"Narmada waters to reach Rajasthan this month", 4 th
March 2008, The Indian Express
Finally the Narmada waters are expected to reach the neighbouring
state of Rajasthan by the middle of the month, with the Sardar
Srovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) authorities having started
releasing the waters in the 458 km long Narmada Main Canal (NMC).
A team of SSNNL engineers was sent to north Gujarat to monitor
the flow of waters in the NMC. The engineers will also visit the
Rajasthan border to conduct tests and supervise the whole operation.
Under the narmada Tribunal Award, Rajasthan's share of water is
0.5 million acres feet (MAF) while two other participatory states-
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have been allocated 18.25 MAF and 9
MAF of water respectively.
The SSNNL officials state that the
Narmada dam project will provide irrigation benefits in 17.92
lakh hectares of land spread over 75 talukas and 15 districts
in the state. It is also envisaged to provide water for domestic
as well as industrial use in over 8,215 villages and 135 townships
across the state. The Socio-Economic Review 2007-08 prepared
by the Gujarat Directorate of Economics and Statistics says that
the Irrigation Commission defines three-fourth of the command
areas as drought prone. It says that out of the total 38 branch
canals of the Narmada project, work has already been completed
on 24, while work on 9 branches is in progress and remaining
five will be taken up in the coming year. The document further
states that the revised estimated cost of the entire narmada Dam
project at 1991-92 prices is Rs. 13,180 crores.
"UPA mega drinking water scheme
is also going down the corruption drain", 4 th March 2008, The
Indian Express
"At the current pace, on each day of the year, 290 habitations
are provided with drinking water," announced the government in
the Budget session to showcase the "impressive progress" made
under the UPA's flagship Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission (RGDWM)
meant to provide "safe and sustainable drinking water sources" to
villages. What the Government glossed over is the official reality
check - Rs 427.47 crore has been diverted in 16 states, says a
performance audit conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General
of a quarter of the districts in 26 states. Given that the money
earmarked for this for next year is over Rs 7000 crore, the CAG's
audit calls for "immediate and swift action" to plug the holes.
The report will be sent to the Rural Development Ministry - under
which the programme falls - which will forward it to all states
for feedback.
The audit - just like the one of the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme - found that the water mission, via the Accelerated
Rural Water Supply Programme, is fraught with diversion of funds,
corruption and waste. Not just this. The draft report, a copy
of which has been obtained by The Indian Express, says that in
many places where water is being supplied, quality is rarely monitored.
Despite clear guidelines, states have failed to establish district
and state-level labs and neither have they put in place trained
staff.
. Madhya Pradesh: Rs 3.85 crore was spent on 705 tube wells in
fully covered habitations at the instance of influential persons.
. Maharashtra: Rs 13 crore released in Amravati district in contravention
of guidelines during 2005-07.
. Meghalaya: Rs 52 lakh spent on pipe procurement on the basis
of fictitious certificates
. Assam : Rs 97 lakh diverted in Silchar Public Health and Engineering
Division.
. Himachal Pradesh: Rs. 1.41 crore diverted in Paonta Sahib division
during 2002-07 for water works not approved.
. Karnataka: Rs. 3.62 crore diverted to works under calamity
relief.
. West Bengal: Wasteful expenditure of Rs 61 lakh in West Midnapore
district laying pipes in a place without sustainable water source;
in Bankura and Alipore, Rs 1.29 crore diverted for providing drinking
water in urban areas; in Bankura and Barasat , Rs 10 lakh spent
on paying office bills, hiring of vehicles .
. Orissa: In Biswanathpur village, Rs 4.15-crore worth projects
for 20,000 people could meet the demand of barely 10,000.
. Jammu & Kashmir : Rs 19.56 crore released for 50 unapproved
projects on recommendations of MLAs
. Chhattisgarh: Rs 1.59 crore was spent on 317 tubewells in fully
covered habitations in Jagdalpur district.
. Punjab : fictitious expenditure of Rs 1 crore on works not
executed
. Arunachal: Rs 2.35 crore spent in uninhabited or non-existent
villages
. Jharkhand: purchase order worth Rs 3.44 crore placed in May
2006 while the scheme was sanctioned later in December for 24,650
deep tube wells, no execution.
If these are specific cases, the CAG lists the generic problems
that run across most states:
. Little attention to Annual Action Plans based on detailed and
comprehensive habitation-wise analysis; data collected on who
needs the water and where is thus not authentic.
. So targets are fixed on a numerical basis and works taken up
in an "ad hoc fashion, without a clear, structured approach, based
on complete and reliable data."
. Several instances of drinking water money being spent not on "need
basis" but under the influence of influential people including
MPs, MLAs and MLCs.
. Despite the programme clearly prioritizing ongoing schemes
before taking up new ones, states have done just the opposite.
Most of the states have gone on approving new projects with little
funding and leaving the ongoing schemes to suffer.
"Finally, Rajasthan to get Narmada water today", 27 th
March 2008, The Hindustan Times
After four decades of acrimonious debates on environmental hazards,
human resettlement problems and inter state disputes over water
and power sharing formula, the desert state of Rajasthan would
finally get its first share of water from the multi-crore Narmada
dam project. Conceieved in the time of Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru, the project raised a lot of environmental concerns which
led to even the World Bank to scrapping the loan. The issue of
resettlement of oustees had kept the project under litigation.
The first flow of initial 300 cusecs of water from the Narmada
dam would enter southern Rajasthan from Banaskantha district of
North Gujarat. Rajasthan is expected to irrigate 2.5 lakh hectares
in its two southern districts after the completion of the Narmada
dam. The state will not get any of the 1,450 megawatt power that
the dam is likely to generate.
"No prepaid water meters yet, says BMC", 27 th March
2008, The Hindustan Times
The civic Standing Committee meeting on 27 th March 2008 put
off the proposal to install prepaid water meters in slums to check
unauthorised use and wastage of water. The standing committee
has instead formed a sub-committee to re-examine the prepaid water
meters proposal- which has been waiting for approval for a year. "The
committee, comprising representatives of all political parties,
will look into the entire proposal", said committee chairperson
Ravindra Waikar. "There are many issues that are unclear. After
the committee submits a report on the issue, a decision will be
taken by the committee".
"The more you use, the more you pay for water", 28 th
March 2008, The Times of India "
Mumbaikars should get set to pay more for water if you consume
more than the BMC-estimated daily average. In a long overdue move
to conserve water in a metropolis whose demands have long outstripped
supply, the municipality has decided to introduce a "telescopic
rate structure" from April 1. According to the new rate card,
those who consume water above the stipulated limit will have to
pay a higher rate. The current water charges are heavily subsidised-domestic
users in residential buildings pay Rs 3.50 for every 1,000 litres
and slum residents pay a lower fee of Rs 2.25. Commercial and
industrial users pay much more (between Rs 10.50 and Rs 38). But
for no group is the cost of water linked to the quantum of consumption.
The BMC has pegged the average household size at five members
and has thus calculated that a family should consume 750 litres
a day. Once the 750-litre mark is crossed, the charges will increase
in proportion to the extra consumption.
'Only 56% of water meters in
working condition", 28 th
March 2008, The Times of India
The BMC has decided to introduce a 'telescopic rate structure'
for water consumption in the city from April 1, 2008. The biggest
hurdle in the way is the dysfunctional state of the water meters
in the city, only 56% of which are in working condition. The new
tariff rates will apply only to building residents since the slums
scarcely have working water meters and the commercial and industrial
users are already paying steep tariff rates. Despite the lack
of infrastructure, the new scheme is being rushed through because "every
BMC Standing Committee proposal has to be implemented within 90
days", a senior BMC official said. There are 3.5 lakh water meters
across the city, most being in the suburbs. About 1.5 lakh of
these meters belong to domestic users. So the new system would
cover 59,000 properties, most of which are in the suburbs.
"Panel to study pre-paid water
meter scheme", 28 th March
2008, The Free Press Journal
The BMC plans to install pre-paid water meter connections in
post 1995 slums. It has hit a road block with the civic body deciding
to discuss the proposal thoroughly before implementing it, even
appointing a committee of political leaders to discuss it. The
Standing Committee, insead of discussing and passing the proposal
in the meeting, decided to form a sub-committee of a group of
leaders across party lines to decide the fate of the proposal.
The committee comprises ruling party leader Sunil Prabhu, opposition
leader Rajhans Singh, NCP leader Niyaz Vanu, SP leader Asma Shaijh,
MNS leader Rajendra Lad and BJP leader Yogesh Sagar and would
be headed by standing committee chairman Ravindra Waikar. The
proposal is a part of the civic body's 'Sujal Mumbai Mission'
that entails a long term plan of providing 24 hours regular and
contamination free water supply to all parts of Mumbai. Several
projects will be introduced over the next few years as part of
Sujal Mumbai Mission to resrtore and resurrect the city's aging
water supply networks.
"New project to address water
supply shortfall", 29 th
March 2008, The Asian Age
The construction of the Middle Vaitarna Project in Mumbai began
on 29 th March. This will help in augmented water supply and will
reduce the gap between demand and supply of water to Mumbai. The
work on the project costing Rs. 460 crores is as per the recommendations
of the Chitale Committee Report. The Dentral Government has cleared
the project under the JNNURM. The Middle Vaitarna Project which
is expected to be completed by 2011 will add another 455 MLD to
the existing water supply. Thus, by 2011, Mumbai will hopefully
receive a total of 3855 MLD, which is the present demand.
"Mumbai under water by 2100", 31 st March 2008, Time
of India, Mumbai
A report titled "Climate Migrants in South Asia: Estimates and
Solutions", commissioned by Greenpeace claims that a potential
increase in temperatures by 4 to 5degrees due to greenhouse emissions
at the current rate would mean corresponding rise in sea levels
of up to 5 metres by 2100. This in turn would imply that approximately
50 million Indians would be rendered homeless and become 'climate
migrants'. However, Rakesh Kumar of NEERI claims the report to
be exaggerating and will only create a fear in the mind of people
uselessly. According to him, there will be submergence, but only
in the low lying areas. At most the foundations of buildings near
the shore may be weakened due to saline formation. |
