JOIN USHeroic hooliganism, explicit vandalism, burning roads! This reaction is not new. The rulings given by the apex judiciary body on the sharing of Cauvery river water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu attracts the same reaction as it saw 90 years ago.
The state governments failed to maintain law and order in spite of intelligence reports cautioning them about the outbreak of riots before the verdict was out. Nearly 50 buses brought down to ashes, specific commercial outlets and passenger vehicles targeted as riots erupted on Sept 12. Clearly, this showed the failure of the state governments.
Prior to the verdict, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board said the state’s most important source of water supply is sufficient for the next 80 days. So the anger of the people of Karnataka regarding the verdict is justified. Why has the need for water in both states become so intense?
During the British Raj, the 1924 Cauvery water distribution agreement among Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry did not create any problem.
Why the problem now? The reason is quite simple-the growth of cities in both states is exponential and more importantly, this growth is unplanned. Whether it is a village, a town or a metropolitan city, there needs to be a plan which will complement the ruthless growth. But in the case of Bengaluru or Chennai, this does not exist.
With regard to water, the crucial need for both states is to control the demand for water. In both states, the demand for water far surpasses supply.
Also, many studies have concluded that the cropping pattern in both states is not sustainable when compared to the availability of water. Water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane are the two prominent crops grown in both states due to their high commercial value.
Secondly, a recent study done by Institute of Social and Economic Studies indicate that in Bengaluru alone, the Unaccounted for Water (UFW) accounts to about 48% and in the case of Chennai, it is 39, far above compared to more populated cities like Mumbai where it is 13%.
The UFW is the difference between the net water production and legitimate water consumption (whether billed or not) and water stored. Unaccounted for Water may be due to physical loss such as water pipe breaks and leakages, storage overflows or household water connection leaks or commercial loss due to water theft, water metering faults or billing anomalies.
Unnecessary consumption
Thirdly, and most importantly, there is no effort made from the consumers of freshwater to reduce unnecessary consumption of large quantities of water. The father of economics, Adam Smith, centuries ago pointed out the water-diamond paradox which says the price paid for the most important resource for survival is bare minimum while that paid for the status good ‘diamond’ is incomparable.
Years later, economists solved this paradox by saying the marginal utility of water is less due to its abundance in availability when compared to that of diamond which is scare and hence the huge price gap.
Today, the scenario has changed. Freshwater, which accounts for less than 1% of the global water resource, is fast depleting. As the resource becomes scarce, the marginal utility increases, that is, the value the consumer gives for an extra glass of freshwater will be high. So it translates that in the near future, the price of freshwater unavoidably will increase.
More than water being the indispensable resource for survival, politics attached to it cannot allow this to happen. So what is the way out? Again pretty simple – change, or rather, ban consumer goods such as faucets, flush, pipe hoses which consume more water, issue mandatory law for installing of sensor-system to avoid storage overflows etc.
Stringent laws are needed against private water tankers which draw enormous amounts of groundwater per day without any hindrance. Research studies in developed economies confirm that with just replacement of water faucets and controlling the water flow pressure, nearly 30% water consumption is reduced.
Unfortunately, water research on demand management is very limited in India. Hence, there is an immediate need for such studies to confirm the effectiveness of demand management of water in India. Instead of putting the onus on others, it is high time we realise our role in conserving water.
(The writer is an economics faculty at Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru)