&nbsp;

By Asit K. Biswas and Kris Hartley*

Delhi&rsquo;s air pollution crisis made international headlines in early December when a cricket match between India and Sri Lanka was suspended due to poor air quality.

Smog has also led to numerous school closures and flight cancellations in India&rsquo;s capital and largest city. It has also been blamed for highway accidents.

Delhi is home to 20 million residents, and the city&rsquo;s more than 10 million vehicles are a major contributor to air pollution. Industrial emissions are also to blame. Thirteen coal-fired power stations operate within a 300 kilometre radius of the city. Conditions reach crisis level every winter, when the capital&rsquo;s already poor air quality is further degraded by smoke from post-harvest burning in the neighbouring agricultural states of Haryana and Punjab.

The concentration of airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) recently reached 999 in parts of Delhi. This measurement was literally off the charts of maximum thresholds for air pollutants. The alarming fact is that Delhi is not even India&rsquo;s smoggiest city. By one measure, four other Indian cities typically suffer even worse air pollution.

There is little evidence that either the central or Delhi government has any effective policy strategy for air pollution. Now is the time for India to peer through the smog and learn how another major city, Beijing, is taking meaningful steps to stabilise its own air pollution crisis. While China still has progress to make, some lessons from the country&rsquo;s capital are a useful guide for clearing Delhi&rsquo;s air.

China&rsquo;s response

According to the World Health Organisation, ten of the world&rsquo;s 20 most polluted cities are in India, and three in China. The two countries top the ignoble list of deaths related to air pollution, with more than one million each in 2015. The two are the world&rsquo;s most populous countries and also have among the highest proportions of deaths related to air pollution.

Nevertheless, China is making progress. The central government has taken a systematic and coordinated approach to managing air pollution. It has adopted a suite of policies that promote alternative energy and punish regulatory breaches.

The country is rapidly scaling back capacity for coal-fired power and steel, whose production is suspected of threatening respiratory health. China is also soliciting foreign investment in green energy technologies, and has intensified inspections of major polluters around Beijing.

In Beijing alone, fines for pollution topped USD$ 28 million in 2015. To combat vehicle exhaust smoke, which is responsible for one-third of Beijing&rsquo;s emissions, an annual quota of 150,000 new cars was established for 2017, with 60,000 allotted only to fuel efficient cars. Beginning in 2018, this quota will be reduced by one third, to 100,000 annually. This will limit the total number of cars to around 6.3 million.

Beijing is also aiming to reduce coal consumption from the current 11 million tons per year to under 5 million by 2020.

There is some evidence that these measures are working. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, PM2.5 levels decreased by 27% between 2013 and 2016.

India&rsquo;s apathy

By comparison, India&rsquo;s political inefficiency is making regional air pollution a nearly intractable problem. Although the states of Haryana and Punjab have banned farmers from burning straw, implementation has been minimal. Policy coordination is also weak across states governed by rival political parties. For example, the leaders of Delhi and Haryana have publicly clashed about who is to blame for air pollution. They have also failed to hold discussions about the problem or to find feasible solutions.

Farmers constitute a significant voting base in Haryana and Punjab. This has led state governments to demand compensation from central government for losses farmers incur by ceasing burning. Such focus on short-term political gain is distracting policymakers from collaborating on regional solutions. The consequences of territorial grandstanding are deadly.

Another difference between India and China is the level of apathy among the government and general public. In China, years of seething public anger prompted Prime Minister Li Keqiang to &ldquo;declare war&rdquo; on pollution in 2014.

In India, public outrage over air pollution is still &ldquo;seasonal&rdquo; and rarely swells beyond social media. The central government has remained largely silent about pollution while state leaders indulge in meaningless inter-party squabbling and political theatre.

Amid this discouraging accountability vacuum, India&rsquo;s Supreme Court recently assumed the mantle of leadership on air pollution. It banned fireworks in the capital during the Diwali festival and pushed for response focused <a href="http://cpcb.nic.in/final_graded_table.pdf">action planning</a>. While these are encouraging steps, bypassing the legislative process on such fundamental public health issues is hardly ideal or sustainable.

Progress is needed

India has made remarkable progress lifting millions of people out of poverty in recent years. It aspires to be a global superpower, but has singularly failed to curb air pollution. Central government must intervene to coordinate collaborative policy among states and hold officials accountable for inaction. Central government should also reinforce state-level initiatives to minimise burning and promote sustainable farming.

More broadly, it may be time to ask whether highly argumentative democratic models are always the best solution for problems that transcend city and provincial boundaries. Sensible and informed policy leadership is needed to solve environmental challenges. India must rise above petty politics, lest the country bicker its way into smoggy irrelevance.

&nbsp;*Kris Hartley, Lecturer in City and Regional Planning, Cornell University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

&nbsp;

The central government of China has taken a systematic and coordinated approach to managing air pollution. India dabbles in petty politics.

By Asit K. Biswas and Kris Hartley* Delhi’s air pollution crisis made international headlines in early December when a cricket match between India and Sri Lanka was suspended due to poor air quality. Smog has also led to numerous school closures and flight cancellations in India’s capital and largest city. It has also been blamed for highway accidents. Delhi is home to 20 million residents, and the city’s more than 10 million vehicles are a major contributor to air pollution. Industrial emissions are also to blame. Thirteen coal-fired power stations operate within a 300 kilometre radius of the city. Conditions reach crisis level every winter, when the capital’s already poor air quality is further degraded by smoke from post-harvest burning in the neighbouring agricultural states of Haryana and Punjab. The concentration of airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) recently reached 999 in parts of Delhi. This measurement was literally off the charts of maximum thresholds for air pollutants. The alarming fact is that Delhi is not even India’s smoggiest city. By one measure, four other Indian cities typically suffer even worse air pollution. There is little evidence that either the central or Delhi government has any effective policy strategy for air pollution. Now is the time for India to peer through the smog and learn how another major city, Beijing, is taking meaningful steps to stabilise its own air pollution crisis. While China still has progress to make, some lessons from the country’s capital are a useful guide for clearing Delhi’s air. China’s response According to the World Health Organisation, ten of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India, and three in China. The two countries top the ignoble list of deaths related to air pollution, with more than one million each in 2015. The two are the world’s most populous countries and also have among the highest proportions of deaths related to air pollution. Nevertheless, China is making progress. The central government has taken a systematic and coordinated approach to managing air pollution. It has adopted a suite of policies that promote alternative energy and punish regulatory breaches. The country is rapidly scaling back capacity for coal-fired power and steel, whose production is suspected of threatening respiratory health. China is also soliciting foreign investment in green energy technologies, and has intensified inspections of major polluters around Beijing. In Beijing alone, fines for pollution topped USD$ 28 million in 2015. To combat vehicle exhaust smoke, which is responsible for one-third of Beijing’s emissions, an annual quota of 150,000 new cars was established for 2017, with 60,000 allotted only to fuel efficient cars. Beginning in 2018, this quota will be reduced by one third, to 100,000 annually. This will limit the total number of cars to around 6.3 million. Beijing is also aiming to reduce coal consumption from the current 11 million tons per year to under 5 million by 2020. There is some evidence that these measures are working. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, PM2.5 levels decreased by 27% between 2013 and 2016. India’s apathy By comparison, India’s political inefficiency is making regional air pollution a nearly intractable problem. Although the states of Haryana and Punjab have banned farmers from burning straw, implementation has been minimal. Policy coordination is also weak across states governed by rival political parties. For example, the leaders of Delhi and Haryana have publicly clashed about who is to blame for air pollution. They have also failed to hold discussions about the problem or to find feasible solutions. Farmers constitute a significant voting base in Haryana and Punjab. This has led state governments to demand compensation from central government for losses farmers incur by ceasing burning. Such focus on short-term political gain is distracting policymakers from collaborating on regional solutions. The consequences of territorial grandstanding are deadly. Another difference between India and China is the level of apathy among the government and general public. In China, years of seething public anger prompted Prime Minister Li Keqiang to “declare war” on pollution in 2014. In India, public outrage over air pollution is still “seasonal” and rarely swells beyond social media. The central government has remained largely silent about pollution while state leaders indulge in meaningless inter-party squabbling and political theatre. Amid this discouraging accountability vacuum, India’s Supreme Court recently assumed the mantle of leadership on air pollution. It banned fireworks in the capital during the Diwali festival and pushed for response focused action planning. While these are encouraging steps, bypassing the legislative process on such fundamental public health issues is hardly ideal or sustainable. Progress is needed India has made remarkable progress lifting millions of people out of poverty in recent years. It aspires to be a global superpower, but has singularly failed to curb air pollution. Central government must intervene to coordinate collaborative policy among states and hold officials accountable for inaction. Central government should also reinforce state-level initiatives to minimise burning and promote sustainable farming. More broadly, it may be time to ask whether highly argumentative democratic models are always the best solution for problems that transcend city and provincial boundaries. Sensible and informed policy leadership is needed to solve environmental challenges. India must rise above petty politics, lest the country bicker its way into smoggy irrelevance. *Kris Hartley, Lecturer in City and Regional Planning, Cornell University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Delhi should follow Beijing in tackling air pollution

By&nbsp;Asit<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asit-k-biswas-361607"> K. </a>Biswas,&nbsp;Cecilia<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cecilia-tortajada-325645"> </a>Tortajada&nbsp;and Udisha<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/udisha-saklani-380210"> </a>Saklani*

As summer temperatures soar above 40&deg;C in New Delhi, <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/parched-delhi-water-crisis-jal-board-djb-dda-summer-city-struggles-to-get-enough-water-4667380">acute water shortages</a> are gripping parts of India&rsquo;s capital. Signs of <a href="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/delhi-ranked-second-among-worlds-most-waterstressed-cities-45456">water stress</a> are now everywhere, and residents in southern and western parts of the city have not received a regular, reliable water supply for months.

