Chandigarh : “Industry, Governments and the society at large, all need to collaborate to make available required quantities of potable (drinkable) water as also the water fit for irrigation purposes in the region”, HE Shri Shivraj V Patil, Governor, Punjab and Administrator UT Chandigarh, while addressing the Water Conclave organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and CII-Triveni Water Institute at CII Northern Region Headquarters in Sector 31 A, here today.
“Industry and agriculture are the two major consumers of water in India, so innovative and dynamic models of water management and collaboration under PPP mode should be implemented in both the areas to change the present scenario of water shortages. While the Governments should look for alternatives to the traditional Canal Irrigation system and work towards implementing Computerized Tube Irrigation system in the fields, as in Israel, the industry needs to invest in R & D and innovation to develop advanced chips, Hi Tech equipment, software, computerized Tubes and other instruments which can gauge the water requirements specific to the type of soil texture and nature of cultivated crops and also start and stop the water supply automatically. This not only helps in water conservation but also enhances crop quality”, emphasised Mr Patil.
“Water sector has immense potential for the industry to invest in, grow and expand, as these Hi tech products can be sold to governments and agriculturists”, he added.
Calling for proper water management techniques, he further said that “One-third of the world cannot consume two-third of water available across the globe provided we humans develop techniques and learn how to manage this natural resource in an optimum manner”, he further iterated.
Further, he called for developing techniques and equipment to desalinate non-potable saline water for domestic, agricultural or industrial usage. He also shared ‘Water Purification System’ of Lakshadweep islands, where saline water is being made fit for human consumption by utilizing the difference in ocean water temperature near the sea bed and its subsequent layers.
Speaking about rain water harvesting, he said, “In a country like India, where Western and Eastern Ghat receive favorable rainfall every year, Industry should also come forward to construct more dams so as to harvest the rain water and barricade its flow into oceans. At the same time we also need to resolve inter-state disputes to turn various river connecting projects into reality.”
HE Mr Patil also released a Theme Paper on Water Sector Investment Opportunities in Northern states and New Technologies and Case Studies’ prepared by CII & CII-Triveni Water Institute.
Mr Vijoy K singh, Finance Secretary cum Secretary Engineering & Urban Planning & Development, Government of Chandigarh shared that “We need new water tariff policy that incentivizes water saving and treatment projects and takes a greater share from major consumers of water i.e the industry. We also need to encourage development of more tertiary water treatment plants.”
Mr Mukund Vasudevan, Chairman, CII NR Committee on Water & MD & Country Head Pentair Water informed that “With an annual extraction of 210 billion cubic meters, India is one of the largest consumers of groundwater in the world. As reported by a NASA study, groundwater depletion in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi experienced a net loss of 109 cubic kilometers from August 2002 to October 2008. In such grim situation, the mantra of recharge and reuse can be the only savior. We need to adopt water management models of Australia and Israel so as to bridge the ever rising gap of demand and supply of water”.
Deliberating upon the need of water source mapping, he said, “In India, only 15 per cent of the water sources are mapped, whereas it is 80 per cent in Australia. So effective implementation of technology is required to make wise utilization of water resources”
He strongly advocated for Public Private Community Partnership (PPCP) for chalking a roadmap for sustainable future. “Popularizing drip irrigation, Zero Liquid Discharge in Tannery and Textile Clusters through common effluent treatment plant, remote sensing to check availability, Participatory Watershed Management in Villages and Waterless Urinals are a few ways of water management”, he added.
Mr Nikhil Sawhney, Advisory Board Member, CII Triveni Water Institute & Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Triveni Turbine Ltd, highlighted that “Increasing inter-sectoral demand, climate change, unmanaged Industrial-domestic consumption has led to depletion in ground water as well as surface water resources. Adding fuel to fire is contamination by uranium, arsenic, fluoride and bacteria. Need of the hour is-water governance, which would not only help in equitable distribution but also help in managing demand-supply chain. Industry should also conduct regular audits”, he added.
“CII Triveni Institute strives to achieve water security by transforming change in mindsets and disseminating best-practices across the industry. Today’s conference helped in stimulating healthy dialogue between stakeholders and policy makers that would help in drafting a roadmap to promote water use efficiency in industry and society,” he added.
Mr S R Aggarwal, Chief Technical Coordinator, Department of Water Supply & Sanitation, Government of Punjab, shared that “Punjab’s vision is to develop an eco-system that provides 24X7 water supply coverage to all villages in Punjab with higher service standards and Individual household service connections coupled with modern underground waste water collection and disposal system through community empowerment”.
Mr R M Khanna, Past Chairman, CII Northern Region & Managing Director, Stanley Engineering Pvt Ltd, shared that “18 % of world’s population lives in India which has only 2.4 per cent of land and 4 % of renewable water resources. Moreover problems like frequent floods and droughts, effluent discharge have disturbed the water table immensely. This has given rise to conflicts amongst user-groups. In this context, CII is working hard to create a platform for exchange of innovative ideas and knowledge for enhancing water efficiency.”
A Special case study of Delhi-Holistic Approach towards Sewerage Scheme-Planning& Asset Management was presented by Mr Raman Kumar, Associate Consultant AECOM India Pvt Ltd, while Mr Sudeep K Sinha talked about PPPs in Water – Issues & challenges.