How we use water can be as important as how much water we have. Who owns or controls that water will prove crucial
“Every apartment is a dream come true — the coronet that tops the king-sized lifestyle of true blue blood.” So run the ads. Yup. The blue bloods do it big. Each apartment has its own private swimming pool. These are, after all, “super-luxurious, supersized designer apartments.” The kind that “match the royal lifestyles.” There are also the villas the builders proudly announce as their “first gated community project.” And yes, each of them ranging from 9,000 to 22,000 square feet also offers its own private swimming pool. In yet other buildings coming up, the duplex penthouses will each have, you guessed it: private swimming pools.
These are just in Pune alone. All of them with other amenities needing still more water. A small but proud trend — with the promise of more to come. All of them in regions of a State lamenting their greatest drought in 40 years. In Maharashtra, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s view, one of our worst droughts ever. In a State where thousands of villages now depend on visits from water tankers. A daily visit if you’re lucky. Once or twice a week if you’re not. Yet it’s as if there is no connection between the swimming pools and the drying lakes. There’s very little discussion about it, for sure. As little as there was during two decades when the State rejoiced in the spread of dozens of “water parks” and water-theme entertainment parks. At one point, a score of them in the Greater Mumbai region alone.
Major diversions
Across the drought-hit regions of the State, despair grows. Over 7,000 villages are drought or scarcity-hit. Officially. Thousands of others are also in a bad way but are not classified as drought-hit. Of those declared as affected, some will get a bit of help. The government runs water tanker visits for them. Thousands of others make direct deals with private tankers. Close to half-a-million animals are dependent on cattle camps. Distress sales of cattle go on briskly, too. Water in many reservoirs is below 15 per cent. In some it is close to dead-storage levels. But far more than the searing drought of 1972, this is a man-made one.
There have been huge diversions of water in the last 15 years to industrial projects. And to private companies also in the lifestyle business. To cities from villages. Blood has been shed over such transfers. As in Maval in 2011 when police fired on angry farmers, killing three and wounding 19 others. They were protesting the government acquiring their land for a water pipeline from the Pavana dam to Pimpri Chinchwad. The scale of water loss this implied drew thousands more into the protests as well. The State’s response at the time was to book around 1,200 people for “attempted murder.” And for rioting as well.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar also did his best to lock in the control of industry over irrigation. He even tried to amend for the worse, the already regressive Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act. One new clause on his agenda would have barred any challenge to water-distribution policies.
The trends in diversion for lifestyle-entertainment though, are not new. In 2005, a huge “Fun & Food Village Water & Amusement Park” popped up in Nagpur (Rural) district. That, in a period of real water stress. The Fun “Village” had 18 kinds of water slides. It also had “India’s first snowdrome” along with an ice rink. It is not easy to maintain snow and ice in 47° heat. That took huge amounts of electricity in a region seeing 15-hour power cuts. It also guzzled massive amounts of water.
Lavasa and agriculture
This is also a State that added quite a few golf courses in the past decade or so. It now has 22, with more in the pipeline. Golf courses use huge amounts of water. This has often sparked conflicts with farmers in the past. Golf courses worldwide also use vast amounts of pesticide that can seep into and affect the water of others as well.
Besides, this is a State where we’ve seen angry protests over the water soaked up by private projects like Lavasa, “Independent India’s first hill city.” Sharad Pawar has drawn applause for ticking off his own party’s minister, Bhaskar Jadhav, for wasteful spending on a family wedding in a time of drought. But the Union Agriculture Minister has always been gung-ho about Lavasa. The project’s website noted quite a while ago that it has “permission to store” 0.87 TMC. That is — 24.6 billion litres of water.
No State has spent more money to create less irrigation. The Economic Survey 2011-12 found that land under irrigation had gone up by just 0.1 per cent of land in a whole decade. Which still means that less than 18 per cent of cropped area in the State is irrigated. That’s after spending tens of billions of rupees to produce many millionaires and very little irrigation. The major transfers of water to industry also come in a time of agricultural decline. (A 23 per cent fall in foodgrain in 2011-12 according to the Economic Survey.)