Water shortages are becoming something of an annual ritual in Delhi, the world&rsquo;s <a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/publications/files/wup2014-highlights.Pdf">second most populous city</a>. By 2030, it is estimated <a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/publications/files/wup2014-highlights.Pdf">to grow by 11 million, from 14 million residents to 25 million</a> &ndash; a megacity atop a megacity.

Without any changes in the city&rsquo;s water management policies, the prospect of all those urban residents having access to water is grim.

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A man bathes under a broken water pipeline in New Delhi, India June 5, 2017 (Reuters)
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Unsustainable water policies

Delhi&rsquo;s current water policy, instituted by the ruling left-wing Aam Admi Party in 2015, promises <a href="http://www.delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/74fc0a8049fb1e4f84afcee4899821f2/Tariff+14.08.2015.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&amp;lmod=-820044332&amp;CACHEID=74fc0a8049fb1e4f84afcee4899821f2">20,000 litres of free water per household per month</a>. Assuming a household has five members, this means some 130 litres per capita per day should be available every day.

This plan is hampered by several basic problems. First and foremost, the city does not actually have enough water to make it happen, nor does it have enough money to give all this water away for free. Currently, some neighbourhoods have access to water just <a href="http://www.safewaternetwork.org/sites/default/files/Safe%20Water%20Network_Delhi%20City%20Report.PDF">one to two hours a day</a>

Reliable data on individual consumption is not available, as numerous households in Delhi still lack functional meters, but leakage, thefts and losses also reduce the available water supply.

In 2016, the Delhi Jal Board (the hindi word jal means water), which is responsible for the city&rsquo;s drinking and waste water management, estimated total distribution <a href="http://delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/d624c0004054d4aabea4fea1527a7156/ch-13.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&amp;lmod=-888712437&amp;CACHEID=d624c0004054d4aabea4fea1527a7156">losses of around 40</a>&nbsp;per cent. Many cities in both the developed and developing world have losses in the 4 per cent&nbsp;to 20 per cent&nbsp;range.

As a result, Delhi must actually produce daily 182 litres per person for individuals to receive their allotted 130 litres.

Even this 130 litres target is flawed, because it&rsquo;s arbitrary. A person can live a perfectly healthy life at around 75 lpcd. In many European cities, <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/drastic-action-needed-to-cut-water-use-here-world-water-day">including Malaga in Spain, and Leipzig in Germany</a>, per capita daily water consumption is 92 litres or less.

In Delhi, people in high-income households may consume up to a staggering <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/features/homes-and-gardens/how-much-water-does-an-urban-citizen-need/article4393634.ece">600 litres</a>. As the country&rsquo;s <a href="https://ecell.in/eureka13/resources/tracking%20the%20growth%20of%20indian%20middle%20class.pdf">middle class continues to grow</a>, the need to build awareness of water as a scarce resource and instil conservation practices among the citizenry will grow more urgent.

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A waterlogged street in Delhi. How can a city with so much rain face water shortages? (Reuters)
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Neglecting natural resources

Anyone who has ever lived in or travelled to Delhi during monsoon season, between June and September, can testify to its water-clogged roads and overflowing sewers. How can a place with so much rain suffer from serious water scarcity?

The answer is a basic one: mismanagement of resources. In the southern and <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/groundwater-table-dips-across-delhi/article6274363.ece">southwestern districts of the city</a>, which are particularly affected by both water shortages and flooding, harvesting rainwater holds particular potential.

In 1965, Singapore had water-management indicators similar to those of Delhi. Today, it reports that just <a href="https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/unaccountedforwater">5 per cent&nbsp;of its supply is unaccounted for</a>, thanks to significant <a href="http://www.eco-business.com/news/singapore-tokyo-among-top-ten-best-cities-urban-sustainability">water reuse, desalination, storm water storage and conservation efforts</a>.

Delhi has imposed <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-hc-upholds-rule-on-rainwater-harvesting-in-buildings-on-plots-500-sq-m-or-more-2826522">mandatory norms</a> for installing rainwater harvesting structures and created financial incentives. But because of a lack of oversight, these reforms have not lead to <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Rainwater-harvesting-remains-a-mirage/articleshow/52841649.cms">large-scale adoption of available technologies</a>.

