Addressing Water Supply - Actions Needed from Modi Govt 2.0
As rightly pointed out by members, 70% of India’s water is contaminated and we rank 120 out of 122 on the global Water Quality Index. Niti Ayog predicts many cities will run out of ground water in 2020 and hence the Water Crisis is no longer a far away thing. Its here and many parts of India are experiencing it every day. We would like Modi Govt 2.0 to take this extremely seriously and within next few weeks making a submission to the newly appointed Minister on what people want the Govt to do. This is obviously in addition to what people themselves will do to save water.
Below is a summary of the issues, root causes and solutions as proposed by you last year. Kindly review and if you have specific solutions that will help address water supply, please do share them.
Water Supply – Solutions
1.States should set up more water treatment plants
2.Regular water supply to houses should be ensured
3.New and latest technology should be used to purify water to make it fit for drinking
4.Teams should be set up to find broken/cracked pipelines and replace them
5.Water rates could be subsidised
6.A department should be set up to draw up the maintenance plan of the water pipelines and to ensure that it is carried out as per the plan
7.The process of applying for new connections should be streamlined and made online
8.The network of piped water supply should be widened with yearly plans
9.Overhead tanks should be installed in public toilets to ensure availability of water
10.Water and sewage pipes should be laid parallel to each other and should not overlap
11.Latest software/technology should be procured to detect leakage quickly and effectively
12.Social campaigns should be designed around teaching water management to people
13.Ground water extraction needs to be banned as it is deepening water level making source of water scarce
14.Mini Water Treatment Plants should be installed at various levels like Gram/Panchayat/Taluka
15.Installation of WATER ATM's is needed at several places along the pipeline
16.RWAs should be encouraged to adopt rain water harvesting
17.Institutions which install water-recycling plants should be given some kind of a tax concessions
18.Recycling is a must be made mandatory in all large buildings
19.In areas where water supply is scarce, water should be rationed based on the number of family members
20.People should be educated on reducing the wastage of water
21.The water supply department should also start rain water harvesting on a large scale to cater to the growing need in the peak months
22.For major cities on the seashore, desalination plants should be set up.
State of Water Supply - Root Causes
1.Water supply has not been planned properly
2.Water pipes and sewage pipes overlap each other
3.The number of water treatment plants is not enough
4.Water treatment plants are technologically very old
5.Water pipelines are very old and weathered out
6.Leakage identification takes a long time
7.Most of the people do not understand the need of water management
8.Corrupt officials let the bore-wells get dug without official approval
9.Too much water is being pumped out of the ground by residents
10. Unauthorised water connections in slum areas leads to drop in water pressure in other areas
11.Most of our water distribution networks in urban areas are not available in a digital format, hence it is very difficult to keep track and do maintenance of these systems
12.Lack of long term plans or laxity in implementation of plans for augmenting water sources and pipe lines
13.Inefficient, poor maintenance network
14.Slow induction of latest technology
Water Supply – Key Issues
1.Water supply is erratic
2.Water supply becomes even worse in summers
3. Water is dirty and non-drinkable
4. This non-drinkable water causes a lot of water borne diseases
5. Pipelines are broken
6. A lot of water is wasted due to the leakage in the pipelines
7.Public water system has no control, water wastage due to taps left open for hours together
8. Sewer water gets mixed up with drinking water
9.Water bills are very high
10.Corruption at water boards to get new connections
11.Bore-wells being dug without any approval
12. Ground water levels are depleting and pumps are not able to fetch water
13. Many areas do not have any piped water supply
14.No water available in most public toilets more
Below is a summary of the issues, root causes and solutions as proposed by you last year. Kindly review and if you have specific solutions that will help address water supply, please do share them.
