November 2013

 
Dear friends,

River in, sewage out is the only thing city planners and engineers know about water supply and waste water disposal in South Asia. In city after city, upstream rivers provide water while downstream, if the river has the misfortune to flow through the city, it becomes a sewer. Belatedly the same people who messed up the environment have woken up to the catastrophe. Instead of remedying the situation, they are aping the west by putting their faith in technology – pumps, pipes and plants – to ‘solve’ the problem. In the meantime, the rivers get filthier while engineers get wealthier.

Even that paragon of Himalayan virtues Bhutan has failed to get the water pollution equation right. The only advantage it has is a small population so the quantum of pollution entering rivers is small. But walk along the main streets of Thimphu and you are periodically greeted by the smell of hydrogen sulphide emanating from drains into which poorly designed septic tanks empty. These drains eventually converge on the Wang Chhu; by virtue of being a fast flowing stream, it does not betray pollution but water quality tests show a high level of biological oxygen demand for even such a river.

Delhi is compounding the problem by covering the many natural drains that carry monsoon runoff to the Yamuna. In the process it is (a) creating pollution hotspots by depriving the water of the natural cleansing effects of sunlight and air (b) reducing green cover since the open drains have a rich variety of plant life that has to be removed when the drain is concretised (c) reducing the chances for natural  recharge and (d) creating large eyesores since the open drains are much more aesthetic even with sewage than the cemented boxes they are being locked up in.

These covered drains are very soon going to make the problem of water pollution worse. They are not going to solve anything, leave alone the problem of smell that residents living next to them complain about. Nor the problem of corrosion of air-conditions and fridges; the covered drains will generate very high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide and other corrosive gases that will eventually corrode the concrete covers and seep through. Water is a living resource and trying to bury it is counter-intuitive.

We have gone over many other alternatives to this lunacy that can be used in any South Asian context. Bioremediation, constructed wetlands and artificial aeration are some simple, and cheaper, options to treat water in drains and ensure it does not stink. The engineers do not know and do not want to know about these options and therefore, attempts to make them think laterally hit a wall, literally. Any conversation about these options ends with ‘we will try a pilot’, but there are many pilots that remain just that. The water bureaucracy ensures its ‘solutions’ prevail while others that will help reduce water pollution in the short and long term never see the light of day.

These alternatives have to built into city plans since they need a different approach. They need more land and more aesthetic than conventional systems. We developed a plan for Gurgaon that combines multiple systems to maximize local water availability and something of that scale would work for most cities. The inertia to try such systems is something citizens and governments have to overcome if we are to address water pollution. Burying the problem will not solve it.
 
Nitya Jacob, CSE
 
Sithi Naka - Festival to celebrate water conservation in Kathmandu valley
Kathmandu valley in Nepal initially depended entirely on traditional water sources like hitis (stone spouts), ponds and wells. Many of such structures are more than 1500 years old. The local people knew that the water quality of these hitis, wells or ponds had to be maintained. Hence they celebrated special festival Sithi Naka to clean these water sources before monsoon. Today these structures are lost, forgotten and built over. In ancient times, the hitis were the main source of drinking water. Ponds in the valley, which also form groundwater recharging bodies and water sources, are also in a poor state. Many buildings of Lalitpur municipality have been raised by encroaching the pond. Few other examples of threatened ponds are  Kamal pokhari and  Rani pokhari where police stations were erected on the encroached land of the pond and on the bank of pond respectively.

Communities cleaning hitis-Source- CIUD
The people in the valley still continue to celebrate Sithi Naka but not to that scale feels Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD), a leading NGO in Nepal. Once the piped supply of water came in, the traditional festival of cleaning the water sources lost its importance, feels the NGOs promoting water conservation and sanitation in the country. Sithi Naka is celebrated on the onset of the rainy seasons every year. Wells, stone spouts, pipes, wells, ponds etc. are cleaned in different parts of the valley. The indigenous community celebrate this festival by worshipping Kartikeya (or Kumar as locally called), the son of Lord Shiva. Although the festival involves many aspects like worshipping, traditional food preparation etc., the main focus of this festival is to clean the water sources. As this festival occurs in the dry season, it becomes easier for the people to clean the water sources. The well in the water also drops down and people go down to clean these wells. The people also have a traditional technique of checking if the bottom of the well has enough oxygen for a person to go in. They first send a hanging oil lantern down and see how deep the lamp goes down without extinguishing. It gives them an idea if it is safe for them to go inside. They worship the wells, ponds, hitis spouts as deities, thank them for providing the people with potion of water and clean them for the forthcoming monsoon.

Communities worshipping hitis - Source - CIUD
The valley is looking at projects like Melamchi Water Supply Project to quench its thirst and completely ignoring its traditional water wealth. Crores of rupees are pumped into this project. The wait for the completion has been long for the valley.  The environmentalists and the planners in the country strongly believe that there should be promotion of this festival and there should be provision of celebrating this day as the traditional water source conservation day. This will surely help people to understand the traditional water wealth.

