Drinking water scarcity in Delhi: a geographical perspective

Transcription

1 Drinking water scarcity in Delhi: a geographical perspective Kiran Dabas 1 Received: 20 December 2017 Reviewed and Accepted: 15 January 2018 Published: 05 April 2018 Abstract The NCT Delhi is a territorially small and largely urbanized city state with a huge and growing concentration of population which requires to be serviced with water supply and sewage treatment. Delhi s water system is in crisis and the situation will only worsen in the coming decades. Delhi has limited internal natural resource endowment and is largely dependent on external resources over which it exercises no direct control and always under pressure from upper and lower riparians. Delhi is also facing reduction in its clean water resources due to the intensive and unplanned exploitation of groundwater. At the same time, it is experiencing an unprecedented increase in the demand for water due to a growing and urbanising population and unfettered economic growth. An evaluation of the water supply scenario in Delhi reveals that problems have arisen mainly due to unplanned urbanization, inequitable distribution of water, lack of institutional reforms, insufficient allocation of funds for the development of urban water infrastructure and institutions, under-utilization of funds, weak maintenance, management and governance of water supply systems and local and regional water resources, and inter-state issues. If the same trend continues, possible future threats could be lower quantities of water available, more time and money spent on addressing daily consumption needs, increased local conflicts over sharing of water resources, and serious economic, environmental and health concerns. Keywords: Population Growth, Urbanisation, Demand-Supply Gap, Inequitable Distribution Kiran Dabas ( ) Swami Shraddhanand College, University of Delhi kiran.dabas@rediffmail.com

2 Introduction Water is essential for life and for most of the activities of human society. Both economic and social development and the maintenance of human health are completely dependent upon ready access of adequate water supplies. The growing demand for water due to population growth, urbanisation and economic growth has resulted in tremendous pressure on water resources. With per capita availability of water continuing to decline, the world hurtles towards water scarcity. Water scarcity is an in-balance between demand and availability and exists when the demand for water exceeds than supply. Increased temporal and spatial variation in availability of water is likely to exacerbate the water situation further. Urban water zone is a zone as serious mismanagement in India. Typically, the large urban areas represent concentrated demands both due to large population and large per capita income. Most urban areas in India have depleted, polluted or destroyed their local water resources like lakes, groundwater etc. Therefore, the natural water supply of water has been completely altered by the human beings. Delhi, the capital city of India, is the centre of politics, administration and socio-economic activities. Despite its important position, it doesn t present a balanced picture in the context of water availability and its distribution. A large number of rural and urban areas don t get water according to the accepted/prescribed norms. People are not getting water either of acceptable quality or inadequate quantity or both, in time. Therefore, this study has been an attempt to explore the extent, causes and nature of the problem of water scarcity in Delhi. The primary objectives of the present study are to assess the existing water resource availability, to identify the causes of water scarcity. Database and Methodology The present study has been done on the data generated from the secondary sources. Secondary data is collected from various published and unpublished reports of government and non-governmental organizations. Some specific sources are survey of India topographical maps; Delhi water works reports, reports of Delhi Jal Board regarding drinking water supply, Central Groundwater Board publications and Delhi Groundwater Board publications. These organisations are providing data regarding various aspects of water resources and their uses and supply. Data is processed with various statistical techniques and represented by a number of tables, diagrams and maps. 26

