Tuesday, Apr 15, 2003
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Karnataka-Bangalore
By Our Special Correspondent
In an editorial in the Journal of the Geological Society of India, Mr. Radhakrishna, who lives in Bangalore, has pointed out that more practical solutions such as reducing water wastage in cities, rainwater harvesting, recharging groundwater sources, and even changes in cropping patterns, should be considered more seriously. The interlinking of rivers project is enormous in its scope and entails huge expenditure, Mr. Radhakrishna has said. The scheme covers 30 river links in the next two years, with the construction of over 1,000 km of canals and 10,000 MW of power for lifting 11,000 cusecs of water. No less than 400 new reservoirs are to be constructed. On the scale of the project, Mr. Radhakrishna has commented: "Big dams, as Arundhati Roy said, are gold mines for politicians, bureaucrats, and the construction industry." One drawback to the river-interlinking project lies in the absence of acceptable data about supposedly `surplus water' and lack of evidence from similar projects in other countries, he has said. The actual stream flow data for major rivers and their tributaries is non-existent. Collecting such data is both difficult and expensive and whatever data is available has not been published for public information. "Rainfall data is more accurate but, even here, no systematic attempts have been made at estimating the amount of run-off generated for various intensities of rainfall over various topographic features," Mr. Radhakrishna has said. The traditional practice of conserving rainwater where it falls will be more sensible, he has suggested. In the major dams constructed so far, loss by evaporation amounts to 30 per cent and more water is lost in the irrigation canals. Alternatives like conveying water through pipelines have not even been considered. Without regulatory measures, there is no control over crops grown with water from big dams in times of water deficiency. Farmers are allowed to grow more and more sugarcane and even go in for a third crop of rice. "The actual requirement of water for drinking and keeping a person alive is just 2 litres a day; this is what a majority of poor people are doing today. Is it our intention to imitate the lifestyle and wastage of those in the U.S. where per capita per day consumption of water is close to 6,000 litres?" he has asked in the editorial. While preventing all wastage, rainwater harvesting has to attempted on a massive scale if the needs of people living far away from major rivers are to be met. Indigenous measures like tanks for storing rainwater could be revived, he has said. Sprinklers and drip irrigation pipes could reduce the amount of water needed in fields. Large-scale use of groundwater is possible in the deltas and, if farmers are reluctant, the Government could develop a system of borewells. According to a UNDP estimate, the groundwater potential of the Cauvery delta is more than the maximum storage at Krisharajasagar. Serious thought should be given to recharging groundwater reservoirs. Geological studies have shown that as much as 40 per cent of the rainwater in the coastal regions flows into the sea, he has said.
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