National Water Policy

Introduction of National Water Policy

Water is a very basic need of life. It is the foundation for human development and survival. Through water conservation technologies, Sustainable and equitable use of water over millennia has been ensured. It also ensures cultural adaptation to water availability, agricultural systems and cropping patterns, adaptation to different climatic zones, and conservation-based lifestyles.

Behind this, it has been further challenged due to the negative impact of climate change; maximum wastage of water due to poor management, and distorted water pricing policies. The Southern River Basin has few water resources with high levels of pollution in groundwater and surface water, whereas the Northern Ganga River Basin has abundant it. The increasing population and changing lifestyles have created high demand for water (largely for irrigation) in both urban and rural areas.

Importance for National Water Policy:

• India has 17.8% of the world’s population. It is carried 4% of the world’s freshwater, out of which 80% is used in agriculture. India receives an average of 400 million hectares meters of rain and snowfall every year. Only 48% of surface and groundwater bodies are being used in India. 
• The dearth of storage procedures, lack of adequate infrastructure, and inappropriate water management have created such a situation. In India,  only 18-20% of the water is actually used. India’s annual rainfall is around 1184 mm, out of which 75% is received in a short span of four months during monsoon (from July to September). This results in runoffs during monsoon and calls for irrigation investments for the rest of the year. The population of India is likely to be 1.6 billion by 2050 and this will increase the demand for water, food, and energy.
• According to the report, it is said that at present India is the world’s largest extractor of groundwater. It is more than China and the US combined. Which is accounting for almost a quarter of the total extracted globally. Therefore, it will be essential to ensure food security for our emerging population and to eliminate poverty through proper water management policy.

Benefits and Potential in Promoting Water Uses in Agriculture:

• The farmers love to cultivate wheat and rice. It is because of stable prices and assurance of the state’s purchases. It must be noted that those two staple crops along with other water consume crops such as sugar cane are grown in 40% of the country’s gross farmed area. But it consumes almost about 80% of its irrigation water.
• The National Water Policy 2020 has recommended and encouraged farmers to move away from growing rice and wheat to the Irrigation Water Fee, from Crop/Acreage/Season to Volumetric basis, Volumetric basis meaning. At present farmers pay a fixed amount, regardless of how much they consume. Therefore, It is expected that farmers will diversify to crops, other than water-intensive rice and wheat.

Groundwater for Irrigation:

• By using state-of-the-art technology, The Central Water Commission has taken some objectives of promoting integrated and sustainable management and development of  India’s water resources. They are working on real-time water quality monitoring, reservoir monitoring system, river basin management, flood forecast, watershed development, etc. To develop and disseminate technologies for monitoring and implementing policies for scientific sustainable development and management of groundwater resources The Central Ground Water Board has been set up. They have issued some guidelines. These guidelines have been circulated to all the state governments. Some the state governments such as Punjab offer free electricity for pumping groundwater. Maharashtra and Gujarat offer high subsidies on solar pumps. Many regions in the country face acute water stress such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc. Low rainfall for consecutive years in these states has rendered water-harvesting structures devoid of water and the conservation measures almost unviable.
• States with the highest dependency on groundwater for irrigation include Punjab (79% ), Uttar Pradesh (80%), and Uttarakhand (67%). The central and state government policies have put forward various schemes to promote irrigation and water use efficiencies.  Various functions related to the development of agriculture to irrigation services are taken by the central and state government at the local level.

Watershed Development:

India’s average seasonal rainfall patterns are 50% of annual precipitation in 15 days which is providing more than 90% of the annual flow volumes in rivers occurring in just four months. Many studies show that during the dry season, watershed development projects get diverted to irrigation, often at the cost of drinking water needs.

There are many ongoing projects under the National Water Policy, such as projects are:

• 1) Under Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP), Rs. 2563 Cr. has been allocated to rehabilitate 221 dams and reserves in seven states. This project ended successfully. IISc Bangalore and IIT Roorkee have announced degree courses in Dam Safety since July 2021.
• 2)Under Namami Gange Programme, Rs. 23,305 crore has been allocated for Ganga and its tributaries. Out of 152 sewerage infrastructure projects, 51 projects have been completed, 69 projects are ongoing and 32 projects are in various stages of tendering. The completed projects have created, 642 MLD sewage treatment capacity and are currently operational.
• 3) Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY) is a central sponsor scheme to improve the use of water in a better way and to reduce the wastage of water. Through using technologies (more crops per drop) this project provides information to the farmer, on how to increase the adoption of precision irrigation and other water-saving.
• All those projects are helping to develop and management of agriculture as well as the irrigation sector.