Even as foodcrop declines, fully two-thirds of Maharashtra’s sugarcane is grown in drought-prone or water scarce areas. At least one Collector had called for sugarcane crushing in his district to be suspended during this crisis. The sugar factories there together use up to 90 lakh litres a day. Given the power the sugar barons wield, the Collector is more likely to be suspended than the crushing.
The water needed for one acre of sugarcane can irrigate 10-12 acres of foodcrops like jowar. More than half of Maharashtra’s irrigation water goes to this crop which takes just six per cent of the cultivated area. Sugarcane requires “180 acre inches of water.” That is, 18 million litres per acre. Eighteen million litres can meet the domestic water needs of 3,000 rural households for a month (That’s based on a modest 40 litres a day per person). This in regions where the water table falls every year. That has not deterred Maharashtra from encouraging Rose cultivation — a very tiny trend but growing swiftly with the promise of more to come. Roses need even more water. They need “212 acre inches.” Which is — 21.2 million litres of water per acre. Indeed, rose cultivation, small as it is, has been a cause for some celebration in the State. Exports this year went up by some 15-25 per cent. The rupee’s slide, an extended winter — and “Valentine’s Day” — gifted rose growers this happy situation.
In the last 15 years, the only regulatory frameworks the State has put in place lead to greater privatisation of water. To quicker loss of community control over this natural resource. One that is rapidly depleting. At the same time, the unchecked exploitation of groundwater has made things a lot worse. Maharashtra worked hard to get to the crisis it now faces. Private swimming pools amidst oceans of dry despair. For the rich, there is never a scarcity. For so many of the rest, their hopes evaporate by the day.
sainath.p@thehindu.co.in
Keywords: Maharashtra drought, drying lakes, water shortage, water crisis, Maharashtra irrigation, crop failure, water-distribution policies, water parks
Again an excellent piece of work by Sri Sainath.This again shows poverty amidst plenty.It's more disheartening to know that the lopsided policies of the rulers of Maharashtra are the real culprits for the present drought.
Probably to avoid such criticism, states like Chattisgarh(if I remember correctly)have long back,sold out one of its rivers to a private party.Now you no longer can demand water. Not only water, many such scarce resources like gas,electricity,spectrum bandwidths etc,in our country are for offer on a platter for industrialists and their ilk.When the govts of the day are indulging in such a heinous acts shamelessly, depriving large sections of populace, it's sure in future if not now, that the 1% will demonstrate forcefully against the 99% to get the justice.
It's true that'Who owns or controls that water will prove crucial'. In A.P.we are now witnessing a worst ever power crisis due the myopic vision of our rulers. The gas goes to other states for our KG basin.
//Great article. Mr Sainath proves himself to be the lone voice of sense. Reading this article, I couldn't help but think about the strong alternative which Islamic Economics gives us.//
Have you never heard about what outrageous things happen in Dubai?
Save Forests, Save Water, should be the next mass movement in the
country. The youth of the county should take a lead stir people toward
the issues related to the water, otherwise the counry is going to dryup
with nowhere to go. Forestration and rain water harvesting should get
highest priority and new plans and programmes for this purpose should
be implemented on war footing. Modernizing does not mean destroying the
the forest. Government should desist on all costs of handing over these
precious land and forest sources to Real Estate Mafias.
Thank you Mr. P. Sainath and THE HINDU for the article.
Good article as it raises a number of challenges for India.
The increase size of the middle class and the increase in demand for water that goes with this. India will need to have a strategy for this problem whether there is a good monsoon or a bad monsoon. Relying on water tankers is a short term solution. Water de-salination plants are a possibility but they require much energy to operate. The knock on effect is the need for proper power stations and not just hydro-electric.
This problem affects most of India not just Maharasta. Where I live in Kerala my neighbor's public well has ran out of water and I am supplying them from my well.
For Maharashtra one hopes that the politicians will address this problem and not just ignore it so as not to upset the wealthy.
Anyone for a swimming pool tax?
Information obtained through RTI Act shows that in Pune area (area of NCP
stronghold), 3.46 TMC water was released through Mutha Right Wing canal to
irrigate 2013 Ha of area. The norm is 0.23 TMC for 1000 Ha. Hence, 3.46 TMC
should have irrigated 15000 Ha of land. In other words, there is either 87 % leakage
through the canals or there has be a massive theft of 3 TMC or 85 billion litres of
water.
We are happy that you have exposed the fraud.