3 Study Area The study area is situated on a narrow strip of Indo-Gangetic plains lies at a height of feet above mean sea level. It shares boarders with Uttar Pradesh in the east and Haryana in north, west and south. It occupies a very strategic and a nodal key position in the Indian sub-continent. Though the area of whole Delhi is not so bigger but its physiography varies from area to area. Delhi has total area of 1483 square kilometers out of which fully developed urban area is 525 square kilometers. The region consists of flat topography interrupted outcrops of Aravali hills. Delhi receives a total average rainfall of around 600 mm per year, of which 80 per cent in three monsoon months i.e. from July to August. Delhi s population is 16 million which is expected to cross 17 million very soon. The Yamuna flows in a southerly direction in the eastern parts of the state, is the only perennial river. Eastern and western Yamuna canals and Agra canal are three major canals which originate from the Yamuna River with Bawana, Rajpur and Lampur distributaries. Ochandi, Bhudanpur, Sultanpur, Mundka, Mangolpur, Nahari, Dhansa and Shukhpur are some of important minors. Situated on the bank of the Yamuna, the city is mainly supplied by surface water (eighty six per cent) from Yamuna, Ravi-Beas (Bhakhara storage) and the Ganga water. With the population of Delhi increasing from 0.4 million in 1911 to 13.8 million in 2001 and 16.7 million in 2011, there is an ever-increasing pressure on the water resource. Delhi faces an unparalleled water crisis. The water supply network of Government of Delhi has always been lagging behind in fulfilling the demands of the residents of the city. Result and Discussion Sources of water for Delhi Surface water Delhi gets over 86 per cent of its water supply from surface water. The river Yamuna is the only perennial drainage which flows through the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Yamuna provides the major share of this supply. Delhi s share of this river s resources, as per interstate agreements, is 6.04 per cent. Water from the Yamuna river is abstracted both directly from the river at Delhi and indirectly via the western Yamuna canal, which also delivers water to Delhi. Another sources of water supply to Delhi, through different interstate agreements, include the Himalayan Rivers and sub-surface sources like ranney wells and tubewells. Raw water from the Himalayan rivers is conveyed via the Upper Ganga and 27

4 Bhakhra Canal (Narwana branch) respectively. Surface water source availability in Delhi was 690 MGD in 2013, out of which 310 MGD comes from Yamuna river, 240 MGD from Ganga river and 140 MGD from Bhakhra Beas Management Board. About 115 MGD of groundwater is being explored through ranney wells and tubewells of Delhi Jal Board (Figure 1). Source: Economic Survey of Delhi 2012 Figure 1 Sources of water supply in Delhi Groundwater Groundwater is one of the major sources of water supply in many parts of the country. In Delhi too, groundwater contributes a substantial quantity of water supply. Especially in newly developed areas, groundwater is largely being used as drinking water resources. Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) assessed the total groundwater potential to be 292 million cubic meter (MCM) in 2008 as compared to MCM in 1983, showing an overdraft and reduction of around 130 MCM over the past 25 years. Groundwater exploration is carried out at a depth ranging from 50 to 150 meters. Groundwater represents around 14 per cent of Delhi s water resources officially. According to CGWB (2008), 48 per cent of groundwater is used for domestic purposes, 40 per cent for irrigation and 9 per cent for industrial use, 3 per cent groundwater loses during different uses. Owing to escalating population, without a commensurate increase in the availability of raw water, the groundwater in Delhi has been over exploited. This has disturbed hydrological balance leading to decline in the productivity of tubewells, increasing pumping cost and more energy requirements. The quality of groundwater is also deteriorating and has been found to be unfit for human consumption at several places. 28

5 Water Production System Delhi Jal Board (DJB) carries the raw water from the rivers and canals. The water is pre-chlorinated to destroy the algae and bacteria present in it and then taken to clarifloculators. In clarifloculators, water is cleaned through a process of sedimentation. After that water is passed through a series of filters in order to remove remaining impurities. Once that is over, water is chlorinated again to kill any remaining germs. This treated water reaches all parts of the city through a network of water mains/lines. Water from the tubewells and ranney wells is just chlorinated and not filtered because groundwater is naturally filtered. Table 1 and Figure 2 reveals the water treatment capacity of DJB in different years and hence the total amount of surface water treated and supplied by DJB. Table 1 Installed capacity of water treatment plants ( ) in Delhi Sr. No. Source of Raw Water Name of Plant Capacity (MGD) River Yamuna Chandrawal Water House No. I and II 2 River Yamuna Wazirabad I, II and III Bhakhra Storage/River Yamuna Haiderpur Upper Ganga Canal North Shahadra (Bhagirathi ) 5 River Yamuna Bawana Bhakhra Storage Nangloi Upper Ganga Canal Sonia Vihar Groundwater Ranney Wells and Tubewells Optimisation of W.T.P Recycling of Waste Water at Chandrawal, Bhagirathi, Haiderpur and Wazirabad 11 Commonwealth Games Village Total Source: Economic Survey of Delhi,