Surface sources of clean water are admittedly limited as well; untreated waste water and industrial effluents are routinely discharged into Delhi&rsquo;s water bodies.

The Yamuna River, near Delhi, is <a href="https://thewire.in/150756/ganga-water-project-agra/">an important source of drinking water</a> for downstream cities. But it has been an <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/yamuna-pollution-supreme-court-seeks-report-on-sewage-treatment-plants/articleshow/57257387.cms">open sewer for decades</a>.

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Boys pose for a selfie in front of the foam covering the polluted Yamuna river in New Delhi, November 2016 (Reuters)
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According to estimates of Central Pollution Control Board, every day, almost 40 per cent&nbsp;of untreated sewage from Delhi either seeps into the ground or <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-bio-toilets-solve-indias-sanitation-problems-and-save-the-yamuna-river-67727">is discharged into the Yamuna River</a>. The fact that other sources report this figure <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/delhi/report-60-of-sewage-remains-untreated-in-delhi-2070947">at 60</a>&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;is telling: wastewater-treatment facilities are not only lacking &ndash; they are abysmally poorly managed.

Ill-planned housing projects and an ever-expanding number of <a href="http://www.delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/f91b008046c5ef03bddbfd7d994b04ce/water+policy_21112016.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&amp;lmod=604996771">private water pumps</a>, installed by households, industries and companies that wish to ensure an uninterrupted personal water supply, have also severely damaged groundwater tables.

The myriad of institutional challenges facing Delhi&rsquo;s water board exacerbate these supply- and management-side issues.

First, the Delhi Jal Board&rsquo;s chief executive is always an Indian administrative service officer, a high-ranking civil servant likely to be transferred at any moment to another position. The average job tenure of 18 to 30 months does not favour effective performance or strategic planning. In this short time, a CEO must learn all about water, gain a complete understanding of the city&rsquo;s existing programs and infrastructure and, ideally, conceive of executable initiatives to upgrade the system.

To fulfil such gargantuan tasks satisfactorily and develop a strategic plan for the future, a term of six to eight years would be more reasonable.

Nor do the corrupt practices of many water board staffers help. <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/DJB-suspends-14-engineers-for-corruption/articleshow/29021662.cms">In 2015, for example, engineers and officers</a> from the board were suspended for cheating and forgery regarding water equipment. This does not help the organisation&rsquo;s functioning or credibility among residents.

Making Delhi sustainable

Here&rsquo;s the good news: for the first time in at least two decades, the Delhi Jal Board seems to have competent and effective leadership. <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/delhi/report-delhi-jal-board-introduces-water-atms-in-capital-2428111">A few water ATMs</a>, which dispense drinking water at a significantly cheaper price than bottled water, have been installed in a few locations across the city.

Thanks in part to aggressive social media advertising, these are gaining popularity among residents.

<figure>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lUNob8TEjxo?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe>

Water &lsquo;ATMS&rsquo; have been introduced in the capital since 2014 to mitigate water shortage.

<figcaption>
The <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221458181400010X">concept of &ldquo;constructed wetlands&rdquo;</a> &ndash; a pilot <a href="http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/rashtrapati-bhawan-to-use-wetlands-to-treat-sewage/527966/">project proposed in 2009</a> which features an artificial marsh made of plants that absorb the impurities in water &ndash; has also been moved forward. The project aims to clean up an eight-kilometre stretch of <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/aap-delhi-drain-cleanup-yamuna-najafgarh-drain-israeli-firm-roped-in/1/877490.html">supplementary waste water drain</a> that, like most of Delhi&rsquo;s waste water, dumps into the Yamuna river.
</figcaption>
</figure>

Other <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/clean-up-plans-fail-in-muddy-yamuna-ngt-seeks-action/story-AtwS15hXrAzDmgynzqSRxH.html">programs to clean up the Yamuna have thus far failed</a>. If successfully completed, Delhi&rsquo;s wetlands pilot may be replicable in the many other Indian cities facing water shortages <a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-wells-are-running-dry-fast-78372">thanks in part to polluted waterways</a>.

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Slum dwellers carry filled water container from a tanker provided by the state-run Delhi Jal Board (Reuters)
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<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/80402/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" />There is no intrinsic reason why Delhi residents could not have a reliable supply of water that can be drunk straight from the tap, 24 hours a day, without any health concerns or interruptions, within the decade. But it will take a lot of political work, from both within and beyond the Delhi Jal Board, to get there.

&nbsp;

*Asit<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asit-k-biswas-361607"> K. </a>Biswas:&nbsp;Distinguished Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Cecilia<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cecilia-tortajada-325645"> </a>Tortajada: Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore&nbsp;

Udisha<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/udisha-saklani-380210"> </a>Saklani:&nbsp;Independent Policy Researcher, National University of Singapore

<section>&nbsp;</section>

&nbsp;

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-delhi-is-running-out-of-water-80402">original article</a>.

