Water Resources

The Goal of JJM

1. WATER to enable every rural household get assured supply of potable piped water at a service level of
55 litres per capita per day regularly on long-term basis by ensuring functionality of the tap water
A renewable resource covers 3/4th of the earth’s surface but only a small proportion of it accounts connections.
for freshwater fit for use.

96.5 % of the total volume of world’s water exist as oceans

Only 2.5 per cent as freshwater 3. MULTI -PURPOSE RIVER PROJECTS AND INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Some facts
& Figures India receives nearly 4% of the global precipitation and ranks 133 in the world in
Evidences of sophisticated irrigation works
terms of water availability per person per annum From ancient times, sophisticated
found in Kalinga, (Odisha),
hydraulic structures like dams built of
By 2025 it is predicted that large parts of India will join countries or regions Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh),
stone rubble, reservoirs or lakes,
having absolute water scarcity Bennur (Karnataka), Kolhapur
embankments and canals for irrigation
(Maharashtra) etc.

2. WATER SCARCITY AND NEED FOR WATER CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT In the first century B.C. In the 11th Century In the 14th Century During the time of
Chandragupta Maurya

The lack sufficient water as compared to its demand in a region is known as Water Scarcity. Sringaverapura near Bhopal Lake, one of the the tank in Hauz Khas, Dams, lakes and
Allahabad had largest artificial lakes of Delhi was constructed irrigation systems were
sophisticated water its time was built. by Iltutmish for supplying extensively built.
harvesting system water to Siri Fort area.
01 Over- exploitation and mismanagement
of water resources 02 Excessive use and unequal access to water among
different social groups channelling the flood
Causes of Water Scarcity

water of the river Ganga.

Irrigated agriculture is the largest consumer of water

03 Large & growing population 04 so there is a need to revolutionise the agriculture through
developing drought resistant crops and dry farming
techniques

More wells and tube-wells in farms for

irrigation to increase their produce But may
Intensive industrialisation and urbanisation exerts
05 lead to falling groundwater levels adversely
affecting water availability and food security
06 pressure on existing freshwater resources
traditionally built to impound rivers and rainwater that could be used later to irrigate

Dams
of the people agricultural fields Today, dams are built not just for irrigation but for electricity
generation, water supply for domestic and industrial uses, flood control, recreation,
Today, in India hydroelectric power inland navigation and fish breeding Hence, dams are now referred to as
07
More urban areas and dense populations have
contributes approximately 22 per cent of
the total electricity produced.
08 further aggravated the problem multi-purpose projects.

Another situation
The Sutluj-Beas river basin, the Bhakra– Hirakud project in the Mahanadi basin
water is sufficiently available to meet the needs of the people but the area still suffers from water Nangal project used both for hydel integrates conservation of water with
scarcity Reasons may be due to bad quality of water due to domestic and industrial wastes, power production and irrigation flood control.
chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers used in agriculture, thus, making it hazardous for human use
Government of India has announced the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to improve the quality of life
and enhance ease of living of people in rural areas.
 4 Advantages & Disadvantages of Multi-purpose river projects

Advantages Disadvantages • Johads→small earthen check dams that •Khadin→an ingenious construction designed
capture and conserve rainwater, improving to harvest surface runoff water for
percolation and groundwater recharge agriculture

→ affects the natural flow of river causing → spread across more than 650 villages in
→ Electricity generation poor sediment flow and excessive Alwar district, Rajasthan.
sedimentation at the bottom of the
→ Irrigation reservoir.
→ Water supply for domestic and industrial → destroys the habitats for the rivers’
ses aquatic life.

→ Flood control → submerges the existing vegetation and

soil if created on the floodplains.
→ Recreation
→ Unsuccessful in controlling floods at the
→ Inland navigation time of excessive rainfall.
8 'Bamboo drip irrigation ' in Meghalaya
→ Fish breeding → These projects induced earthquakes,
caused water- borne diseases and pests
and pollution resulting from excessive use
of water.

• a 200-year-old system of tapping stream and • About 18-20 litres of water enters the bamboo pipe
spring water by using bamboo pipes system, gets transported over hundreds of metres,
5 Movements against Multi-purpose river projects and finally reduces to 20-80 drops per minute at
the site of the plant.
• These projects cause of many new social movements like→ the ‘Narmada BachaoAndolan’ and the ‘Tehri Dam
Andolan’ etc.→ due to the large-scale displacement of local communities.

• Inter-state water disputes are also becoming common with regard to sharing the costs and benefits of the
multi-purpose project.

9 How Tankas works?

6 Rainwater Harvesting
• Rainwater Harvesting→refers to the practice of storing and using of rainwater from the surface on which it falls.
• In hill and mountainous regions → people built diversion channels like the ‘guls’ or ‘kuls’ of the Western Himalayas
for agriculture.
• In Rajasthan-→‘Rooftop rain water harvesting’ was commonly practised to store drinking water
• It is the most common practice in Shillong, Meghalaya → Nearly 15-25 % of the total water requirement of the
household comes from rooftop water harvesting.
• In the flood plains of Bengal → people developed inundation channels to irrigate their fields. → Tankas were connected to the sloping → Rain falling on the rooftops would travel
roofs of the houses through a pipe. down the pipe and was stored in these
• In arid and semi-arid regions → agricultural fields were converted into rain fed storage structures that allowed underground ‘tankas’.
the water to stand and moisten the soil.
• In the semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan→ almost all the houses traditionally had underground tanks or
tankas for storing drinking water.

7 Khadins and Johads in Rajasthan for rainwater harvesting