Dr Biswas gave a brief speech regarding endemic mismanagement of water in India. For example, technically and economically, there is absolutely no reason as to why residents of Chennai, Delhi or Mumbai cannot have a reliable, clean water supply for 24×7. Sadly, even water management in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is significantly better than in Delhi or Kolkata. Very few people realize that about 40% to 60% of water pumped from reservoir never reaches the targeted users. Even the quantities that reach the users are not being used efficiently. No wonder the country faces chronic water problems. Even Cherrapunjee now has a water problem for certain months of the year.
There are many reasons as to why water management should be different in developing countries. For instance, annual rainfalls in Delhi and London are somewhat similar: the difference is around 15%. However, in London, it rains all through the year, but, in Delhi, much of the rainfall occurs in about 90 hours during the monsoon.
Areas having regular rainfalls over the year need a completely different water management strategy compared to places like Delhi, where the main focus has to be how to collect, store and then use this vast amount of rainfall over a very short period in any year. The technical approaches for two such radically different climatic regimes have to be very different. Ironically, developed countries are in temperate regions and developing countries are in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Because the climatic regimes of developed and developing countries are different, their water management practices have to be different as well.
Singapore has one of best urban water management. The Indian government or the politicians should think “what should be doing well? What are we not doing? “The Kolkata Municipal Corporation can provide water at half the rate and apart. If the politicians want the best for the country then they even have to recruit the best people and pay them well also. The universities should have proper academic courses on water resource management. Economic, social, political, institutional and environmental conditions are different for every country. Thus, even among developing countries, what works in India may not work in Brazil and vice versa. There is simply no one single approach for water management for a very heterogeneous world.
Dr Biswas concluded his speech by thanking New Global Indian Foundation on working on such social and environmental issues that can bring profound changes in the country, provided the politicians focus on them and media puts them out.