Acute water shortages are gripping parts of India?s capital and there is little hope for the situation to change.

By Asit K. Biswas, Cecilia Tortajada and Udisha Saklani* As summer temperatures soar above 40°C in New Delhi, acute water shortages are gripping parts of India’s capital. Signs of water stress are now everywhere, and residents in southern and western parts of the city have not received a regular, reliable water supply for months. Water shortages are becoming something of an annual ritual in Delhi, the world’s second most populous city. By 2030, it is estimated to grow by 11 million, from 14 million residents to 25 million – a megacity atop a megacity. Without any changes in the city’s water management policies, the prospect of all those urban residents having access to water is grim. A man bathes under a broken water pipeline in New Delhi, India June 5, 2017 (Reuters) × Unsustainable water policies Delhi’s current water policy, instituted by the ruling left-wing Aam Admi Party in 2015, promises 20,000 litres of free water per household per month. Assuming a household has five members, this means some 130 litres per capita per day should be available every day. This plan is hampered by several basic problems. First and foremost, the city does not actually have enough water to make it happen, nor does it have enough money to give all this water away for free. Currently, some neighbourhoods have access to water just one to two hours a day Reliable data on individual consumption is not available, as numerous households in Delhi still lack functional meters, but leakage, thefts and losses also reduce the available water supply. In 2016, the Delhi Jal Board (the hindi word jal means water), which is responsible for the city’s drinking and waste water management, estimated total distribution losses of around 40 per cent. Many cities in both the developed and developing world have losses in the 4 per cent to 20 per cent range. As a result, Delhi must actually produce daily 182 litres per person for individuals to receive their allotted 130 litres. Even this 130 litres target is flawed, because it’s arbitrary. A person can live a perfectly healthy life at around 75 lpcd. In many European cities, including Malaga in Spain, and Leipzig in Germany, per capita daily water consumption is 92 litres or less. In Delhi, people in high-income households may consume up to a staggering 600 litres. As the country’s middle class continues to grow, the need to build awareness of water as a scarce resource and instil conservation practices among the citizenry will grow more urgent. A waterlogged street in Delhi. How can a city with so much rain face water shortages? (Reuters) × Neglecting natural resources Anyone who has ever lived in or travelled to Delhi during monsoon season, between June and September, can testify to its water-clogged roads and overflowing sewers. How can a place with so much rain suffer from serious water scarcity? The answer is a basic one: mismanagement of resources. In the southern and southwestern districts of the city, which are particularly affected by both water shortages and flooding, harvesting rainwater holds particular potential. In 1965, Singapore had water-management indicators similar to those of Delhi. Today, it reports that just 5 per cent of its supply is unaccounted for, thanks to significant water reuse, desalination, storm water storage and conservation efforts. Delhi has imposed mandatory norms for installing rainwater harvesting structures and created financial incentives. But because of a lack of oversight, these reforms have not lead to large-scale adoption of available technologies. Surface sources of clean water are admittedly limited as well; untreated waste water and industrial effluents are routinely discharged into Delhi’s water bodies. The Yamuna River, near Delhi, is an important source of drinking water for downstream cities. But it has been an open sewer for decades. Boys pose for a selfie in front of the foam covering the polluted Yamuna river in New Delhi, November 2016 (Reuters) × According to estimates of Central Pollution Control Board, every day, almost 40 per cent of untreated sewage from Delhi either seeps into the ground or is discharged into the Yamuna River. The fact that other sources report this figure at 60 per cent is telling: wastewater-treatment facilities are not only lacking – they are abysmally poorly managed. Ill-planned housing projects and an ever-expanding number of private water pumps, installed by households, industries and companies that wish to ensure an uninterrupted personal water supply, have also severely damaged groundwater tables. The myriad of institutional challenges facing Delhi’s water board exacerbate these supply- and management-side issues. First, the Delhi Jal Board’s chief executive is always an Indian administrative service officer, a high-ranking civil servant likely to be transferred at any moment to another position. The average job tenure of 18 to 30 months does not favour effective performance or strategic planning. In this short time, a CEO must learn all about water, gain a complete understanding of the city’s existing programs and infrastructure and, ideally, conceive of executable initiatives to upgrade the system. To fulfil such gargantuan tasks satisfactorily and develop a strategic plan for the future, a term of six to eight years would be more reasonable. Nor do the corrupt practices of many water board staffers help. In 2015, for example, engineers and officers from the board were suspended for cheating and forgery regarding water equipment. This does not help the organisation’s functioning or credibility among residents. Making Delhi sustainable Here’s the good news: for the first time in at least two decades, the Delhi Jal Board seems to have competent and effective leadership. A few water ATMs, which dispense drinking water at a significantly cheaper price than bottled water, have been installed in a few locations across the city. Thanks in part to aggressive social media advertising, these are gaining popularity among residents. Water ‘ATMS’ have been introduced in the capital since 2014 to mitigate water shortage. The concept of “constructed wetlands” – a pilot project proposed in 2009 which features an artificial marsh made of plants that absorb the impurities in water – has also been moved forward. The project aims to clean up an eight-kilometre stretch of supplementary waste water drain that, like most of Delhi’s waste water, dumps into the Yamuna river. Other programs to clean up the Yamuna have thus far failed. If successfully completed, Delhi’s wetlands pilot may be replicable in the many other Indian cities facing water shortages thanks in part to polluted waterways. Slum dwellers carry filled water container from a tanker provided by the state-run Delhi Jal Board (Reuters) × There is no intrinsic reason why Delhi residents could not have a reliable supply of water that can be drunk straight from the tap, 24 hours a day, without any health concerns or interruptions, within the decade. But it will take a lot of political work, from both within and beyond the Delhi Jal Board, to get there. *Asit K. Biswas: Distinguished Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore Cecilia Tortajada: Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore Udisha Saklani: Independent Policy Researcher, National University of Singapore This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

