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Water management is tricky business in India not just for
domestic political reasons but for bilateral relations
as with China, Pakistan and Bangladesh. While
International laws will allow more privileges to the
lower riparian states in general, India cannot seem to
overtly follow such policies since that will mean
Bangladesh and Pakistan demanding more water on the
Ganges and Indus. It cannot overtly support upper
riparian states because that will increase the case
for China will controls Tibet where over 70% of the
water coming into the subcontinent originate. Further,
a domestic upper riparian favoring system will also
encourage China to blast through the Himalayas, as it
threatens to, to get warm air from the Indian Ocean to
enhance its agriculture. If China follows through that
threat, it will be death of monsoons in India and also
endanger the survival of a billion people.
Many politicians are quick to suggest nationalization of
rivers saying that a Central Authority is better
suited to arbitrate over water sharing. History does
not agree with this quick-fix solution. The Cauvery
River Tribunal authority is one of the least effective
bodies often disagreeing, politicking, and postponing
decisions. States even challenge SC verdicts as the
decision is not in their favor or is simply
politically distasteful. Hence, Karnataka refused to
obey a SC order to release water to Tamil Nadu in the
90s prompting it to threaten the dismissal of the
State Government, which then prompted it to accede. In
the latest case, Kerala is trying its luck at
disobeying the order saying that the order was limited
to increasing the size of the dam but not maintaining
a full quantity. Such legal over-smarting maneuvers
will surely not withstand judicial scrutiny.
Therefore, rather than politicize the debate and
management, what is really needed is a scientific and
dispassionate management of river water for the
benefit of the nation.
The Government desperately needs independent and
apolitical body that will measure water inflows and
outflows, maintain rainfall records, check water
pollution through city sewage and industrial effluents
at logical points, control unauthorized water
diversion and pumping, review and authorize water
storage systems, and monitor productivity and output
of water usage. Moreover, States must institute strong
processes where rain water is harvested to recharge
ground water, increase local storage in tanks, revive
century old storage tanks, abolish “developmental”
activities of tanks, remove water feeder systems into
tanks, and actively reclaim sewage water for
agricultural purposes. Further, farmers need to be
educated on ground water usage, water management
through drip and pot irrigation, integrated farming,
and controlling fertilizer and pesticide
runoffs.
With the near bankruptcy of many state electricity boards,
Governments have started withdrawing electrical
subsidies or free power to farmers. An unaddressed
area is the theft of power by unscrupulous farmers to
power then water pumps to pump out ground water.
This not only affects ground water tables but
also steals money from the country.
The United Nations says that the next major war will be
over water. If the country does not institute changes
immediately, the next major war in India will be a
civil war over water.
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