There should be an inquiry in the affairs pertaining to water in the home state of
our exalted honourable Shri Sharadchandraji Pawarji.
I think the article starts with opinion which is biased. I do not see an issue with swimming pool containing water if its not depriving others from their share of water.
I recently visited a Gated project where there is a single swimming pool for around 500 families.
The waste water from the entire gated community is recycled in a plant setup inside the community and reused..
What is the need of the hour is to
1. Not waste water
2. Setup water treatment plants in big complexes, communities, appartments etc.
3. Enforce implementation of RWH in every house, appt, complex etc.
4. Conduct drives to eliminate illegal borewells..
Let us not hate people just because they get to enjoy what we could not as long as they do not enjoy at our cost..
Once again Sainath has highlighted the plights of the poor in this
country run by the lords. Hope other mainstream media also gave such
prominence to much needed urgent issues.
Pawars and Thackereys are always known to be pro-business houses.It is
no secret why Thackerey supported Pranab for president post.Pawars
along with Congress have strong hold on rural Maharashtra and
Thackereys have their existence,whatever is left,in Urban
Maharashtra.Almost every NCP minister has sugar factory and
engineering college in different parts of Maharashtra.Even though
everyone is aware of this,question is how these people get re elected
and with higher margin.God save the country.
Kudos to P sainath for an article concerned with bottom 5% of the
country.
What about water guzzling bottling plants that not only deplete water
but also pack fizz in plastic bottles. The Plachimada bill is about
"polluter pays" asking Coca Cola to pay 200 + crores for the damage done
to the water table & contamination. But my qt is - will these crores
ensure the replenishment of the water table? A common resource which
will take not less than many decades to be recharged. Can money
compensate for environmental or Human Rights abuse? How can it replace
what was lost by the community?
Dear Sainath your articles are factual as usual. My only concern is even this very webpage promotes luxury villas and apartments in their advertisement panel
In the capital city Guwahati many places have to depend on water
tankers, villages have never seen one!
Sainath Sir never disappoints! Another hard hitting article with full of facts. Maharashtra govt not seem to care about the farmers even after so many suicides.
Water now here for the rich, water no where for the poor!
It is not just construction companies or housing that depletes water.
WHAT ABOUT 5 STAR HOTELS? In Delhi notice has been issued to 35 hotels
asking for their water & waste details & Green Policies. 8000
kelolitre is the daily consumption by a big 5 star hotel the report
says. Enough for 5000 persons per day.Think all bathtubs &
showers!Fountains, et al.Chennai is water scarce - yet has a large
number of 5 star hotels. The sights of water pots lining a tap is a
common sight! While Hotels guzzle energy & water! Electricity
consumption is 300,000 units per month even for a small 5 star the
report says. 600 households need this much power a month!Surprising
that these qts have never been asked either by Govt or environmental
activisits....consultations happen in 5 star hotels every other day -
where people sit in dark rooms, with blinds & curtains drawn & all
chandeliers with light bulbs (not CFLs) burning bright. These are
discussions on poverty, sustainability, MDGs, etc.ironical!
Its not only in Maharastra, it happens in TamilNadu and other states too. In Coimbatore region, the places like Pollachi, Udumalpet, Sathyamangalam, Ooty & other surrounding areas, there are lot of water diversions for non-agricultural peupose and the prime agricultural lands are converted to plots for sale. One most disappointing thing is the proposal for laying new railway line between Bangalore & Sathyamangalam amid the reserved forests.
Water scarcity is going to hit Maharashtra hard
Great article. Mr Sainath proves himself to be the lone voice of sense.
Reading this article, I couldn't help but think about the strong alternative which Islamic Economics gives us.
Not only does Islam discourage wasteful spending on an individual level, on a state level, an Islamic State prioritizes social entrepreneurship. Instead of supplying water to cultivate roses on 1 acre of land to be gifted/exported on valentine's day, we could cultivate 14-15 acres of food crops like Jowar for the same amount of water.
Think about the food security of the people. Think about the heavy employment it would generate. And they say, there is less food for humanity as a whole, so let's infact produce Genetically Modified Crops which are proven to be unstable and carcinogenic and give away the patents of these GMOs to MNCs who will then come to monopolize food within 20 years.