New Delhi is running out of water this summer

By&nbsp;Asit K. Biswas,&nbsp;Cecilia Tortajada&nbsp;and Udisha Saklani

Over the past three years, the monsoon &ndash; the rainy season that runs from June through September, depending on the region &ndash; has been weak or delayed across much of India, causing widespread water shortages.

With the onset of summer this year, southern India, particularly Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu states, are already wilting under a blistering sun and repeated heatwaves. Drought is expected to affect at least eight states in 2017, which is a devastating possibility in a country where <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS">agriculture accounted for 17.5% of GDP in 2015</a> and provides the livelihood for nearly half the population.

Across rural India, water bodies, including man-made lakes and reservoirs, are fast disappearing after decades of neglect and pollution.

&ldquo;They have drained out the water and converted the land into a plot for schools, dispensaries, and other construction activities,&rdquo; Manoj Misra of the NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan warned in The Hindu newspaper as far back as 2012.

Not a drop to drink

It wasn&rsquo;t always this way. For the past 2,500 years, India has managed its water needs by increasing supply.

Prior to industrialisation and the accompanying global &ldquo;green revolution&rdquo; in the 1960s, which saw the development of high-yield variety crops using new technologies, India&rsquo;s water availability was plentiful. Households, industries and farmers freely extracted groundwater and dumped untreated waste into waterways without a second thought.

But such practices are now increasingly untenable in this rapidly growing country. Per capita availability of water has been steadily falling for over a decade, dropping from 1,816 cubic metres per person in 2001 to 1,545 cubic metres in 2011.

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<h5>For nearly 50 years, a misguided groundwater policy has sucked India dry; water tables have declined by an average of one metre every three years in some parts of the Indus basin, turning it into the second most over-stressed aquifer in the world, according to NASA</h5>
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The decline is projected to deepen in coming years as the population grows. India, which currently has 1.3 billion people, is set to overtake China by 2022 and reach 1.7 billion in 2050.

Water scarcity is also exacerbated by a growth in water-intensive industries, such as thermal power production, extraction and mining, as India seeks to feed and power its growing population. In addition to affecting biodiversity, these activities also alter natural water systems.

Still, successive governments have pursued the same old supply-centric policies, paying little heed to the country&rsquo;s waning clean water supplies.

For nearly 50 years, a misguided groundwater policy has sucked India dry; water tables have declined by an average of one metre every three years in some parts of the Indus basin, turning it into the <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=86263">second most over-stressed aquifer in the world</a>, according to NASA.

Across nearly the whole country, basic sewage management is also lacking. According to the Third World Centre for Water Management, only about 10% of waste water in the country is collected and properly treated. As a result, all water bodies in and around urban centres are seriously polluted.

Today, the country is struggling to provide safe drinking water to every citizen.

What conservation?

Even so, residents of New Delhi or Kolkata today use more than twice as much water, on average, than people in <a href="https://thirdworldcentre.org/communication-media/too-little-too-late-why-water-pricing-and-management-in-singapore-needs-to-be-more-ambitious/">Singapore, Leipzig, Barcelona or Zaragoza</a>, according to data compiled by the Third World Research Centre.

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<h5>Residents of New Delhi or Kolkata today use more than twice as much water, on average, than those in Singapore, Leipzig, Barcelona or Zaragoza, according to the Third World Research Centre</h5>
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The water use in Delhi is 220 litres per capita per day (lpcd), while some European cities boast figures of 95 to 120 lpcd.

