Water woes in Mumbai

Water supply to Mumbaikars living in the western suburbs between Malad and Borivli is likely to dip further. The curtailment will be due to the civic hydraulic department’s plan to make temporary changes to the pipeline network supplying water to the region.

Currently, an underground water tunnel is being used to convey water from Bhandup to the local service reservoir. It is then distributed to the homes between Malad and Borivli. The tunnel, however, has had a leak since February 12 this year. The damage was done when some people punctured a hole in the tunnel while attempting to drill an illegal borewell at a site near Marve Road, Malad.

Apart from the heavy water loss, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials are also concerned about the surrounding buildings. The seepage of water from the underground tunnel is likely to affect the foundations of buildings in the vicinity. While a wooden plug has been used to control the extent of leakage for the time being, a senior hydraulic department official said that repairs needed to be carried out on a war footing.

Source: DNA, 25 Feb, 2010

Illegal water connections in Bangalore

Summer is here and taps are going dry. The city has a shortage of 300 MLD (million litres per day) potable water. One of the reasons behind this is flourishing illegal connections.

Says Mohammed Ghouse of Shadabnagar, DJ Halli: "We only get water bills but no water. And we have been paying them regularly to avoid disconnection. Private lobbies control water valves and collect money for unauthorized connections. We have proof of 300 illegal connections in our area. We submitted a report to AEE Gopal Gowda, but no action has been taken."

This is just one among the many areas across the city. The figures available with the BWSSB are startling. There are seven lakh buildings (including apartments and high-rise units) in core areas sanctioned by the BBMP. A rough estimate shows overall water connections here should add up to 18% more than this figure. "But we have only 5.5 lakh legal water connections here," say BWSSB sources. Even the newly added areas have fewer legal connections.

"Illegal connections have been our greatest challenge. They are rampant but very difficult to spot. Recently, we identified and disconnected at least 50 illegal connections across the city. The disconnection drive is not as simple as it seems. In worst cases, we can book offenders under Section 195 IPC, but till date, we haven't been able to. However, we are planning a joint survey soon on tackling this issue across the city," says BWSSB chief engineer Venkatraju.

Source: TOI, 25 Feb, 2010

New desalination plant in Chennai

In a bid to quench the thirst of Chennaiites, the State government laid the foundation stone for the construction of a 100 million litres per day capacity sea water reverse osmosis desalination plant at Nemmeli on East Coast Road on Tuesday. The Rs 670-crore project, to be set up with aid from the Union government, will be the second desalination plant in Chennai and it is expected to be operational by December 30, 2011. Work on the first desalination plant of 100 mld capacity is currently underway, on a DBOOT (Design, Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) basis at Kattupalli Village of Minjur Panchayat Union in Thiruvallur District.

"A detailed project report was prepared by Mecon Limited (a government of India enterprise) along with Swiss-based firm Adeco Technologies at a cost of 4.87 crore and sent to the Union government for approval,” deputy CM M K Stalin said. “A technical advisory committee consisting of experts from desalination division, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai and Kalpakkam, Anna University, Chennai, IIT Madras and engineering directors of Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board and Metro Water board was constituted for perusal and scrutiny of the detailed project. The consultants have furnished the final DPR on January 14, 2008,” Stalin said. “The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) accorded approval to the project and sanctioned a grant of Rs 871.24 crore. The Centre has already released Rs 300 crore for the project,” he said.

An extent of 40.05 acre of land belonging to Alavandar Trust, under the control of Hindu Religious and Charitable endowments department, has been selected on East Coast Road at about 35 km from Chennai city in Nemmeli and Krishnan Karanai villages in Chengalpattu taluk in Kancheepuram district for construction of the plant.The land has been given on a lease to Metro Water for 30 years. The rent is fixed at Rs 1.12 lakh per month with a provision of 15 per cent increase once in three years.V A Tech Wabag Limited in consortium with IDE Technologies in Israel were awarded Rs 533.38 crore worth works for building the plant while, Mecom Limited in consortium with Adeco Technologies bagged 13.46 crore contract for the PMC for the plant. L&T was the successful bidder for contract of Rs 121.47 crore work on conveyance system.

Source: Express Buzz, 24 Feb, 2010

Tertiary treated water

It seems there are no takers for tertiary treated water (TTW), despite it being cheaper and water scarcity escalating with each passing day. TTW is water generated by treating sewage three times. More than 95 per cent of the sediments are removed from the sewage during the treatment. Therefore, one can easily use it for washing and cleaning purposes. If TTW is purified in an ultrafiltration plant or reverse osmosis plant, it can be used even for drinking purposes. Tertiary treated water costs only Rs 25 per kilolitre as against Rs 60 per kilolitre for normal water.At present, only Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) and Bharat Electronics (BEL) consume TTW in Bangalore.The two companies are consuming around five million litres of TTW per day (MLD) The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has a 10 MLD capacity tertiary treatment plant at Hebbal and 60 MLD plant at Vrishabhavathy Valley. Every day, BWSSB produces around 15 MLD of TTW and uses the surplus TTW for gardening and washing purposes.BWSSB chairman PB Ramamurthy said, “We have written letters to BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) and Contractors’ Association, requesting them to use TTW for construction and gardening purposes.But they have not responded favourably till now. If they start using it, it will help us conserve power and the ecology.Moreover, it is much cheaper than other sources of water.” Ramamurthy added that BWSSB was also exploring the possibility of supplying TTW to four different points in the city through pipelines to encourage people to use it. “We can give it at Rs 15 per kilolitre if the users can transport TTW themselves,” he said.At present, the city needs 1,200 MLD water. However, BWSSB supplies around 870 MLD water through its sources. The city would need at least 2,050 MLD of water by 2025. Hence, TTW is considered to be one of the viable alternatives, as all the existing sources of water would have been thoroughly tapped by then.

Source: Express Buzz 24 feb, 2010

Private water suppliers thrive in unauthorised Jamia Nagar

For over five decades now, the residents of Jamia Nagar have been buying water to meet their daily needs. The residents rely on private borewells and treated water provided by suppliers who have set up water treatment plants. This potable water, popularly known as ‘RO-wala pani’ (RO water) comes in two forms — covered cans for Rs 25 and uncovered cans for Rs 12, says Jalal, a vendor.

DJB spokesperson Sanjam Chima says, “The DJB cannot provide water to every colony that does not come under the government sanction. Supplying water requires a lot of investment and infrastructure. The DJB, however, goes out of its way to help residents of many unauthorised colonies.”

While the DJB reach is limited in the colony, private water suppliers have a thriving business here. There are around 15 such suppliers in Jamia Nagar’s Abul Fazal Enclave. The suppliers usually tie up with 10 to 12 vendors who carry 12 water cans of 20 litres each on a cart for distribution. Islam, a supplier, has been running a water treatment plant for a year now. The raw water for these plants comes through borewells. “We usually get the machines assembled at the local market, and the total cost of installation comes to around Rs 3 to 4 lakh,” he says. The main reason for the success of this business model is that the borewell water is not potable. “We get water from the private borewells installed at different locations within the colony. But the groundwater is not potable. Those with money get water filters but the poor fetch water from the Okhla main market every day,” says Sabiha, a resident of Abul Fazal Enclave.

Source: Indian Express, Feb 24, 2010.

BWSSB proposes big hike in water tariff

A proposed 11.5 per cent hike in water tariff may be imposed soon on Bangaloreans, who are already reeling under an acute power crisis and a daily water shortage of 300 million litres.

Source: Bangalore, Feb 22, DH News Service

Basic water usage cap to be fixed, pay more for extra

Use more, pay more. The Rajasthan Government is considering a progressive tariff policy for water. Users will now have to shell out more if they consume more than the basic limit to be soon fixed by the state government. The proposal was cleared by the state cabinet’s sub-committee. However, the cabinet will have to give its final approval to the new draft water policy. This is likely on Wednesday. Under the new policy, drinking water tops the list of priority, followed by water for irrigation and power generation.

