent of the storage capacity of the dam.
Unless there is a major intervention in the water storage ecosystem of this region, residents such as Anbu and Perumal will continue to be water-poor in potentially one of the most water-rich regions of the state.
Recent Posts
Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations.
This can pose a significant environmental and health threat.
In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
A staggering 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water in India, according to the World Bank, and one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, according to Startup India.
As we confront these public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Traditionally, engineering and public health have been understood as different fields.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
Most often, civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials.
This differs from international trends. To manage a wastewater treatment plant in Europe, for example, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field. Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Similarly, public health professionals can contribute to engineering through well-researched understanding of health issues, measured risks and how course correction can be initiated.
Once both meet, a public health engineer can identify a health risk, work on developing concrete solutions such as new health and safety practices or specialised equipment, in order to correct the safety concern..
There is no doubt that the majority of diseases are water-related, transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene.
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this.
Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
Currently, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
To leverage this opportunity even further, India needs to scale up in the same direction.