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Thursday, Oct 06, 2005

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Manage water resources: expert

Gargi Parsai

Users should be prepared to pay charges

Only projects which have priority will be funded Nationalisation is a wrong way

— Photo: PTI

WARNING CALL: John Briscoe, Country Director of the World Bank, Brazil, at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: : The World Bank is set to spend $600 million on two mega hydro-projects in the country over the next four years. It is looking at a proposal to fund a second tunnel in the Naphtha Jhakhri project in Himachal Pradesh. The second project is yet to be identified. The Bank recently pledged to raise its water sector loan to India from $200 million to $900 million a year over the next four years.

Releasing the Bank's draft report on India's Water Economy, John Briscoe, country director for Brazil and former senior water adviser for South-Asia, said the country would have to change from "development to management" of water resources. Water-users (including farmers and below the poverty line populations) should brace themselves up for paying charges either through taxes or user charges and higher tariff. The Bank would fund only those projects that had high priority, high returns and in which environmental and social issues were built.

Flawed management

The 95-page draft report faults the management of the water sector and says unless India makes drastic changes, it will have neither the money to maintain and build new infrastructure nor water for its economy and people.

Mr. Briscoe did not agree with the demand from some States, including Tamil Nadu, for nationalisation of river waters. "That was a wrong way to go." Instead, there should be clarity on the rules and the rights and entitlements of every State, every district, block and even individual farm holding.

"The Centre cannot override the interests of the States. But there should be clarity on the rules and entitlements and efficient use of the available waters. Those who give water should be compensated and there should be a contract between the two accompanied by proper regulations.''

On inter-linking of rivers, the expert said while it might appear logical to transfer water from the surplus to scarce basins, one would have to examine the economic, social and environmental costs.

"Complacency"

The draft report said the gap between tariff and value of irrigation and water supply services fuelled endemic corruption in India. The implicit philosophy was described as "Build-Neglect-Rebuild." This complacency was based on the erroneous assumption that there was limitless groundwater; that the environmental debts (including vanishing wetland and polluted rivers and aquifers) did not seriously constrain human activity, and that the financial liabilities inherent in these systems could continue to grow indefinitely.

An important manifestation of the "breakdown" of the current system was the growing severity of water conflicts — between States, between cities and farmers, between industry and villagers, between farmers and the environment, and within irrigated areas, the report said.

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