Tackling India’s Urban Water Crisis

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Tackling India’s Urban Water Crisis

Context:

Urban India faces growing challenges in water availability, quality, distribution, and equitable access. 

More on News:

  • A widening gap between water demand and supply is exacerbated by reliance on groundwater and inefficient ageing infrastructure causing high water losses.
  • Poorly regulated discharge of untreated sewage, industrial effluents, and agricultural runoff further pollutes water bodies, making household-level water treatment necessary in cities.

Impact on Public Health and Marginalised Communities:

  • Waterborne Diseases: Water scarcity and contamination are raising the prevalence of waterborne diseases, especially in areas lacking safe drinking water and sanitation. 
  • Access: Marginalised communities in informal settlements struggle even more to access affordable and safe water.
  • Flooding: Inadequate drainage infrastructure also contributes to urban flooding, endangering lives, disrupting livelihoods, and worsening public health risks.
  • Climate Impact: Extreme weather events, changing rainfall patterns, and droughts put additional pressure on urban water resources and infrastructure.
  • Governance Issues: Weak governance, lack of regulatory framework, and limited institutional capacity hinder effective urban water management and the pursuit of sustainable solutions.

Strategies for Sustainable Urban Water Systems:

  • Water Policies: India’s water policies have evolved since the first National Water Policy in 1987, updated in 2002 and 2013 to include climate adaptation, river basin management, aquifer mapping, and community engagement. 
  • Institutional Reforms: Institutional reforms like river basin organisations and water dispute tribunals have also been proposed.
  • Urban Water Sector Reforms: These were advanced by programs such as JNNURM in 2005, which introduced service level benchmarks (SLBs) for water supply and sewerage. 
    • AMRUT (2015) and AMRUT 2.0 (2021) prioritise SLBs for city utilities and advocate for public-private partnerships to enhance urban infrastructure and services.

Progress and Achievements under AMRUT:

  • AMRUT’s first phase (2015-2021) achieved 970,000 water connections and 6.2 million sewerage connections. 
  • By December 2022, projects worth INR 822 billion were taken up, with INR 327.93 billion spent on 4,676 completed projects. 
  • Efforts included NRW reduction, rainwater harvesting, billing efficiency improvement, and e-governance integration.

Challenges for a Circular Water Economy:

  • Gap: With a 60% gap between wastewater generation and treatment, India faces a major challenge in scaling circular water solutions. 
  • Infrastructure: High costs, technological barriers, variability in wastewater, skilled workforce shortages, and lack of infrastructure hinder effective recycling.
  • Others: Other issues include farmer reluctance to use recycled water, over-reliance on external funding, and limited public awareness about the benefits of circular water practices.

Way Forward:

  • Best Practices: Cities in Brazil, Argentina, Senegal, and Peru are exploring circular water economy solutions. 
  • Decentralised Facilities: To transition to a circular economy, the Indian government must encourage cities to adopt decentralised wastewater facilities, prioritise circular water practices, and offer economic incentives for recycling.
    • AMRUT’s funding should be linked to city-level reforms, and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) need stronger financial and administrative autonomy. 
    • Constitutional amendments to strengthen city governance for sustainable water management are also recommended.
  • Focus on Major Cities for Maximum Impact: With metropolises generating the highest wastewater volumes, interventions should focus on these areas to address urban In
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