What a 'telling' photo accompanying the article. Without saying so in so
many words, it highlighted the mindset of the affluent class to
completely ignore the plight of the less fortunate. It is so very
unfortunate that the ruling class is paying no heed to mitigate the
suffering of the majority and as quoted in the article, all so called
schemes have only succeeded in making more millionaires rather than
irrigating more land and increase water supply
It is shameful for the politicians in maharashtra that they are
celebrating marriage of their children when the entire state is
'burnt' in severe water drought!
They don't care whether the people live or not, they just want their
vote banks to be filled with 'false promises' and 'lies'. They don't
care of their 'sujalam-sufalam' state.
It is very very sad that on the occasion of WORLD MARATHI DAY we see
such news happening in our own state. Why to celebrate MARATHI DIN
when the politicians don't even care for people here? They must be
busy in inauguration of some swimming pool in 'Navi mumbai' or any
cricket stadium!
Shame on these dirty people. If you can't do anything for people, at
least don't pretend to be 'caring for them'.
This is a sad time for Maharashtra.
A very well researched article!! As usual, the author has taken great
pains to highlight the distressing situation of water scarcity. This
can be mirrored even in the northern states, with their perennial
source of river waters. Coming from the national capital region, where
a 5 minute rain can stop the traffic, choke all the drains, make roads
look as if they never existed, people still form queues to get their
daily quota. One can only wonder what the situation is where even in
times of normal rainfall, we are still not able to provide potable
water to our citizens. We are using our water resources as if they
would exist forever, without giving a thought as to what the situation
would be for the next generation.
There are solutions. First reduce your own consumption in every way
e.g. stop soft drinks, esp those produced by foreign companies, reuse
all used water. Do not use clothes driers, etc. Encourage birth
control. There are literally a million ways to reduce wasteful
consumption of all resources and still live nicely. Tell all the
thousand folks you know.
Those who want to know should google reduce water consumption and
related topics. Do your bit: everything counts.
a famous personality from history said - if they dont have bread, let them eat cake. Now, her equivalent would rephrase this to state- if they dont have water,let them drink coke. And we all know the fate of the former.
Was reading an identical article in bloomberg, about the havenots in south america, being deperived of their water resources, by those in power.
It seems the lessons from history are forgotten."Those who dont learn from the mistakes of the past, are condemned to repeat it". Sainath is an inspiration to those of who care. But will the middle class, who are between the haves and havenots,do their tiniest bit in water conservation. Looking all around us, the answer is NO. And if questioned, the indignant response is always, 'the govt should take care". Well, the govt cant pass an edict, and neither can it monitor, how much water goes under the shower, just to cite one simple example.
sir, it is actually a pity that even after 67 years of independence our
policies again favour a few over the masses. the pitiable state of water
scarcity is no doubt man made and that too for personal gains. it is
astonishing that a national resource is being prolifigated to favour a
few. i sincerely hope better sense prevails and the govt enforces the
usage of the scarce resource.the tendency to divert precious natural
resources in the garb od devp from the needy to the greedy needs to be
curbed
Good investigation. Conservation is a key to abundance i.e. saving is
earning. Stop excessive use of anything & everything, more so on natural
resources. Each individual must be taught since childhood that natural
resources are limited & are meant for every one. These are getting
scarce due to excessive use rather abuse. Also each individual should
adapt these as normal principals in life & an awakening program should
be started on net, TV, news paper & by all NGOs.
Thank you Sainath for throwing light on a topic that is hardly touched
by the other newspapers. It seems Mamata's whimsical behaviour gets more
priority in their world rather than compassion for the downtrodden.
Great article!!! It's indeed a eye opener.
Our great leaders were fighting to capture the regions, n now we are fighting for water........
A day will come when there would be a war for water.
It's not too late "Better we SAVE WATER".
Eye-opener article on man-made drought in Maharashtra and poor state
of affairs regarding the issue. It needs serious amendments in policy
to circumvent the problem.
While tackling social problems, dynamics of society needs to be considered. I am a senior undergraduate at BITS Pilani interested in development sector and have been working on a Department of Science & Technology funded Rain Water Harvesting project in rural Rajasthan under supervision of Prof. Rajiv Gupta. The challenges we face are enormous and have to be dealt taking communities' wisdom in
consideration.
