In a State like Odisha, which receives most of its rainfall during the monsoon and where most of the precipitation takes place in a span of about 70-odd days, groundwater resources hold quite a lot of significance to sustain us for the rest of the year.
All these years, the emphases have been primarily on harnessing surface water. And, there have not been enough initiatives to take care of the water that we depend on after surface water bodies fail to meet our demands. It has led to an absence of adequate initiatives to sustainably use and augment ground water resources.
After the food scarcities of the 1960s, the Government policies were tailored towards increased irrigation coverage. Suddenly, the users of drinking water and irrigation water, a singular entity till then, became two distinctly different categories frequently at loggerheads with each other. This separation affected the basic foundations of common water resources management and led to the degradation of the common drinking water sources.
When ground water took the centre stage of water provisioning for drinking and domestic purposes, the irrigation sector too saw a potential source in that. As a result, extraction of ground water for irrigation purposes far outweighed water drawn for drinking and domestic purposes, leading to an acute drinking water crisis in many areas.
The fundamental difference in the mind-set of the two departments looking after these two warring sectors pulled them in two different directions. While the drinking water sector was cautious and wary of over-exploitation of ground water due to its increasing scarcity, the irrigation sector cared two hoots about such niceties and went on promoting the exploitation of more and more sources by doling out huge subsidies in the name of irrigation efficiency.
In the absence of proper coordination between these two stakeholders, it is extremely difficult to ensure equitable allocation of ground water to both the sectors in a sustainable manner.
As if this was not enough, a third major claimant for ground water emerged when a large number of small, medium and large industries were set up in Odisha by both domestic industrial houses and multinational corporations after the onset of the era of industrialisation, modernisation and liberalisation. One wonders whether steel plants run with precious ground water in any other part of the world as is done in Odisha.
Besides, various studies have revealed that the rainfall pattern in Odisha is changing quite drastically, more so in last decade and a half. Out of 1,482 mm rainfall, about 500 mm to 700 mm rainfall is taking place within a span of 3-4 days, which is causing severe flood and drought in subsequent days. Due to deviation in the pattern of rainfall, and prolonged dry periods in non-monsoon months, flow in Odisha’s rivers have reduced drastically. Most of the rivers are lying dry for about two-third of the year. This has been forcing all to depend upon ground water to meet all sorts of water requirements.
While the dependency on ground water has increased significantly, efforts to augment it has been the opposite. Changes in rainfall pattern and drastic changes in land use pattern is increasingly affecting percolation of rainwater.
Even when we get enormous amount of rainfall, that hardly makes any contribution as that flow away as high velocity runoffs. Due to change in the pattern of rainfall, people have started shifting from rain-fed agriculture to irrigated hi-yielding agriculture. This is again increasing significant pressure on ground water.
Water being a State subject, the Government of Odisha is expected to take tangible steps to enhance ground water. But, that is precisely lacking. The Odisha Water Policy 2007 clearly says that water for drinking and domestic should be treated as first priority. But, who will ensure this, when there is no coordination among the various departments.
The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) shows that ground water level is depleting more than two meters (over 10 years’ time) in 24 out of the 30 districts in Odisha. However, the State Government statistics give a different picture. They say that only a fraction of utilisable ground water is being used. A 2004 assessment had estimated that the overall ground water ‘development’ is a little more than 18 per cent.
That means Odisha was utilising 18 per cent of its replenishable ground water resources. However, the newest assessment report brought out by the Directorate of Ground Water Survey and Investigation (DGWSI) puts State’s average ground water development rate at 26 per cent – which is significantly higher than the previous assessment made in 2004.
Nevertheless, many experts have questioned the methodologies of assessing water drafts, i.e., water extracted and estimations of ground water. The doubts over accuracies of the assessments get more glaring by the assessment released by the DGWSI in June 2010. The newest assessment reveals that ground water resource has dropped by a whopping 21 per cent in just six years.
The 2004 estimation had assessed Odisha’s ground water resource at 21 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM). The 2010 estimation assessed it at 16.69 BCM. This revelation directly contradicts the claims of under-utilization of ground water potentials.
Half-hearted attempts have been made so far by the Odisha Government to come out with an enactment to regulate use and extraction of ground water. The first one formulated in the year 2000 was put in the deep freezer for five years, after which the Water Resources Department came out with a memorandum in 2005.
Again in 2011, Odisha Groundwater (Regulation, Development and Management) Bill was placed before Odisha legislative Assembly and yet to be approved by Governor of Odisha. One wonders when a proper legislation will be in place to regulate the wanton extraction of ground water! In any case, the opinion has been sharply divided on the need for ground water legislation.
A section of it demands that the extraction of ground water should be restricted. At the same time, there is also another school of thought that believes that any enactment in this regard will create a licence and permit raj that will give a handle to the bureaucracy to harass the common people.
While the rich can get around such legislation, the poor will withstand the worst of harassment, it apprehends. This apprehension is not ill founded and needs to be addressed while formulating legislation on ground water.
legislation, though, is not an end in itself. What is more important is that the State should demonstrate the sense of urgency that the situation warrants. But there is no sign of it as yet. In the absence of a strong desire to regulate the use of water, even the best of legislation cannot address the problem or lead to sustainable use of ground water.
Everybody is saying that rain water harvesting is the need of the hour. However, definite steps are awfully lacking. The irony is that, it is not yet being taken seriously. Water harvesting and water recharge is a big problem everywhere. But, mandatory enforcement of rainwater harvesting is hardly enforced.
Ground water is the last hope for a water-starved population. It is like a bank account, where only debits take place. We do not deposit anything but continue with our withdrawals. Of course, there is a limit where our withdrawal request will be refused. Hope that time does not come – at least not in Odisha.
(The author works with the WaterAid India, Bhubaneswar. Views expressed here are personal)