Opinion | Bengaluru's Water Crisis Is Why Indian Cities Need 'Water Urbanism'

India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world according to a report by the NITI Aayog. The country is home to nearly a fifth of the world's population, but it has only 4% of global water resources. Add to this the rapid depletion of freshwater resources and increasing urbanisation, and you have a country whose urban centres are perennially fighting water crises today. Bengaluru has become a cautionary tale in that regard for most Indian cities.

Data from the Ministry of Jal Shakti reveals that since Independence, the annual per capita availability of water in India has fallen by 75%, from 6,042 cubic metre in 1947 to 1,486 cubic metre in 2021. Any area that has a per capita availability of less than 1,700 cubic metres is considered 'water-stressed'.

The overall availability of water in the reservoirs and river basins in the country has also dropped severely. According to data released by the Central Water Commission (CWC) on April 18, key reservoirs in India were at their lowest in March compared to the level around the same time in the last five years. The reason for this massive shortfall was attributed to an El Nino-induced bad monsoon last year, the worst since 2018. The season brought one of the driest Augusts for the country.

A Multi-Front Battle

Climate change and population growth exacerbate the challenge. Growing temperatures, depleting surface and groundwater reserves, and fluctuating rain patterns that mark unpredictable monsoons - causing floods in some areas and droughts in others - have complicated the battle against water-related issues. A UN report released in March last year warned that India is expected to be the most severely affected country as the global urban population facing water scarcity grows from 933 million in 2016 to 1.7-2.4 billion people in 2050.

Experts cite several reasons for the crisis. Given that water is a state subject, there are often political tussles over sharing the resource. The Mahadayi Water Dispute between Goa and Karnataka and the Cauvery row between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are only a few cases in point.

Groundwater makes up for 48% of the urban water supply in India, according to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment. But in seven of the country's 10 most populated cities, groundwater tables have fallen drastically over the past two decades. In rural areas too, groundwater is one of the most important sources for domestic supply and farm irrigation, but overexploitation due to unchecked borewell or tubewell usage has led to rapid depletion of this resource. In many cities, groundwater levels have declined at rates much faster than the annual limit of 20 cm a year, being pushed to depths as low as 20 m in some areas.

Pipe Dreams

Around 35% of India's population lives in cities, but one in three people residing in informal settlements in urban areas still don't have access to piped or tap water. Overall, 40% of people in urban areas in India don't get tap water, according to the Multiple Indicator Survey in 2020-21 published by the National Sample Survey Office. Continuous piped water supply remains a dream for most urban Indians. In addition to this, urban water bodies like rivers, lakes and ponds are usually heavily polluted.

Experts feel that the prime reason for water crises in urban areas is the absence of 'water urbanism', a concept that posits that water must be understood within the context of the urban ecosystem. Rainfall, water retention, rainwater harvesting, industry and agriculture use, recycling and sewage are all seen as part of an urbanised ecology that calls for the involvement of major stakeholders: civic authorities, citizens, public policy experts, etc.

Bengaluru Becomes A Cautionary Tale

Citing the case of Bengaluru, Dr. T.V. Ramachandra, coordinator of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the city's Indian Institute of Science, says, "Bengaluru's landscape has witnessed a 1,078% increase in paved surfaces (concrete area) with the loss of porous surfaces (loss of 88% of vegetation cover and 79% of water bodies) in the five decades between 1973 and 2023, thanks to unplanned urbanisation due to lack of coordinated good governance or fragmented governance with too many inefficient and corrupt para-state agencies." He further adds, "Converting porous landscapes to paved surfaces has led to a lack of groundwater recharge, coupled with a simultaneous overexploitation of groundwater due to the mushrooming of high-rise buildings throughout the city." And not just metros, even smaller cities like Lucknow, Bathinda, Jaipur and Patna are now facing water shortages due to reasons not very different from the ones mentioned above.

India has all kinds of good remedies, but so far, they have existed only on paper. Urban planning, compulsory green spaces in cities, rainwater harvesting, better water management are measures that find mention in most civic plans. But the execution of these ideas in letter and spirit is the key to solving India's deepening water problems.

(Bharti Mishra Nath is a senior journalist)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author