6 Source: NCR fact Sheet, Figure 2 Sources of raw water and water treatments plants in Delhi Delhi Jal Board has network of 306 UGRs (Under Ground Reservoirs) and 468 BPSs (Booster Pumping Stations), 3222 tubewells and several ranney wells. Besides the network, the Delhi Jal Board supplies water through tankers also. Water Transmission and Distribution System The transmission system consists of approximately 572 kilometers of mains in diameters ranging from 300 mms to 1500 mms. There are about 550 pumping stations in the DJB water supply system, excluding those at the water treatment plants. Out of these, only three are associated with the transmission system, these being in-line booster pumping stations (BPSs). The remaining pumping stations supply water to the various distribution systems from the transmission system terminal reservoirs or are in line boosters within the distribution systems themselves. There are 61 main ground reservoirs associated with the transmission and 30

7 distribution systems. Storage capacities at the various reservoir sites range from 1,400 to 86,370 cubic meters, with a combined total storage of 731,760 cubic meters. Around 8,363 kilometers of distribution pipe, of which 69 per cent is in cast iron material and a further 16 per cent in asbestos cement. About 42 per cent of the distribution pipes are more than 20 years old, but only 6 per cent older than 40 years (Table 2). Table 2 Transmission and distribution network in Delhi Sr. No. Item 2001 As on Length of Water mains (kilometers) 8363 More than 9,560 2 No. of Water connections 13,33,833 About lakh 3 No. of Water Stand Posts(Public Water hydrants) 4 No. of Water Tankers as per revised budget estimate No. of Private Tubewells 2,00,000-6 Capacity of Exiting Ground Reservoirs Source: NCR Socio-Economic Profile, MG corresponding to 6-7 hours of production Proposed to build 35 per cent of average demand as storage capacity. Water Supplies The water supply system is through piped water network in urban area through inhouse supply in planned areas; public stand posts, hand pumps in nonplanned areas; in some parts through private motorised wells I tubewells, and in some of the other areas without planned water supply, through tankers. The tanker service is also available - vide monetary payment - on demand through DJB's telephonic services.. The information regarding the households availing the sources of water in Delhi as per 2011 Census is presented in Figure 2. Table 3 presents mode of water supply in Delhi. 31

8 Households in per cent Tap Water Tubewell Handpump Other Source of Water Source: Census of India, 2011 Figure 3 Household s source of drinking water in Delhi Table 3 Delhi Jal Board s mode of water supply Type of supply Supply mode Domestic connections 16,61,356 connections Commercial and Institutional connection 1,01,595 connections Industrial connection 22,073 connections Bulk supply to DCB and NDMC Bulk supply Public stand posts stand posts Water tanker 1100 vehicles Source: Economic Survey of Delhi, Causes of Water Scarcity in Delhi Increasing Gap between Water Demand and Supply The water supply network of Government of Delhi has always been lagging behind in fulfilling the demands of the residents of the city. The service coverage of water supply in Delhi is as high as 99 per cent but the city faces an unparalleled water crisis. High rate of urbanization and population growth in Delhi have laid tremendous stress on drinking water supply system. Growth process and expansion of economic activities inevitably led to increasing demands for water for diverse purposes; domestic, industrial, recreational, agricultural etc. The nation s capital is perpetually in the grip of water crises due to increasing gap between demand and supply. Table 4 presents role of population dynamics in assessing gap between demand and supply of water in Delhi. 32

9 Table 4 Water requirement vis-a-vis production in Delhi Five Year Plan Period Population (in lakh) Water Requirement Water 70 Gallon Per Capacity in MGD Person Per Day 1 st nd rd th th th th ** th th th Supply and Demand Gap in MGD Source: Delhi Statistical Abstract, Department of Economic and Statistics, Government of NCT of Delhi. Requirement was computed by the Department at 70 GPCD (gallon per capita per day) upto Ninth Five Year Plan and at 60 GPCD during the 10th Five Year Plan. **Installed capacity. CAG (2008) The trends in the projected requirement, actual production and short fall in the supply of water in different years are given in the Figure 6.2 below. Source: Delhi Jal Board, Figure 4 Year wise production and shortfall of water in Delhi 33