Excess consumption is attributable in part to citizen indifference about conserving water after so many years of plentiful supply. Since large swaths of many Indian megacities lack piped supply of clean water, leaks and theft are common. Cities in India lose 40% to 50% due to leakages and non-authorised connections.

At this point, the only viable option for India would seem to be managing demand and using water more efficiently.

The country is making tentative steps in that direction. <a href="http://www.wrmin.nic.in/writereaddata/Water_Framework_May_2016.pdf">The 2016 new National Water Framework</a>, passed emphasises the need for conservation and more efficient water use.

But under India&rsquo;s Constitution, states are responsible for managing water, so central policies have little resonance. Neither the <a href="publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H042921.pdf">1987 and 2012 National Water Policy documents</a>, which contained similar recommendations to the 2016 policy, had any real impact on water use.

And after millennia of exclusive focus on expanding the water supply, the idea of curbing water consumption and increase reuse remains a mostly alien concept in India.

Water wars

Consistent supply-centric thinking has also resulted in competition for water as states negotiate the allocation of river water based on local needs.

<figure class="align-right "><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/173874/width237/file-20170614-26091-1l2h0fc.png" />
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India&rsquo;s inter-state disputes on water usage have reached a critical point. Wikimedia, CC BY-ND
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The century-long conflict over <a href="http://wrmin.nic.in/writereaddata/Inter-StateWaterDisputes/Volume-I1920752696.pdf">the Cauvery River</a>, for example, involves Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka &ndash; three major South Indian states. With each state demanding ever more water, the river simply cannot keep up.

In Karnataka, where agricultural policies are heavily skewed towards water-guzzling commercial crops, such as sugarcane, mismanaged ground and surface water are dying a slow death. Still, the state continues to petition the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal for an increase in its share.

Water scarcity in Karnataka is aggravated by non-existent water quality management. Its rivers are choked with toxic pollutants, and oil-suffused lakes in<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/01/burning-lakes-experts-fear-bangalore-uninhabitable-2025"> </a>Bengaluru, the capital, are reportedly catching fire.

Meanwhile, in the northern part of the country, the Ravi-Beas River is causing conflict between Punjab and Haryana states.

In India&rsquo;s water wars, rivers are a resource to be harnessed and extracted for each riparian party&rsquo;s maximum benefit. Very little emphasis has been placed on conserving and protecting existing water sources. And not one inter-state negotiation has prioritised pollution abatement or demand management.

Even policies from the national government, which claims to target water conservation and demand management, remain reliant on supply-side solutions. Big infrastructure programs, such as the Indian river-linking plan, envision large-scale water transfer from one river basin to another, again seeking to augment supply rather than conserve water and reduce consumption.

<figure class="align-center "><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/173878/width754/file-20170614-15456-1nv2bsf.jpg" />
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Sand mining on the Cauvery river in 2017. Prashanth NS/Flickr, CC BY-SA
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</figure>

For inspiration on managing demand, India could look to Berlin in Germany, Singapore and California, all of which have designed and implemented such policies in recent years. Successful measures include raising public awareness, recycling water, fixing leaks, preventing theft and implementing conservation measures such as water harvesting and stormwater management.

<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/78372/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" />Between rapidly disappearing fresh water, unchecked pollution and so many thirsty citizens, India is facing an impending water crisis unlike anything prior generations have seen. If the nation does not begin aggressively conserving water, the faucets will run soon dry. There is simply no more supply to misuse.

Asit K. Biswas, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore; Cecilia Tortajada, Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and Udisha Saklani, Independent Policy Researcher

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-wells-are-running-dry-fast-78372">original article</a>.

Only about 10 percent of wastewater in India is treated owing to severe shortage of drinking water

