Water shortage hits developmental goal

Photo: Shafiqul Islam Kajol/ Drik News

The news that the country's ground water table is depleting fast due to excessive extraction of ground water for agricultural and drinking purposes, which poses a severe threat to ecological balance, is alarming. Reports say that in Dhaka city ground water table is decreasing by 2 to 3 metres annually (about 87%). With about 13 lakh tube wells throughout the country, the water table is depleting fast in the countryside also.
With shortages of water due to drying up of ponds, and digging of new ponds during the last several decades, farmers are sinking wells deeper and deeper to reach the decreasing level of water. From being a necessity, water has now become luxury.
Even after the passage of 40 years since the first Summit on World Environment was held at Stockholm in 1972, charting out the first symptoms of ecological crisis, the world has hardly made any headway in halting the degradation of the global environment. In a world where two billion people are dying for water, there is need to awaken the conscious citizenry to look for solutions to meet the millennium goal. In the backdrop of critical shortage of water in Asia and Africa, the goal is to inspire political and community action and encourage greater global understanding about the need for more responsible use and conservation
The problem of water pollution is causing indisputable harm in poorer countries, because population is growing so fast that improvements on water supply have failed to keep pace. Worldwide, 2 billion people have no access to clean water, and water contaminated by sewage is estimated to kill 3.4 million including 2 million children every year.
Water experts say that within 20 years, half of world's population could have profound trouble in finding enough fresh water for drinking and irrigation. Currently, as reports reveal, at least 80 countries representing 40% of world's population are subject to serious water shortages.
The Asian region faces the greatest threat. Over 90% of the region's population is experiencing severe water stress, with water consumption exceeding 10% of renewable fresh water resources. Water consumption rose six-fold in the past century, double the rate of population growth. People now use 54% of the available fresh water and additional demand will further jeopardise the ecosystem. That only indicates that water scarcity may soon limit economic growth, particularly in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, where supplies are already inadequate to meet the needs of agriculture and industry. Added to this is the problem of pollution caused by fertilisers, silt, sewage and other toxic effluents that have killed lakes and rivers.
The crisis does not end there. Half of the world's wetlands have disappeared through conversion, diversion and fragmentation of the system, resulting in destruction of wildlife habitat. Polluted water, which provides a breeding ground for parasites, amoebas, and bacteria, damages the health of 1.2 billion people a year. Diseases and deaths related to polluted coastal waters cost the global economy $16 billion a year, according to an estimate made public in 2003.
Water shortage in India causes water hazard in Bangladesh, the lower riparian country. For instance, India receives an annual precipitation of 4,000 bcm (billion cubic metre), including rain and snow fall. The run-off accessible water is 1,869 bcm, of which barely 690 bcm is used. Nearly 1,179 bcm water is drained into sea. Not only is water drained into the sea, it also carries silt and sediment that eventually raises the river bed, causing the rivers to overflow the banks and destroy crops.
In most parts of the world, including India and Bangladesh, there are pipelines, but they often turn dry because the crux of the problemsupplyhas not been addressed. The rapid pace of urbanisation has led to the drying-up of tanks and lakes. With water sources shrinking and population multiplying, water stress has increased.
Bangladesh, once considered a country of rivers, haors and baors, is facing an acute water crisis exacerbated by seasonal flooding. Rivers and lakes are drying up due to siltation, and most rivers have changed their original course because of unplanned dikes and sluices. No new tanks, lakes or reservoirs in any part of Bangladesh have been excavated during the past century. Even though the alarm bells are ringing, governments in this region and the public in general are apathetic towards the problem.
To achieve the 2015 target for freshwater provision, water supplies will have to reach an additional 1.5 billion people in these regions. But water problems, as experts indicate, are more related to mismanagement than scarcity. Up to 50% of urban water and 60% of water used in agriculture is wasted through leaks and evaporation. Besides, logging and land conversion to accommodate human demand has shrunk the world's forests by half, contributing to increased erosion and water scarcity.
Between 300 and 400 million people worldwide live close to and depend on rivers and wetlands. Wetlands act as highly efficient sewage treatment works, absorbing chemicals and filtering pollutants and sediments. Paradoxically, urban and industrial development has claimed half the world's wetlands. Sustainable development and poverty elimination will only be achieved through better management and investment in rivers and wetlands.
In Bangladesh, which wants to achieve 5% plus GDP growth and where 80% of the population is dependent on agriculture, investment in rural infrastructure has been pitiful. Besides the management of water supply, there is an increasing need for technology to increase efficiency. The water-starved region must shift from the concept of yield per acre to yield per cubic metre of water, emphasising equally on the need to adopt micro- and drip irrigation methods practiced in many water scarce countries. As urban demand for water increases, supply for the developing world's agricultural areas will be further affected, thereby creating a potentially monumental food security situation.
Some places in India are choking dry because of urbanisation. Bangalore now has 100 water bodies in place of 1,000 a few years ago. The city temperature rose between two and four degree due to shrinking water bodies and green cover. But the people and government there are not sitting idle. The city water board has embarked upon a Rs.12,000 crore Cauvery River Water Project to source drinking water from the river. Students in seven Indian institutes of technology will pitch in to clean up the 2,500-km long Ganga riveron which the government spent over Rs.900 crore over two decades without much to show for it. People in all parts of the world are becoming aware that every litre of water saved is water gained.
Experts say that renewable water resources have to be managed to meet the need for fresh water. There is need for a unifying national policy for rational water management. Chennai in India has done a commendable job worth emulating by others. The doomsday scenario that haunts Chennai pushed the region to build India's biggest desalination plant. It is possible that Chennai is setting an example for other coastal cities. Paradoxically, Cherapunjee in Assam, the world's wettest place, is also getting dry and is preparing a big plan to quench its thirst.

The writer is a Columnist of The Daily Star. E-mail: [email protected]