Effective Water Management to Mitigate Climate Change

Climate change and water are inextricably interlinked. The effects of climate change directly manifests in the form of changes in the water cycle. Water, thus, is the primary medium through which the harsh consequences of climate change are felt. At the same time, the effective management of water resources is pivotal to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change which are now globally observable. The shrinking glaciers, drying rivers and lakes, rise in sea levels, increasing variability in spatial and temporal rainfall, more intense heat waves etc. are all signs that force us to reflect on the urgency of the situation. It is also important to acknowledge why water needs to be viewed in an integrated manner in order to devise sustainable practices that will allow us to decelerate climate change and ensure water security.

In this backdrop, the Government of India has been increasingly placing water governance at the forefront of its development agenda by adopting an integrated water resources management approach in line with India’s National Water Policy that treats issues cutting across multiple jurisdictions and sectors in a holistic manner. Steps are being taken up in the direction of sanitation, pollution abatement, water-use efficiency and source sustainability that have a direct bearing on alleviating the effects of climate change.

The initiatives taken in the water sector in the last 7-8 years reflect the understanding of the importance of water management in reducing vulnerability and building climate resilience. This understanding has guided our priorities and has informed the design of our flagship programmes. Focus, in these years, has been on river rejuvenation and holistic river basin management; enhancing water security sustainably by expeditiously completing long pending irrigation projects, enhancing the efficiency of existing dams; a national call to action on water conservation and recharge; ensuring security of water supply at the household level with equitable access to water for all, particularly the most vulnerable. In tandem with this, the hydrological monitoring network has been expanded significantly, to mitigate the impact of floods and droughts.

Swachh Bharat Mission is a success story unprecedented in India’s history. More than 11 crore toilets were created in rural areas, which, according to a UNICEF study, resulted in substantial reduction in groundwater contamination, soil contamination, food and drinking water contamination. This not only ensured safe disposal of human excreta but also sustainable health and hygiene benefits to millions of people in rural areas. Managing open defecation has not been the only priority of Swachh Bharat Mission. The phase 2 of the Mission aims at achieving ODF sustainability and support villages to achieve effective management of solid and liquid waste. India is promoting construction of composting toilets, cleaning of septic tanks and setting up wastewater management arrangements to ensure noticeable reduction in emission of greenhouse gas. Swachh Bharat Mission is also actively promoting decentralized and locally managed wastewater systems that do not require energy for conveyance.

Under Namami Gange Programme, eight important areas have been identified to take up the restorative actions viz. Aviral Dhara, Nirmal Dhara, Ecological Restoration, Sustainable Agriculture, Geological Safeguarding, Basin Protection Against Disasters, River Hazard Management and Environmental Knowledge-Building and Sensitization.   Namami Gange programme, an integrated river conservation mission has yielded positive results. The water quality of the Ganga River has improved at several locations. In a paradigm shift in waste water sector, for the first time, projects under innovative methods like Hybrid Annuity model and One-City-One-Operator are being taken up to ensure long-lasting performance of the sewage infrastructure with accountability, a major departure from the past. It is the result of a holistic planning in 97 major towns along River Ganga that out of 157, 61 sewerage infrastructure projects have already been completed resulting in creation of 884.03 MLD STP capacity and laying of 3605.29 km sewerage network. To keep a check on industrial pollution, all 2357 Grossly Polluting Industries have been inspected out of which 281 have been served show cause notices and 10 have been closed. Project for construction of Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) for tannery cluster in Uttar Pradesh is completed. Biodiversity Conservation, Spring Rejuvenation, Wetland Conservation and Rejuvenation of Traditional Water Bodies are also the target areas of Namami Gange Programme. Clearly, the Programme focuses on the entire ecosystem of a river.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) is another success story in water sector. Through an output-driven approach, out of 99 long pending projects, 44 have been completed resulting in creation of 62.84 lakh hectare irrigation potential till March 2020. Also, a total gross storage of 29,346 MCM and total live storage of 21,674 MCM have been created so far. Under Har Khet Ko Pani component, irrigation potential of 6.813 lakh hectares has been created till March 2021. Also, 1,549 water bodies have been renovated so far. From the point of view of climate change, these achievements have helped in flood control, hydropower generation and groundwater recharge.

The management of water resources has seen a paradigm shift in India since past few years. In May 2019, a much-needed policy reform was undertaken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the creation of Jal Shakti Ministry to give impetus to integrated management of water resources in India with special focus on demand side and supply side management. The main aim was to bring all aspects of water within a single umbrella and shift from a compartmentalized approach to a comprehensive approach. The policy planners made judicious and active interventions at multiple levels to address individual elements of water management. Soon after the creation of the Jal Shakti Ministry, Jal Jeevan Mission was launched on 15^th August 2019 to provide functional tap to every rural household by 2024 in addition to public institutions in villages like schools, Anganwadi centres, ashramshalas (tribal residential schools), Gram Panchayat building, community halls etc. So far, about 4.22 crore rural households have been provided with new tap water connections since start of the Mission. Out of 19.19 crore rural households, now tap water supply is reaching about 7.45 crore households i.e. 39% of rural homes. Besides, 6.35 lakh schools and 5.72 lakh Anganwadis have been provided with tap water supply.

Parallelly, Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), an aggressive and time-bound water conservation campaign was carried out from July to December 2019 covering 256 districts across India. JSA aims at making water everybody’s business. The outcomes of the JSA-I include 2,73,256 water conservation and rainwater harvesting structures, renovation of 44,497 traditional water bodies, construction of 1,42,740 reuse and recharge structures, 1,59,354 watershed development works, plantation of 12,35,99,566 saplings and preparation of 1,372 Block Water Conservation Plans. After the success of JSA-I, ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan-II: Catch the Rain, Where it Falls, When it Falls’ campaign was launched by Hon. Prime Minister on the occasion of World Water Day 2021 to urge everyone to harvest rainwater. To use the energy of the youth, National Water Mission has collaborated with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) to make it a people’s movement across 623 districts of the country. So far, 2.27 crore people have participated through NYKS. Sahi Fasal is another campaign by NWM that focuses on increasing water use efficiency in agriculture.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been committed to take steps in the direction of participatory groundwater management. Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), a Rs. 6,000.00 crore central sector scheme is a case in point. It is being implemented for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation in 81 water stressed districts and 9000 Gram Panchayats spanning seven States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme aims at ensuring long term sustainability of ground water resources through a combination of demand and supply side interventions with community at the helm. Gram Panchayat-wise Water Security Plans are being prepared. It also aims at inculcating behavioral changes at the grass-root level toward optimal use of available water by improving the availability of real time ground water data as well as through awareness generation. Further, States shall also be incentivized for adopting practices for improvement in ground water management in target areas. The steps embodied in Atal Jal can play a pivotal role in the context of climate change because these practices significantly reduce groundwater use and CO₂ emissions.

Availability and accessibility of hydrological information is the basic requirement for assessment and study of impact of climate change, and to mitigate the effects. The hydrological observation network has been significantly strengthened in the last seven years, glacial lakes are being monitored and a Coastal Management Information System has been set up. During last 7 years, 716 new Hydrological Observation stations have been commissioned by CWC bringing the total of such sites to 1,543. The number of exclusive meteorological stations has also increased from 76 to 193 stations.

In a nutshell, the Government is committed in bringing about transformational shifts in the water sector by conserving, cleaning and caring for this precious natural resource. India’s efforts also contribute in fulfilling the mandate of Sustainable Development Goal 6 that aims “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. To conclude in the words of the Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu: “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle must be the watchwords of we have to handover a liveable planet to the future generation.”