 

Sushmita Sengupta, CSE
 
Squatter Communities and Access to Water
The term ‘community’ has always been a contested concept and it is often defined using a variety of variables, most commonly in terms of geographical identity and common interests. At its simplest, the term ‘community’ can be defined as a group of people who must have something in common and that must distinguish them from other groups. Traditionally strong communities used to develop over a considerably long period within some form of boundaries, such as geographical location, language, religion, culture and ethnic identity. However, in recent years, due to social and economic changes in society, the nature of communities has dramatically changed. Today, effective communities can also be formed based on a purpose. The most obvious evidence of such communities is urban communities of squatter settlements. With urbanization, more and more people are migrating to cities and a large proportion of this population is finding shelter in squatter settlements that lack access to basic amenities such as water supply and sanitation facilities. Dhaka city is one of such example where a huge number of migratory rural population resides in squatter settlements. These settlements not having any land entitlements are not eligible for formal water supply and sanitation facilities. However, despite these legal obstacles a large number of these informal settlements manage to get access to adequate water services by organizing themselves into a community based on their common interest. With some assistance from NGO community, these squatter communities organize themselves. The NGO community further helps these communities in negotiating with the authorities and setting up an agreement by which the community pay the capital cost and, the operation and maintenance cost that includes maintenance expenses and the monthly-agreed payments for the water provision. The community together borne the capital cost and takes the entire responsible for the financial and the administrative management of the provision. Eventually the community takes the entire control of the system. This demonstrates that even ad hoc communities such as squatter communities have an ability to organize themselves into strong communities just based on common interests and develop a sense of shared responsibility among its members in order to get access to basic amenities such as water services.

 

Amandeep Kang, CSE
 
 

Water News from CSE
On green track
Bhutan’s experiments with happiness
Bullets for water
Government officials in expert panel on Uttarakhand disaster irk activists
Robbed of water
No respite for Odisha and Andhra from extreme rains, floods
Hauz Khas village restaurants under scanner for spewing untreated sewage
Guidelines on idol immersions
'Give people viable option'
Calming influence
 
Other News
 
Water Pollution
Immersion under tribunal lens

24/10/2013
The tradition of immersing idols may soon be ripped off puja celebrations.

Govt sleeps as toxic waste poisons water in Punjab

14/10/2013
Notwithstanding claims of the Punjab Government and the state Pollution Control Board the practice of discharging domestic waste and untreated industrial effluents into drains, rivulets and water channels continues unabated in Jalandhar and Kapurthala.

Oil spill off Mumbai worse than estimated

10/10/2013
The oil spill on the Uran coast close to Mumbai is larger than what was estimated.

Doctors call for tests on 'mystery' pollution found in Yamuna

04/10/2013
Pollution in Yamuna refuses to come down despite efforts by the Delhi government and various agencies.

 
Water Resources
Built-up area takes a heavy toll on green cover, water bodies

05/11/2013
The built-up area in the National Capital Region, which includes residential, non-residential, landfill sites, etc., has increased by 34.6 per cent from 1999-2012.

Green tribunal pulls up govt on groundwater

31/10/2013
Displeased with a Delhi Government report on the illegal use of groundwater, the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday asked senior officials to appear before it.

President calls for better utilisation of water

29/10/2013
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday called for devising a “broad over-arching” national legal framework that will pave way for essential legislation on water governance in the country.

Ground water level scenario in India (Pre Monsoon 2013)

01/10/2013
Decline in water level more than 4 m is mostly prominent in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.

 
Water Supply
India to Invest $1.8 Billion in Village Water Supplies

15/10/2013
India, where 200,000 children four and under die yearly of diseases caused by dirty water, plans to spend 110 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2014 to improve village water.

Water level depleting, Gurgaon looks to set up its own jal board

15/10/2013
Keeping the city’s growing water-and sewage-related problems, government authorities have suggested establishment of an agency similar to the Delhi Jal Board.

Draft Meghalaya State Water Policy 2013

01/10/2013
The overall objective of the Meghalaya Water Policy is to “ensure that water is used efficiently, shared equitably, managed sustainably, governed transparently and contributing to improving the health

 
Sanitation
Stinking reality: Centre's data exposes states' tall claims on rural sanitation

31/10/2013
States and the Centre often speak in different tones. But now, statistics reveal that even their “facts” differ.

Rajasthan town makes a clean job of sanitation

16/10/2013
Churu, a town in the Thar desert populated by 1.2 lakh people, has come a long way in the last three years.

Corporations’ public toilets report rejected

31/10/2013
Irked by the status report submitted by the three municipal corporations and NDMC on the issue of public toilets in the city, the Delhi High Court bench of Justice B D Ahmad and Justice Vibhu Bakhru on Wednesday rejected the corporations' reports.

 
Solid Waste
TASK FORCE TO USE PLASTIC WASTE FOR BUILDING ROADS

05/11/2013
The housing and urban development (H&UD) department has formed a task force to implement the use of plastic waste for road construction.

Maintain status quo on waste management draft, says HC

13/10/2013
A Karnataka High Court Bench has asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to maintain status quo on a draft of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2013.

COME CLEAR ON DUMPING SITE STATUS, NGT TO AGENCIES

30/10/2013
The designated garbage dumping site of the civic body at Bhanpur, which has been operational for the last 33 years, does not have clearance from pollution monitoring agency MPPCB.

 
Forthcoming events
Conferences / Events in India
International Summit on Water Cooperation for inclusive growth 2013
HYDRO 2013 International-18th International Conference o Hydraulics, Water Resources, Coastal and Environmental Engineering
CII Water Conclave, 2013
Political Economy of Water: A Social Work Response
 
International Conferences/Events
12th to 13th November 2013, London, United Kingdom
Water in Mining
International Water Week