10 Discriminate Distribution of Water Supply Though the per capita availability of water in Delhi is still the highest in the country, the inadequacy is mainly on account of inequitable distribution of water and loss of water through leaking pipes residential areas or in industrial areas. It is evident from Table 5 that although production of treated water is adequate, 20 per cent of Delhi population has no piped water supply and 30 per cent of population has grossly inadequate water supply. This demands serious overhaul of the supply management. Even planned areas of MCD with in-house connections have a shortfall of 42 per cent. Water is a basic requirement for human survival. A certain minimum quantity of potable water is essential for all types of human settlements. In a huge city like Delhi, different levels of supply to different types of settlements are natural. When this gap is too wide, it puts a question mark on the overall supply scenario. About 40 per cent of Delhi s population lives in J. J. Clusters, slum designated areas and unauthorized colonies. About 20 per cent of the people of Delhi have no access to piped water supply and 30 per cent of the population is getting a very low level of supply (4-10 lpcd) through stand posts against a planned level of 42.5 lpcd. Table 5 Water supply structure in Delhi Sr. No. Type of Settlement Population in lacs Demand in Supply in million litres MLD per day (MLD) Shortfall/Excess. 1 J. J. Cluster, Designated Slum Area and Unauthorized Colony (I) No piped supply (-) 100 per cent 2 J. J. Cluster, Designated Slum Area and Unauthorized Colony (-) 88 per cent (II) 3 Planned Area (H.C) (MCD) (-) 42 per cent Source: Status Report for Delhi 21: Delhi Urban Environment and Infrastructure Improvement Project (DUEIIP). There is lot of inconsistency in the level of water supplied to different areas in Delhi. A document published by National Capital Region (NCR) Planning Board in 1999 gives water supply for different parts of Delhi (Figure 5). 34

11 Source: Delhi 1999-A Fact Sheet Figure 5 Inequality of water supply in Delhi It is evident from Figure 4 that in Delhi, different amount of Water is supplied in different parts of the city. The level of supply in the Cantonment is the highest and is almost 18 times the level of supply in the Mehrauli area. Narela and Mehrauli, the peripheral areas of the city have very low levels of water supply that is 31 and 29 lpcd respectively. The level of supply in South Delhi is too low (148 lpcd) considering the high demand expected from a largely medium/high-income residential area. Non-Revenue Water The problem of unaccounted for water, also called non-revenue water, is substantial in Delhi. Non-revenue water does not earn any revenue. This could be due to different reasons like unauthorized consumption through illegal connections, wa- 35

12 ter theft, metering inaccuracies, authorized consumption not billed such as public taps and also real losses through leakages in the transmission and distribution network. In terms of Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, Handbook on Service Level Benchmarking, the acceptable extent of non-revenue water is considered as 15 per cent whereas in Delhi, non-revenue water in DJB was more than four times the prescribed limit during last three years. (Table 6). Table 6 Extent of non-revenue water in Delhi Year Water Produced (MGD) Water Billed (MGD) Non-Revenue Water (MGD) Source: Thematic Audit of Water Management in Delhi, Percentage of Non- Revenue Water The water production and consumption data above indicate a high level of nonrevenue water. Technically, all these losses are considered as waste. Faulty Site Selection of Water Treatment Plants The planning for site station of the water treatment plants has been faulty. There are eight water plants in Delhi. The six major water treatment plants are located in an arch running from west to east whereas the bulk of population to which this treated water is being supplied is largely concentrated in south and north at a distance of about kilometers. (Figure 5). The only exception is the relatively smaller Okhla water treatment plant. It is evident that the site selection was not done taking cognizance of the future plans for the growth of Delhi, as envisaged by the Town Planning and Urban Development Departments. As a result, the precious treated water is lost during transportation courtesy leakages, seepage and pilferage. Moreover, the cost of laying down the transportation paraphernalia and the associated perennial problem of maintenance and upkeep put stress on crucial financial resources, expenses which could have been minimized to a substantial extent, had the site selection of these plants been done in sync with the town planning. Due to this faulty site selection, the areas situated at the tail end of distribution network gets less water supply and face water scarcity. 36