Your rural affairs articles have been very enlightening and sincere thanks for the work you have been doing.
Great analysis but an amazing fact about the article is, On top right side of the page the advertisements are of the same apartments and Villas :).
Like other die hard Hindu fans , i too am painfully aware of the
transitions in the corridors of Hindu.. and several 'old timers' are
leaving .. I hope the new management realises that in order to attract
the 20+ 'twitter' generation, it should not alienate the 40+ 'serious
readers' of 'serious' content like this ... keep it up.
Dear Hindu editor ...getting 50,000 MORE 'new' readers , hope you
continue to keep in mind your 50 Lakh 'old' readers who WANT REAL
journalism like this to survive in Hindu...
Dear Mr. Sainath :
Todays article on water shortage being predominantly a man made issue,
especially the 'greed' v/s need was very intense. Especially the
picture of a bikini lady in swimming pool v/s an equally scantily
tribal lady under water tank was dark and intense.
I have been an avid reader of your work and Hindu in general for long.
Your indepth , travelogues on rural india has had a deep impact and
one of the reasons i quit and have been running a agri startup (efarm,
based out of chennai).
In my brief travels i too have seen that many of the 'water wars'
being fought is more political rather than genuine shortage. In many
areas, i know of farmers, who of their own, have created simple bunds
and tanks and allowed water to percolate down and solved the drought
problmes with simple, common sense ingenuity...
As a common man of this country ,I felt so powerless while reading
through this article.Truly,there is no scarcity for the rich and for
the rest,their hopes evaporate by the day.The plight of the aam aadmi
is well brought into light but really who cares.
Amartya Sen rightly says that India is a land of distorted
priorities.The decision makers are fully aware of what ought to be
done concerning the populist measures.But, they are in a hurry to make
dollars;again who cares.
If the region of Vidarbha accounts for so many suicides then we should
not be surprised.It is bound to happen.The so-called leaders have some
other obligations with real estates or crony capitalists.They have no
time in sorting out the problems of the producers of the food.This
irony (the producers of the food grains will only face maximum
problems looking for a square meal)will always last in the country.
Very nice article. It is the same situation in Karnataka.
My family hasn't done any farming this year. They are hoping it would rain this April ....
The current situation is very scary. There is scarcity of drinking water in many villages..
cattle are dying, they are selling for low prices to people who eat them
The day is not very far where India will have to import every food item from other countries..:(
Is this the beginning of End of Indian Agriculture ????
Hello sir, thats another great study.I am just wondering about the soft and hard drinks companies which suck millions of litres of fresh water contributing to scarcity of water all over India.
Dear sir your article is another master piece and the photos reveals the actual scenario of Maharastra. Even illiterate could understand the story gist by just looking at those photos.
It is a sad state of situation that applies to almost all of the developed states in India. In many places within Tamil Nadu it is happening. Lot of green forest in and around Coimbatore is losing to realtors coming up with gated communities.
Another eye-opener from 'The Hindu' following one from yesterday by Ms. Brinda Karat. The NCP here is a party of dalals and the ticking of Bhaskar Jadhav by Sharad Pawar is a mere eyewash. Pawar is a fork tongued and a fence-sitter... known to cohabit with industrialists, middlemen, builders.. Of course every party has these, but the NCP is way up in this chain...
The only ideology/party that can take on these dalals would be the Leftists, however they're inconsequential here in Maharashtra. Sadly the times of Comrade Dange, Ranadive or even Socialists like Mr. Madhu Dandavate are a long history...
Nice article. Maharashtra politician leader know very well how to stolen the water from common man. In jalana and Aurangabad people are waiting for water interval for several days and gov. busy in devoloping Aurangabad as beer capital which contribute 250-300lt water per liter bottle.
Poignant comments. Now if you take a drive from Lonavala towards Pawana dam, all along the route on both sides most of the land has been bought up by the land traders of different groups and resold at huge premiums to city slickers from Mumbai and Pune. (That is how Mr Bachchan also got his land on the banks of Pawana backwaters. This situation is true also for most of the other dams that exist in the region. Basically wherever there is water the land has been cornered by land mafia because city slickers want a view of the water. The water is also available to them for their lawns and bungalows which have been set up around the banks. It is almost as if these dams have been set up primarily for this purpose - appreciation of the land value so that it can be resold to city elite.
