Water management is key to water security

Water scarcity is a global issue. Since urban local bodies are tasked with the responsibility of providing adequate supply to citizens, it becomes imperative that they take initiatives to ensure availability of water, strengthen water management, make their supply systems efficient, reduce the share of non-revenue water and more importantly, make citizens aware of its value and promote water conservation. Cities are facing water scarcity due to the increasing burden on available water resources. With more people moving to cities, cities need to manage the demand and supply of water efficiently. The success of various urban missions, whether it is Swachh Bharat Mission, Smart Cities Mission or any project for accelerating development, availability of water is of critical importance. Jal Jeevan Mission – Urban was launched in 2019 to fill the gap of an estimated 2.68 crore urban household tap connections. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has suggested 135 litres per capita per day (lpcd) urban water supply. For rural areas, Jal Jeevan Mission has fixed a minimum supply of 55 lpcd, which may be enhanced to a higher level by states. However, water availability is reducing in the country. Government data says that the average annual per capita water availability in 2001 and 2011 was assessed as 1816 cubic meters and 1545 cubic meters respectively, which may further reduce to 1486 cubic meters and 1367 cubic meters in 2021 and 2031 respectively. Cities in India are exhausting fresh, clean water sources. A recent study found that around 100 square km of area in Delhi is at high risk of ground displacement due to overuse of groundwater. It exposes a serious loophole in the vision of developing a country with 100 per cent access to water. Rainwater harvesting needs a similar push as solar energy in cities.
The thriving market of water purifiers in urban India reflects the reality of the quality of water supplied to households, farms, and complexes. Bad water quality exposes people to a number of diseases. Moreover, industrialisation and unscientific waste disposal in the cities have polluted water sources, including groundwater. The Mission involves promoting the circular economy of water and has set the target of 20 per cent of water demand to be met by reused water with the development of institutional mechanism. The Mission also aims to address the gap in the sewer connections/septage in 500 AMRUT cities and rejuvenate water bodies to expand the freshwater supply in India. However, there has been no noticeable work in rejuvenating water bodies to augment sustainable freshwater supply in cities. Lessons learnt from attempts to clean the Ganga River can be incorporated into the comprehensive model required to rejuvenate water bodies.
The road to sustainable development involves cities focusing on inclusive and sustainable development of infrastructure and services. The Jal Jeevan Mission has been developed in an integrated and comprehensive manner. It is in full swing in the rural areas, as is evident through its digital portal. However, a similar pace is required for work in the urban areas. The coming few years are expected to be full of trials for urban India as the fear of water scarcity is looming large over cities. Building adequate infrastructure, bringing innovative solutions, raising awareness, and involving people in the movement will be essential in creating water security in urban India. The movement will help the cities by handholding so that they can escape what looks like a certain calamity.