13 Figure 6 Location of water treatment plant in Delhi Dispute Over Raw Water Supply Under the bilateral agreement between Delhi and Haryana, the city receives 725 cusec of water per day from Haryana whereas only 425 cusec of water actually reaches Delhi. This water is released from Haryana into an open canal through which it traverses to the city. The apparent and physical losses exceed more than half of this released water during its journey towards Delhi. The factors contributing to this include; evaporation, leakage, seepage, deliberate breach of canal by farmers to irrigate their agriculture fields etc. In order to reduce loss of water during transit, Haryana proposed (February, 1990) construction of an exclusive parallel water carrier system (WCS). The WCS was to be utilized for carrying raw water to Haiderpur and Wazirabad water treatment plants. Accordingly, an MOU was signed (February, 1993) between Haryana and Delhi for construction of this WCS 37

14 at an estimated cost of 314 crore rupees. Haryana was to maintain and operate this WCS for which annual charges were to be paid by Delhi. Once operational, a saving of 80 MGD of water was expected which would have been sufficient to run three Water Treatment Plants (WTP s), one each at Dwaraka, Bawana and Okhla. The construction was almost complete in June, 2012 and by that time Delhi government had released 414 crore rupees. Later a dispute arose between Delhi and Haryana regarding ownership of the expected saving of 80 MGD of raw water. Delhi Government approached (June, 2012) Central Government for resolution of the matter. However, the expenditure of 414 crore rupees on construction of the WCS remained unfruitful as Delhi did not receive the additional quantity of raw water of 80 MGD. Groundwater Exploitation Another dimension of the water crises in Delhi is the unregulated exploration of groundwater. Delhi has also extracting water from ground. Officially only 14 per cent of the city s supply is met by groundwater. But the scale of withdrawal is massive. In March 2014, the DJB owned over 3000 tubewells and 21 rainy wells located near or on the Yamuna River bed. Additionally, about 449 deep bore hand pumps had also been dug. In , the government proposed to install 84 additional tubewells, re-bore 221 and installs 560 deep bore hand pumps. Added to these have been the increasing numbers of ad hoc, illegal and unregulated private tubewells; there is no precise information on the quantity of water these wells withdraw. According to Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in , legally registered private tubewells numbered around 100,000, but the actual number probably ranged anywhere between and The growing population has exerted undue pressure on the groundwater resource. Over exploitation of groundwater has now become an issue of great concern, given the fact that the demand for water is increasing phenomenally every year which resulted in depletion of groundwater at an accelerating rate. Within a decade, unthinking and unplanned exploration of groundwater has led to a decline of the water table of the city by 1 meter. However, this rate varied from one region to another within the capital. According to Central Ground Water Board (2010) in some places of south and south-west Delhi, where the growing residential demand remained unmet by the official piped supply, the water table had dropped by 2-20 meters. (Figure 6). 38

15 Source: Shekhar, S., Purohit, R. R. and Kaushik, Y. V. (2009), Groundwater Management in Delhi. Figure 7 Decadal fluctuation in groundwater level in Delhi Deteriorating Quality of Water Water quality is also a relevant issue in Delhi. As a result of the increasing re-use and re-circulation of water, which is itself a response to water scarcity, water quality tends to deteriorate, thus reducing the availability of water of sufficient quality for given uses. The deterioration of water quality therefore makes scarcity more acute and damage economic growth. The deteriorating quality of surface water and groundwater has for long been an alarming situation in Delhi. Not only is the depletion of groundwater raising questions about future availability of water in the capital city but also the quality of water. The fluoride contamination in groundwater has been noticed in samples of groundwater collected from south-west and 39

