CPPR Town Hall on India’s Urban Water Crisis

Event Details

Date & Time: November 18, 2021; 5:00pm to 6:00pm IST

Topic: India’s Urban Water Crisis

Platform: Zoom

Speaker: Thomas Varghese, Researcher and Consultant, Sustainable Development, Kochi.

Discussant: Dr. Suparana Katyaini, Assistant Professor, School of Livelihoods and Development, TATA Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.

Moderator: Dr Reetika Syal, Senior Officer, Research, CPPR.

Highlights

Speaker : Thomas Varghese

Began by highlighting the two sides to the water crisis in Urban India- Urban flooding and Urban drought.
50-60% of water accessed in our cities comes from groundwater sources and the rest from surface water sources.
The Composite Water Management Index released by NITI Ayog in 2019 stated that 21 cities in India were at the brink of groundwater exhaustion.
Major challenges faced by groundwater and surface water sources in India
- Unplanned urbanisation and lack of sustainable urban planning leading to corrosion of natural infrastructure
- Water pollution through solid waste disposal and untreated industrial effluents
Water crisis needs to be viewed as a cross-sectoral issue. If there are no appropriate or efficient solid waste management systems, people tend to use water bodies as dumping grounds.
Need a paradigm shift in approaching Urban water crisis:
- Unplanned urbanisation to Sustainable urban planning
- Water extraction to Water conservation
- Synergy in Policy and Governance
- Passive observers to Active citizens
A two pronged approach to ensuring Sustainable solutions to urban water crisis:
- Conserving natural infrastructure (Was explained using the case of Catskill Watershed in New York)
- Investing in Man made infrastructure
Understand the value of natural infrastructure and combine the traditional wisdom of water conservation with that of modern science.

Speaker : Dr. Suparna Katyaini

Data sharing on water resources has led to preparation of multiple indices on water resources in the last two decades.
Dependency on groundwater in India for drinking needs and irrigation and in case of disasters as urban flooding leads to pollution of surface water.
Need to understand the interconnectedness of the water crisis in India.
When talking about urban flooding we are talking not just about water policies but also about disaster management policies.
More frequent flooding as a consequence of climate change and the need to work around the theme of cities’ resilience- learning from each event of flooding to reduce damage and using systemic approach based on the interconnections
Need to bring more synergy between scientists and policymakers

Report by Aswati Prakash, Research Intern, CPPR

In case you missed it, watch the event video recording here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=398254912000225

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