As we slowly get absorbed into the maya of five senses in our life, Sainath reminds us of the dharmic path. Thank you, Sainath.
Considering the current government has been systematically taking away water from
the poor and giving to the rich and industrialists to pollute, its clear that unless we
throw out this government, only the rich will have water.
All the crisis we face are man made.. There is more in store for us, until the people understand the resources are not only for one creature thats human and stop exhausting it.
Its high time we take bold steps to stop these actions and policies that deprives us from our right for natural resources.
Very well written article. Thought provoking
Keep it up HINDU for such an eye-opener article.
Commendable observations!
Is the distribution of power to blame? The politicians hold all the power, have their private utopias and are in the least bothered about the worries on the common people. The people have no power, no utopias and all the worries.
How about redistributing power from the State governments to the grassroots (panchayats/districts)? Do we really need a State level government machinary?
As always Sainath has brought the plight of Aam admi in to light but
again as always who cares.
Politicians such as Pawar are very self-centered and he is heading Agriculture with no concern for farmers' needs of water and drinking water needs of the people living next to water sources. And such people dictate who should be the irrigation minister in the state.
In my part of the state, in Nashik, people never faced severe scarcity. This year also water supply is normal. Thanks to river Godavari and its minor tributaries. Around the city, crops are still green unlike other parts of the state. But, the unthoughtful overuse of water by Nashikites is proving disartrous for the people of Marathawada where Godavari further flows. There is great need of awareness among people. Hopefully, politicians can make some contribution at least to this campaign.
The article shows how the politicians become anti aam admi though they think and talk about
him at election time. It appears that no thought is given to water management. When
attacked the NCP threatened to bring the Maharashtra government down. Unfortunately all
political parties are the same in that they do not care for the aam admi
There are many solutions to the problem - but who will bell the cat is the question. The best
solution is to have a benign dictatorship headed by selfless intellectuals.. The next best is to
have Martial law or military rule. If this is not possible let us invite a foreigner to rule this
country.
The way things are shaping, the country will face a severe water problem in the near future.
In the past we never controlled population, threw out greedy politicians or elected good
people to govern us. As a last resort a change in the Constitution is required - but with poorly
educated CMs this seems to be just not possible. God help us !
Excellent read and thought provoking
Kudos to Mr Sainath for bringing out an article
Which main stream media neglects
The Hindu makes us proud as a reader
Great show of the state and governments and their business hunger !
First you shed crocodile tears on the collective tragedy called drought
and declare it as an act of God.On the other governments are engaged to
produce millionaires at the cost of billions.This is done in nexus with
corporate by transferring valuable water as collective nation`s wealth
to few favored cronies.
The Golden Rule of Life is that He who has the Gold makes the Rules. All of us have to learn to live with that. Otherwise we'll end up with communism which is a hell worse than death.
Shame ! instead of just and needy distribution of nature`s `fixed` gift
called `water` there are regulations to profit from water sale and
accumulation for few.Without changing the ownership and control over
water the state cannot proudly produce another new millionaire for this
unequal development at the cost of billions.
Very thought provoking. Most sections of Maharashtra fall on the rain shadow, get barely
800 mm of rain a year, and have long scorching summers to boot. One sends just the wrong
message with gated complexes boosting of private swimming pools in each villa.
Dear Sainath ji!
Avid reader and follower of your articles since Caste Off.. in the
late 90's.
No one can deny the yoeman's service you render to the nation by
consistently highlighting such issues.We readers are truly indebted to
you.
In the long run all the matters highlighted by you shall affect every
Indian , but sadly is not apparent to easily.
Thirsting to see how people there have responded to these issues.
Please provide at least one solution/year and highlight it.
Not necessarily by you, at least someone /institute that tackles
various(whether caste, drought,suicide,migration etc) problems
highlighted by you.
Very well written and statistically supported article. An eye opener for those who intend to invest in such properties.
These projects need not be eliminated, they need to be postponed until our agricultural situation improves and we have a robust irrigation system. Instead of closing lakes and converting them either to agricultural lands or housing paradises, we need to device a plan to harvest rain water in these.
Public commitment and discipline, backed by apt and adept governance is the need of the day!
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