The new policy aims to optimise the water available in the state. The water resources department will prepare a comprehensive inventory of the existing resources before it drafts its distribution plan. Water distribution would henceforth be done in a decentralised manner.

“The policy looks into the prospects of diverting excess water in some areas to where there is a deficit by connecting the basins. This would be done after gauging the environmental impact and gaining confidence of the locals in the area,” said an official, adding that the state government is also contemplating limiting the use of groundwater. A source from the department confirmed that this would mean limiting the use of groundwater for commercial purposes.

Traditional water harvesting structures, along with the new ones, would be promoted. Principal secretary, water resources, Ram Lubhaya, said, “As part of the decentralisation, funds, functions and functionaries would be transferred to the panchayat and local bodies to involve more people in water management.” The draft policy states the state is heading towards absolute water scarcity. The per capita annual water availability in the state is about 780 cubic meter against a minimum requirement of 1000 cubic meter. It is feared that the availability would fall below 450 cubic meter by 2050.

Source: TOI, P J Joychen, TNN, 16 February 2010, 05:29am IST

Punjab CM criticizes Center's reported move to transfer water from the state list to the concurrent list

Times of India, Chandigarh, 14 February 2010, 05:44am IST

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday came down heavily upon the Union government’s reported move to transfer water from the state list to the concurrent list.

“Any such move would be fraught with serious implications on economic as well as political fronts. Being an agrarian state, Punjab cannot allow any erosion of its jurisdiction over the issue. Water is the be-all and end-all not only of our farmers but of the entire populace. Any move to dilute the state’s control over the subject would be utterly inadvisable,” said Badal in a statement.

Asserting that his government would strongly oppose this step, Badal said, “The issue is sub-judice with the Supreme Court and the Centre’s proposed move would, apart from cutting at the roots of the federal spirit, also amount to an affront to judiciary.”

“The Centre must desist from tinkering with the basic structure of the statute, which clearly demarcates the areas of jurisdiction of the Union and the states. Already, various Congress governments at the Centre have progressively chipped away the federal character of the country and turned the Constitution into a document heavily tilted against the states,” said the chief minister.

Water crisis in and around Kolkata

TOI Kolkata, 8 Feb, 2010

Cloud seeding up for debate

Included in the Omnibus Water Bill that passed out of the House Agriculture Committee: another $2.8 million towards definitively finding whether cloud seeding works.

Cloud seeding is a controversial process by which particles, such as silver iodide, are shot or dispersed into a cloud to help condense moisture and induce precipitation.

In 2005, the Wyoming Legislature put $8.8 million towards the Wyoming Weather Modification Five-Year Pilot Project. Now, the Wyoming Water Development Commission has asked for another $2.8 million during the next two years, and a further $1.8 million next biennium.

State Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, voted for the Omnibus Water Bill despite concerns about the wisdom of the cloud-seeding provision.

"If it doesn't work, you wasted $13.4 million," Zwonitzer said.

Source: Legislature briefs, Feb 12, 2010

Water management: The Abdul Kalam way

Our ex-prez is still nurturing his dream project of river linking. It seems that after knowing that the project has been send to the cold-storage by both scientists and politicians he wants to implement it at local level in a smaller scale. Here is an excerpt of his speech on the occasion of the 3rd Bihar Science Congress inauguration at Gaya College on 11/02/2010:

There are no other scientific and technological challenges for Bihar other than river water management combating flood by generating huge reservoirs and canal system and linking all other rivers to major rivers. Finally Bihar should have smart waterways.

Bihar waterways

Bihar waterways are a technological challenge. Fortunately Bihar is not short of water. Many times Bihar gets much more water than it can handle. Hence, we have to harness the available water and manage it, so that Bihar not only becomes a granary of India through irrigation but also gets electricity, inland water transport system using smart waterways, able to control floods and manage the river basins.