16 west districts. The nitrate concentration in groundwater has been reported mostly from areas where domestic effluent is discharged into open unlined drains. The salinity of groundwater is increasing in south-west and north-west Delhi. Salinity of groundwater makes the citizen even more dependent on private suppliers of water.(figure 7). The poor quality of surface water of the Yamuna, a river traversing a total distance of 48 kilometers in Delhi, has for long troubled the city planners. The Yamuna accounts for about 40 per cent of Delhi s water supply. However, the stretch of the river running through Delhi is extremely polluted as a result of the uncontrolled flow of untreated sewage and the discharge of industrial effluents. An additional reason is that no fresh water is available for dilution in Yamuna, as the entire fresh water from Wazirabad is used to meet drinking water needs of the citizen of Delhi. It is alarming that the Yamuna has highest bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD). Therefore, the citizens of Delhi also incur higher costs to procure water that is fit to drink by using systems like RO and Aqua guard, which the poorer segments of population can t afford. Therefore, providing safe drinking water to all the segments of population is a issue of great concern in Delhi. Source: Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Figure 8 Groundwater Quality in Delhi 40

17 Conclusion Water is the most precious natural gift for the existence of life on earth. Access to enough water of sufficient quality is fundamental for all human, animal and plant life as well as for most economic activities. At present, Delhi with a population of 16.7 million is the third largest, but the fastest growing and most densely populated city in India. Safe and adequate quantity of drinking water is an essential input for life. However, the efforts made by the state government and other organizations have not been enough in covering all habitants. Rapid increase in water demand, degradation of water quality, depletion of groundwater and inter-sectoral competition for water, bottlenecks in the system are putting extreme pressure on water resources in Delhi. The solution to the problem in water largely lies in areas of effective mechanism for conservation, distribution and efficient use and management of water resources. The management of water involves two strategies i.e. Demand Management and Supply Management. The government has taken various steps for the management of water resources in Delhi like measures for augmenting water supply, pollution control and for conservation of water resources. Concerted efforts of all the stakeholders in water sector are needed to resolve the problem of water scarcity. References Bansil, P. C. (2004), Water Management in India, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi. Bouselly, L., Gupta, S. and Ghosh, D. (2006), Water and Urban Poor, Working Paper 6-11, National Institute and Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi. Bureau of Economics and Statistics (2009), Delhi Statistical Handbook, Delhi Administration, New Delhi. Census of India (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001), Village and Town Directory Delhi, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Census of India (2011), Administrative Atlas, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Census of India (2011), Houses, Households Amenities and Assets: Drinking Water Delhi, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) (2008), Implementable Plans for Groundwater Management in NCT Delhi, Central Ground Water Authority, New Delhi. Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) (2010), Development and Augmentation of Groundwater Resources in NCT of Delhi, Ministry of Water Resource, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) (2009), Parivesh Highlights-2008, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, India. Centre for Science and Environment (2012), Delhi: the Water-Waste Portrait, in Excreta Matters, Volume 2, State of India s Environment, New Delhi. Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) (2013), Thematic Audit of Water Management in Delhi, available at pdf Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG) (2008), Performance Audit of Water Management in Delhi, available at 41

18 Delhi Jal Board (2013), Summer Action Plan, DJB, Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi, New Delhi. Delhi Urban Environment and Infrastructural Improvement Project (2001), Status Report for Delhi: 2021, Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi, New Delhi. Delhi Water Supply and Sewerage Project (2004), Project Preparation Study-DFR-3, Part B- Water Supply-Vol. 1, Delhi Jal Board, New Delhi. Department of Environment and Forest (2010), State of Environment Report for Delhi: 2010, Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi, New Delhi. Delhi Water Supply & Sewerage Project, (2004), Project Preparation Study-BFR-3,Part-B- Water supply, volume 1. Department of Urban Development, (2004), Status Report for Delhi-21, Delhi Urban Environment and Infrastructure Project, 2004, Govt. of Delhi. Government of India, (2009), Groundwater in Delhi, Central Groundwater Board. White paper on Blue Delhi Declaration, 2011 Singh, A.K., (2006), Delhi woe s of the multi-faceted water crises in Delhi 42