The ancient mariner of one of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poems famously exclaimed “Water, water, everywhere,Nor a drop to drink.” This is the story of not just a sailor marooned at sea but of all mankind. Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use. According to UN, 2/3rdcould be living under water scarcity by 2025[i]. The problem is so acute that many pundits predict that future wars will be fought primarily on the issue of access to water. But Gujarat has taken this challenge and turned it into a huge opportunity. Aware that water mismanagement further results in lack of sufficient or clean drinking water, lower food production, sanitation and water borne diseases, the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi has taken steps to emerge as a leader in water management. Gujarat’s 5C model is now a leading example in the country. Gujarat govt. focused on five key factors to successfully address water related issues in an integrated manner: Collect River Water, Connect Rivers, Channelize Water, Control Local Water & Community Participation. Using this model Gujarat has been able to address the heart of the issue which has been described by UN as “Water insufficiency is often due to mismanagement, corruption, lack of appropriate institutions, bureaucratic inertia and a shortage of investment in both human capacity and physical infrastructure.”[ii] Gujarat has taken giant strides in water problem by solving the above issues. Due to its location, the state faced a massive challenge wherein 30% area of the state had 71% water resource and 70% area only had 29% water resources. This imbalance required a decisive leadership, meticulous planning and rigorous implementation to create inclusive growth. Collect River Water: One ofIndia’s largest dam the Saradar Saorvar Dam helps collect river water for supply in needed areas. The state governmenttook the lead on inter-state and centre-state discussions to enable raising the height of the dam. Even though the centre has fallen behind its work commitment on construction of gates, the dam when complete will irrigate thousands of sq km of area including most of it in drought prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra.The project has the potential to feed thousands of people, provide domestic and industrial water for lacs of people, employ around thousands of people, and provide hundreds of MW of valuable power. Building such dams is the key first step towards providing water for all. Connect Rivers: Many seasonal and smaller rivers can benefit by drawing excess water from large rivers like Narmada. Efforts to divert the surplus rainwater from Narmada Main Canal (NMC) and other dams in the region have helped release thousands of cusecs of water to recharge the seasonal smaller Heran, Karad, Kun, Sabarmati, Rupen and Banas rivers. Channelize Water: Water collected at dams and river joints will be wasted if there are no ways to channelize water to starved areas. Canals built under Sujalam Sufalam Yojana connect water starved North Gujarat with sources of water like Saradar Sarovar & Kadana dams. Surplus rainwater, overflowing the SSP and Kadana dams, is now being released to the Sujalam Safalam Spreading Canal, which serves the Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Patan districts. These districts are situated at a higher elevation than the Narmada Main Canal Command Area.Similarly, the water is then further sent to the end user and a statewide drinking water grid is also established for providing drinking water to thousands of villages. Control Local Water: In the past 10 years, around One lakh check dams have been built in Gujarat under the government-people scheme. Also farm ponds were created in areas like north and central Gujarat where building check dams was not very feasible. Further, drip irrigation was widely adopted by the encouragement of the State Government to control water wastage. Innovative and efficient management of State’s groundwater resources is a major turning point in Gujarat’s agricultural miracle which has converted barren lands into fertile farms thereby raising yields and resulting in the fall of cultivation costs. It is important to balance development with preservation of the environment and Gujarat is proud to have an optimal balance of ground water usage unlike other states which either over exploit (leading to long term issues) or under exploit (due to lack of infra) water resources. In 2004, the water table of 112 tehsils of the total 225 tehsils in Gujarat was in semi-critical to over-exploited condition. But a satellite based survey done last year by the Central Ground Water Board (NGWB) found that as many as 60 of these 112 tehsils have regained their normal water table. State has moved from 85% dependence on ground water to 75% of supply coming from surface water. Community Participation: Ultimately, government can only do so much and participatory community involvement is the most sustainable way to develop and maintain resources. Gujarat has taken water resources to people’s doorsteps down to village level through WASMO’s (Water and Sanitation Management Organisation) participatory distribution system – the UNO award winning initiative of Gujarat! Gujarat formed local water management committees (pani samitis). It is also important to connect local communities to water sources. The Sabarmati river front project has been recognized as one of the 100 most innovative projects in the world and has received multiple domestic awards. The project which has been managed competently and cost effectively (unlike the Yamuna river front project in Delhi), now connects people to the river and brings ownership to maintain and preserve our water sources. Community able to access and connect with water resources at Sabarmati river front The outcome of the above integrated approach to water management (Collect, Connect, Channelize, Control, Community) is visible across areas. Increased access to household water, 24X7 high quality power across the state using hydroelectric dams, women & children are empowered and can focus on productive activities like education or livelihood rather than walking miles for water. Gujarat now leads in agriculture, industrial and per capita growth rates in the country. Truly, water is the source of all prosperity and Gujarat has unleashed the source by visionary management and actions unheard of in other parts of the country.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 06:59:52 +0000
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