When we study the map of Bihar, we find that Ganga runs in the middle of Bihar as it is a valley. The level being around 70 meters above MSL and the ground both sides, north and south rises to nearly 100 to 300 meters MSL. Hence, the Ganga water as such cannot be used for irrigation in Bihar due to height difference. However, for many years, there is heavy flood in Ganga causing severe damage to north Bihar. The solution for this is networking of rivers and water bodies to run a waterway which is at a higher level using the trapped water from the tributaries of Ganga for use in irrigation and drinking. The existing channels should be desilted.

Bihar river systems

Ganga river is flowing from West to East in Bihar. There are two types of flows coming into the Ganga. The northern rivers emanating from the Himalayas and another from the southern rivers coming from the Chhotanagpur plateau and Hazaribagh plateau. The major rivers coming from North-South are Ghaghara, Gandak, Bagmati, Kareh, Kosi and Mahanadhi. The rivers coming from the South are Son, Punpun, Phalgu, Dhadhar and Badua. Because of the flow from both the directions no water is saved and everything goes to the Sea. Also, the main flood bearing river the Kosi when it comes into Bihar is already in the plains and we have to find innovative flood management techniques with intensive international co-operation. We have seen 2008 Koshi river flood which has deviated from the normal path due to the sudden flood and inflicted enormous amount of damage to the people of Bihar and their belongings and also damaged the land and properties.

Layered Wells: In the Gangetic region, I have recommended construction of layered wells in the entry points of Kosi river in. Normally the flood water has certain dynamic flow conditions. The layered wells assist gradual reduction in dynamic flow velocity after filling each storage well. The water thus stored will be useful during shortage period. Similar solution can be found for the north-eastern region. I have recommended this scheme can be included in the Interlinking of rivers programme.

However, I have suggested to Bihar Assembly to mitigate Bihar from the fury of the floods it will be essential to undertake the following measures.

(a)Recovering the all the water bodies from encroachments using satellite maps.

(b)All the village ponds be immediately de-silted along with clearance of inlet and outlet and revived in the Gangetic basin.

(c)Carrying out the dredging of the rivers from the center so that the riverbed is below the adjoining land area.

(d)Raising the protection wall for the wells slightly above the normal flood water level so that the debris does not fill the wells during floods and drinking water is available immediately after the floods.

(e)Creating check dams so that water can be retained in the drought prone southern Bihar.

(f)For protecting the cities, create channelization, embankment and diversion channels up-streams.

(g)Encouraging fishing in the ponds so that it can generate revenue for the farmers. This activity can be linked to a mission of Bihar of doubling fish production through introduction of modern production technologies, developing innovative strategies and approaches and taking effective conservation measures.

Development of smart waterways

What Bihar needs, as visualized, is a major waterway covering 500 kms length. This will connect the whole state with all other cross canals. In addition, for making effective use of the total waterway potential existing canals and river water systems are required to be improved to make it into smart waterway systems. A smart waterway will have the characteristics such as: sufficient navigable depth and width; conditions will permit navigation throughout the year; have smooth bends and minimum siltation; be able to navigate at least 18 hours per day; cater for efficient loading and unloading points; and the waterway should be adequately lighted and equipped with modern navigational and communication aids. This facility will enable the State to take advantage of the energy efficiency of transportation through waterways which is double of railways and eight times the road transportation system for a given load. This will also reduce the congestion on the road, and improve the environmental conditions and aforestation.

The creation of such a smart waterway, will act as an additional reservoir for the state. It is essential to build the intermediate dams in the cross section of the rivers and the waterways, which creates the balancing waterways. This will provide irrigation facility to over 5 million acres enable generation of 1000 MWs of power and provide employment for 9 million people. These measures could also reduce the severity of floods by fast disposal of flood water and also ensure storage of surplus water for future use.

The geologists, cartographers, civil engineers, structural specialists, hydraulic engineers and environmentalists assembled here may like to work together with the Bihar govt in drawing a comprehensive plan for the creation of Bihar waterways which will provide a total societal transformation to Bihar within the next decade.

http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2010/Feb/Newsbihar11Feb12.html
http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2010/Feb/newsbihar11Feb2_speech.html