While inaugurating the three-day CSE conference on the Potential of Water Harvesting Systems: Traditions, Policies and Social mobilisation, organised by the Centre for Science and Environment, at Vigyan Bhavan, today, the president stressed on the need for "laws to promote peoples movement to encourage development, use and management of water by the people." The President in his lecture warned that the world was heading towards "a water shock which may dwarf the oil crisis" and alerted that "India’s economic growth can get wiped out by the health cost of water pollution."

The President lamented that "the government did not have as much funds as was required to deal with the massive problem we face in water supply and in keeping our waters clean even as we face the spectre of squandered financial resources because of half-finished projects and projects lying unused because of lack of repairs." Therefore, involvement of rural and urban communities will add to the availability of state funds and greatly reduce the need for perpetual subsidies as the communities can make major investments. "what is needed today is peoples’ technology that people can develop, use and manage themselves with active support from the state."

On this occasion the Shri Narayanan acknowledged that India’s genius in catching rainwater lies in thousands of its invisible rural engineers who have succeeded in securing water. Those who have been felicitated by the President are Chewang Norphel from Ladakh who has devised innovative methods of making artificial glaciers in Leh to recharge waterbodies; Magga Ram Suthar from Jaisalmer digs beris -- narrow but deep wells to draw sweet water in the harsh environs of Thar desert; Ran Singh of Churu village is known for his great engineering skills in making reliable Kundis -- small covered tanks; Kunhikannan Nair of Kasaragod in Kerela has carved out a surangam, a 300 meter deep and intricate tunnel in rock, which collects rainwater from the ghats and unlike other surangams retains water throughout the year; Ganesan, a neer-katti or water manager from Madurai is known for his acumen in dealing with the intricate sluice valves of the irrigation channels where one mistake in the calculation in waterflow and timing of the valves can ruin a poor farmers’ crop. Yet it never happens.

Also present in the inaugural session was Babagouda Patil, minister for state for Rural Areas and Employment who said, "By involving the people in the water management the state can play the role of an enabler and a supporter rather than being a provider. This also means greater ownership of the project by the people, less wasteful project, better maintenance and upkeep of projects and quicker preventive measures to reduce pollution of water."

Anil Agarwal Director CSE in his keynote address pointed out that if rain was captured with the time tested technique in the area equal to the union territory of Delhi there would be enough clean water to meet drinking and cooking needs of India. But such a possibility has simply remained a mirage as the state replaced communities to provide water and failed to deliver.

It came out very sharply from Agarwal’s address that despite the rich tradition in water harvesting in India, villages and cities were facing crippling effects of water scarcity today. Ironically, even Cherrapunji in Meghalaya which gets 15 meters of rainfall every year is chronically short of drinking water, simply because, it does not capture the rain. Noticeably, the old fort town of Chittor in arid Rajasthan which in the past had developed network of tanks to sustain 50,00 strong population was able to survive the severe drought of 1987, while the modern town of Chittor ran out of water. "India receives most of its rain in just 100 hours a year and for the remaining 8660 hours there is nothing -- so it has to be caught," said Agarwal.

While criticising the flawed strategy of the government in promoting only large dams, and heavy extraction of ground and surface water to cope with the looming water crisis, Agarwal pointed out that in the past people were given fiscal incentives by the state to build local water harvesting systems. Unfortunately, the modern state today is resorting to giving heavy subsidy only to promote inappropriate technology and encourage wasteful use of water. Subsidised and inefficient government water supply system has failed to meet the water need, while destroying peoples’ interest in conserving and developing local harvesting systems.

You are invited to attend the Press conference at 4.00 p.m. on 4 October

Venue: Office of the Centre for Science and Environment, 6 Core A, (4^th floor) India Habitat Centre

For more information please contact Anumita Roychowdhury, Shefali and Priti Kumar at 464-5335, 464-334