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Session 2 Water - Regional and Transboundary Issue
Session 2 Water - Regional and Transboundary Issue
RESOURCE:
LOCAL, REGIONAL & TRANSBOUNDARY WATER ISSUES
Non-Linear Impact
Since water generates innumerable ecosystem
benefits which are consumed in numerous
consumption and production activities in an
economy, even a small reduction will cause a
larger reduction in human welfare
Chennai floods
Torrential rains occurred in the northern districts of Tamil
Nadu towards end of November and first week of December,
2015.
Some 329 TMCft (thousand million cubic feet -1 cubic feet =
26.3168 litres) of water was drained into the ocean.
329 TMC of water is sufficient to meet the water
requirement of Chennai city for the next 30 years!
In a state which is always reeling under water scarcity
problem, can we drain a huge quantity of fresh water into
the ocean?
In a water starved state, when 329 TMC of water goes into the
ocean the following questions do matter:
What would have been the value of agricultural output that we could
have produced in case the 329 TMC of water had been used in the
agriculture sector?
What would have been the household benefits in case the water had
been used in the household sector?
What would have been the value of the industrial output if we had
used this water in the industry sector?
What would have been the value of milk and meet in case it had
been used in the livestock sector?
-What would have been the value of recreational, religious and
cultural benefits we could have produced with the water?
What would have been the value of biodiversity that could have
been supported with the water?
And so on.
Depletion (Quantity-based)
Degradation (Quality -based)
A rural scenario
Natwargadh village in Gujarat
An urban Scenario
A parched Delhi slum
Water scarcity: Implications
People in Delhi need to realize that dams are short-term solutions. This is not
a problem of supply, but of wastage and poor management." An NGO activist
China has more than half of 50,000 dams in the world, Only 22 dams in 1949
Planning a mammoth $635 Bill. investment in water infrastructure over next decade
Ignoring social costs Affecting natural ecosystem, Displacement of poor villagers
Increasingly damming transnational rivers such as Mekong, Salween, Brahmaputra,
Irtysh, Illy & Amur
Israel: Water is the blood in our veins Former PM Levy Eshkol declared in 1962
6 Days 1967 Arab-Israel War led to Israeli occupation of West Bank in Palestine
& Golan Heights in Syria
2/3rd of Israels water comes from these occupied territories
42 deep wells in West Bank aquifers supply 25% to 40% of Israels water
West Bank Palestinians prevented from digging deep wells for their own (only upto
140 m in depth); Israel wells up to 800 m
Purchase water from Israel when their shallow wells run dry in summer
ERITREA
SUDAN
ETHIOPIA
CONGO
RWANDA
UGANDA
BURUNDI, TANZANIA
KENYA
Onset of Monsoon
After monsoon
Water channel
around pond
A farm pond
constructed in
Hadmatiya village,
Jamnagar district,
Gujarat, ensures
water for irrigation
Groundwater recharge
Recharging dry rivers
ITC
Integrated Watershed Development in Semi-arid regions
Water conservation & soil enrichment, enabling farmers to
extend the cultivation cycle and return to multiple cropping