The Cauvery dispute, and others of similar kind, show the nation needs a water policy
One of the hot topics of discussion between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu during the former’s historic visit to Israel was on technologies surrounding water. Israel, a water-scarce country, has taken major strides in agriculture to beat the disadvantage. And in India, Israeli technology is already making a difference across several States, particularly in the north and west of the country. But while there is severe water stress across many parts, the real water crisis that has been developing over the past few years has been in the agrarian south, and the river causing all this stress is the Cauvery. On the way up to the Coorg hills and their coffee estates, there is a fork on the highway that takes one to Brahmagiri, the mountain that is considered the source of the Cauvery, a river that has brought prosperity for centuries to southern Karnataka and northern Tamil Nadu. Yet, nowadays, a mention of the river can become an emotional issue depending on which side of the riparian divide one is. The, increased needs of water, thanks to a burgeoning urban population in this part of India, as water from the river satiates Bengaluru, as well as the cultivation of water-intensive crops such as sugarcane, has made matters particularly hard. Farmers downstream of the Krishna Raja Sagar complain constantly and this has been an issue from pre-independence days between the princely State of Mysore and the Presidency of Madras to the constitutional issue between their two modern successor States in the Republic. Politicians make an emotive issue of the problems that the sharing of waters cause, and this has led to riots and loss of life in both States.
However, generally, politicians have refused to deal with the core problems of the issue — which include the rampant wastage of water as well as the cultivation of inappropriate crops. Successive Union Governments have been extremely wary of entering into the issue, as the political fortunes of several leaders and indeed, several political parties demands on the issue always being on the boil. This, despite the fact that the last few Governments in India have realised the scale of the water crisis across the nation.
Since the monsoons have been fairly good this year so far, the heavy rain on the hills of Coorg have ensured the waters of the Cauvery will not run dry anytime soon. But this does not mean that politicians can ignore this issue for much longer. It is not just the agrarian economy but also the huge industrial base and services economy of the southern States that depends on a radical solution to this problem. If that involves cajoling farmers to shift to alternative crops and fining those who waste water, so be it. Indeed, several States need to look at solutions to the impending water crisis, otherwise Indian economic growth and indeed the country itself run the risk of dying from thirst.