Water Supply – Solutions
1.States should set up more water treatment plants
2.Regular water supply to houses should be ensured
3.New and latest technology should be used to purify water to make it fit for drinking
4.Teams should be set up to find broken/cracked pipelines and replace them
5.Water rates could be subsidised
6.A department should be set up to draw up the maintenance plan of the water pipelines and to ensure that it is carried out as per the plan
7.The process of applying for new connections should be streamlined and made online
8.The network of piped water supply should be widened with yearly plans
9.Overhead tanks should be installed in public toilets to ensure availability of water
10.Water and sewage pipes should be laid parallel to each other and should not overlap
11.Latest software/technology should be procured to detect leakage quickly and effectively
12.Social campaigns should be designed around teaching water management to people
13.Ground water extraction needs to be banned as it is deepening water level making source of water scarce
14.Mini Water Treatment Plants should be installed at various levels like Gram/Panchayat/Taluka
15.Installation of WATER ATM's is needed at several places along the pipeline
16.RWAs should be encouraged to adopt rain water harvesting
17.Institutions which install water-recycling plants should be given some kind of a tax concessions
18.Recycling is a must be made mandatory in all large buildings
19.In areas where water supply is scarce, water should be rationed based on the number of family members
20.People should be educated on reducing the wastage of water
21.The water supply department should also start rain water harvesting on a large scale to cater to the growing need in the peak months
22.For major cities on the seashore, desalination plants should be set up.
State of Water Supply - Root Causes
1.Water supply has not been planned properly
2.Water pipes and sewage pipes overlap each other
3.The number of water treatment plants is not enough
4.Water treatment plants are technologically very old
5.Water pipelines are very old and weathered out
6.Leakage identification takes a long time
7.Most of the people do not understand the need of water management
8.Corrupt officials let the bore-wells get dug without official approval
9.Too much water is being pumped out of the ground by residents
10. Unauthorised water connections in slum areas leads to drop in water pressure in other areas
11.Most of our water distribution networks in urban areas are not available in a digital format, hence it is very difficult to keep track and do maintenance of these systems
12.Lack of long term plans or laxity in implementation of plans for augmenting water sources and pipe lines
13.Inefficient, poor maintenance network
14.Slow induction of latest technology
Water Supply – Key Issues
1.Water supply is erratic
2.Water supply becomes even worse in summers
3. Water is dirty and non-drinkable
4. This non-drinkable water causes a lot of water borne diseases
5. Pipelines are broken
6. A lot of water is wasted due to the leakage in the pipelines
7.Public water system has no control, water wastage due to taps left open for hours together
8. Sewer water gets mixed up with drinking water
9.Water bills are very high
10.Corruption at water boards to get new connections
11.Bore-wells being dug without any approval
12. Ground water levels are depleting and pumps are not able to fetch water
13. Many areas do not have any piped water supply
14.No water available in most public toilets more
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View all 143 comments Below 143 comments
It definitely indicates our utter lack of water management planning. One part of our nation drowns in flood where as another feels parched with drought. Solution has been suggested by many an experienced and renowned engineers like Sri Dinshaw J Dastur but it has not been given any priority. Interlinking all our rivers can solve our sweet water scarcity completely. The interlinking of rivers would also provide water for irrigation , inland water transport and low head Hydel generation to feed to the national power grid. Though expensive it is a one time investment and would eventually offset the revenue spent on compensating the farmers and forcing them to use polluted water. It will also provide huge employment opportunities. In addition all the sewage systems must be made to use its treated and cleaned water to recharge the soil or irrigation instead of draining into rivers. There should be a movement for constructing check dams every where in order to provide moisture , drinking water , tree planting and check soil erosion. We have such a vast sea front. Our all sea shore based human habitats should be made to use desalinated sea water for irrigation as well as ablution and drinking. Most Arab nations do so. And yes of course plant more trees but with proper planning. more
Jun 10
Water recharging/Harvesting & Plantation are only Solution & unfortunetly neither Govt. Nor Society is serious on both the issues . When I say Govt. means there is no Scheme for water harvesting even in the cities where water consumption per head per day is approx. minimum 50 litres there a localities of 10000 population uses 5 lacs litre per day therefore there is need for water rechargeing of 5 lac litre in that localities per day but so far no scheme is crafted, Similarly Society also somewhere responsible specially in rural areas where no body bothered in maintaining Ponds & Well. Issues need to be addressed on both level. more
Jun 10
An important difficult subject to understand and tackle. For example, Delhi Jal Board is trying. It needs more cooperation by us the users. more
Jun 10