By Asit K. Biswas, Cecilia Tortajada and Udisha Saklani Over the past three years, the monsoon – the rainy season that runs from June through September, depending on the region – has been weak or delayed across much of India, causing widespread water shortages. With the onset of summer this year, southern India, particularly Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu states, are already wilting under a blistering sun and repeated heatwaves. Drought is expected to affect at least eight states in 2017, which is a devastating possibility in a country where agriculture accounted for 17.5% of GDP in 2015 and provides the livelihood for nearly half the population. Across rural India, water bodies, including man-made lakes and reservoirs, are fast disappearing after decades of neglect and pollution. “They have drained out the water and converted the land into a plot for schools, dispensaries, and other construction activities,” Manoj Misra of the NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan warned in The Hindu newspaper as far back as 2012. Not a drop to drink It wasn’t always this way. For the past 2,500 years, India has managed its water needs by increasing supply. Prior to industrialisation and the accompanying global “green revolution” in the 1960s, which saw the development of high-yield variety crops using new technologies, India’s water availability was plentiful. Households, industries and farmers freely extracted groundwater and dumped untreated waste into waterways without a second thought. But such practices are now increasingly untenable in this rapidly growing country. Per capita availability of water has been steadily falling for over a decade, dropping from 1,816 cubic metres per person in 2001 to 1,545 cubic metres in 2011. For nearly 50 years, a misguided groundwater policy has sucked India dry; water tables have declined by an average of one metre every three years in some parts of the Indus basin, turning it into the second most over-stressed aquifer in the world, according to NASA × The decline is projected to deepen in coming years as the population grows. India, which currently has 1.3 billion people, is set to overtake China by 2022 and reach 1.7 billion in 2050. Water scarcity is also exacerbated by a growth in water-intensive industries, such as thermal power production, extraction and mining, as India seeks to feed and power its growing population. In addition to affecting biodiversity, these activities also alter natural water systems. Still, successive governments have pursued the same old supply-centric policies, paying little heed to the country’s waning clean water supplies. For nearly 50 years, a misguided groundwater policy has sucked India dry; water tables have declined by an average of one metre every three years in some parts of the Indus basin, turning it into the second most over-stressed aquifer in the world, according to NASA. Across nearly the whole country, basic sewage management is also lacking. According to the Third World Centre for Water Management, only about 10% of waste water in the country is collected and properly treated. As a result, all water bodies in and around urban centres are seriously polluted. Today, the country is struggling to provide safe drinking water to every citizen. What conservation? Even so, residents of New Delhi or Kolkata today use more than twice as much water, on average, than people in Singapore, Leipzig, Barcelona or Zaragoza, according to data compiled by the Third World Research Centre. Residents of New Delhi or Kolkata today use more than twice as much water, on average, than those in Singapore, Leipzig, Barcelona or Zaragoza, according to the Third World Research Centre × The water use in Delhi is 220 litres per capita per day (lpcd), while some European cities boast figures of 95 to 120 lpcd. Excess consumption is attributable in part to citizen indifference about conserving water after so many years of plentiful supply. Since large swaths of many Indian megacities lack piped supply of clean water, leaks and theft are common. Cities in India lose 40% to 50% due to leakages and non-authorised connections. At this point, the only viable option for India would seem to be managing demand and using water more efficiently. The country is making tentative steps in that direction. The 2016 new National Water Framework, passed emphasises the need for conservation and more efficient water use. But under India’s Constitution, states are responsible for managing water, so central policies have little resonance. Neither the 1987 and 2012 National Water Policy documents, which contained similar recommendations to the 2016 policy, had any real impact on water use. And after millennia of exclusive focus on expanding the water supply, the idea of curbing water consumption and increase reuse remains a mostly alien concept in India. Water wars Consistent supply-centric thinking has also resulted in competition for water as states negotiate the allocation of river water based on local needs. India’s inter-state disputes on water usage have reached a critical point. Wikimedia, CC BY-ND The century-long conflict over the Cauvery River, for example, involves Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka – three major South Indian states. With each state demanding ever more water, the river simply cannot keep up. In Karnataka, where agricultural policies are heavily skewed towards water-guzzling commercial crops, such as sugarcane, mismanaged ground and surface water are dying a slow death. Still, the state continues to petition the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal for an increase in its share. Water scarcity in Karnataka is aggravated by non-existent water quality management. Its rivers are choked with toxic pollutants, and oil-suffused lakes in Bengaluru, the capital, are reportedly catching fire. Meanwhile, in the northern part of the country, the Ravi-Beas River is causing conflict between Punjab and Haryana states. In India’s water wars, rivers are a resource to be harnessed and extracted for each riparian party’s maximum benefit. Very little emphasis has been placed on conserving and protecting existing water sources. And not one inter-state negotiation has prioritised pollution abatement or demand management. Even policies from the national government, which claims to target water conservation and demand management, remain reliant on supply-side solutions. Big infrastructure programs, such as the Indian river-linking plan, envision large-scale water transfer from one river basin to another, again seeking to augment supply rather than conserve water and reduce consumption. Sand mining on the Cauvery river in 2017. Prashanth NS/Flickr, CC BY-SA For inspiration on managing demand, India could look to Berlin in Germany, Singapore and California, all of which have designed and implemented such policies in recent years. Successful measures include raising public awareness, recycling water, fixing leaks, preventing theft and implementing conservation measures such as water harvesting and stormwater management. Between rapidly disappearing fresh water, unchecked pollution and so many thirsty citizens, India is facing an impending water crisis unlike anything prior generations have seen. If the nation does not begin aggressively conserving water, the faucets will run soon dry. There is simply no more supply to misuse. Asit K. Biswas, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore; Cecilia Tortajada, Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and Udisha Saklani, Independent Policy Researcher This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

India?s wells are running dry, fast

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Zee News Rajasthan

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Asit K Biswas

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