Thermal power plants in India using more water than permitted limit: RTI

About 51% of 156 thermal plants across 12 states whose data could be obtained declared themselves compliant with water norms early this year.

Business Standard : In addition to polluting the air and warming the planet, India’s thermal power plants are consuming excessive amounts of water, in many cases beyond the permissible limits set by the environment ministry, according to information obtained through the Right to Information Act (RTI).

About 51% of 156 thermal plants across 12 states whose data could be obtained declared themselves compliant with water norms early this year, said the RTI response received by the Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, a research centre that analyses water and energy issues in India.

This excessive water consumption is causing water stress, we explain later, which affects households, farms and industries in the plant’s neighbourhood. It is also resulting in the shut-down of the thermal plants. Upto 40% of India’s thermal plants are located in areas facing acute water shortages, according to an analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI), and are worsening the water crisis there. In this analysis, WRI has categorised ‘thermal power plants’ as those where steam is generated and water cooling is needed. This would include coal, oil, biomass and nuclear. In total, India has 399 such plants.

About 600 million Indians live with “high-to-extreme water stress”, where over 40% of annually available surface water is used every year, according to a 2018 study by government think-tank Niti Aayog, as IndiaSpend reported on June 25, 2018.

Upto 19% of the remaining plants declared themselves noncompliant, as per the RTI responses. The others either did not supply any data or offered insufficient information. Some plants were found shut. Also, 14 plants reported using sea water which exempts them from complying with water norms.

As of August 30, 2019, there were 269 thermal power plants in India, according to the Central Electricity Authority. Taken together, these plants consume 87.8% of the total amount of water consumed by the industrial sector, according to a study conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). To put this in perspective, such amounts of water could fulfil the water needs of four cities for two days.

Renewable energy units cause far less water stress: Solar plants, for example, consume only a fraction of the water used by thermal plants, as we explain later, and wind energy does not need any water at all.

With plenty of rainfall, why India is on world's most water-stressed list

within India, all nine states and union territories that report the worst water stress lie in the Indo-Gangetic plain, which has a web of big and small rivers and lakes.

Of the 17 countries facing the highest level of water stress--where 80% of water available is used up annually--India receives the maximum annual rainfall, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of a new study by the international think-tank World Resource Institute (WRI).

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All other countries on the list belong to the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, receive almost half of India’s annual rainfall and have fewer natural water sources.

Even within India, all nine states and union territories that report the worst water stress lie in the Indo-Gangetic plain, which has a web of big and small rivers and lakes.

Chandigarh tops this list, as per the WRI, followed by Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Why is India water-stressed despite widespread rainfall and a large number of water sources? “Overexploitation and mismanagement of water is the reason for this water stress,” said Shashi Shekhar, former secretary, ministry of water resources and Ganga rejuvenation, and a senior fellow with WRI India.

Inefficient agriculture, that uses up to 80% of all water resources in the country, is one of the primary reasons for India’s water stress, said Shekhar. Groundwater extraction--which provides for 40% of the country’s water needs--is significantly more than recharge.

The 17 countries dealing with acute water stress are home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population (1.75 billion). India ranks 13th on the list but at 1.36 billion, its population is more than triple that of the aggregate of the other 16 countries grappling with a water crisis, the study said.

About 600 million Indians are dealing with high-to-extreme water stress wherein over 40% of the annually available surface water is used every year, according to a 2018 study by government think-tank Niti Aayog 2018, reported by IndiaSpend on June 25, 2018.

Drinking, bathing becomes luxury in Chennai as water crisis grips city

A deficit rainfall during the 2017 and failed monsoon in 2018 has resulted in depletion of ground water and near drying up of major waterbodies, and has pushed residents at the mercy of water-tankers.

A row of vessels line a street corner where a water-tanker is parked; a gaggle of women quibble as they await their turn to get the pots filled-- this has become a daily affair in several parts of Chennai with the city staring at an acute water crisis.

Many denizens have even started considering daily bath a luxury and finding adequate water for doing laundry and dishwashing has become a nightmare.

A central Chennai resident Kumar B Das said he is spending around Rs 2,500 on water tankers per month, apart from the money that goes for purchasing bottled drinking water.

"I have started reusing utensils by wiping them with a cloth or tissue after first use. That saves much water. Body sprays have become dear to me," the IT professional said.

Raveendranath, a member of a residential association said they had to depend on private tankers for supply as the government metro water tankers take 2 to 3 weeks to turn up.

Private operators have hiked the rates and are demanding Rs 3,000 to 5,000 per truck load of water, he claimed.

A deficit rainfall during the 2017 northeast monsoon and failed monsoon in 2018 has resulted in depletion of ground water and near drying up of major waterbodies, and has pushed residents at the mercy of water-tanker operators.

Amid the shortage, Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam, ministers and officials took part in a meeting to review water supply Wednesday.

Officials, however, declined to divulge what transpired at the meeting.

Residents and activists allege that the efforts of the state government in water conservation have proven to be a damp squib.

A senior official in Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) that supplies water to the city told PTI that compared to other metropolitan cities Chennai is in a disadvantaged location because of lack of any perennial rivers.

"We are doing our best and focusing on water distribution, supply and finding alternative sources to meet the growing demand of Chennai.

Plan to set up two desalination plants-capacity of 150 million litres of water per day (mld) and 400 mld - is in the pipeline," the official said.

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Drought-hit Gujarat has water for factories, but no water for Kutch farmers

Farmers and activists say the state government is intentionally driving farmers and cattle-rearers out of Kutch to make way for industries.

Business Standard : Bhavanbhai Patel stood facing his farm, as dry and cracked as his farming hands. The 65-year-old farmer lives in Dayapur village in Lakhpat taluka of southern Kutch, which has been receiving erratic rainfall since 2003. His farm comprises a few hectares of green, bright amid the sunburnt fields all around. “The rest belongs to my family, but now only I’m left here out of 10 brothers. Everyone else has gone,” he told IndiaSpend in early February.

Lakhpat is one of 10 talukas in Kutch, the least populated taluka of India’s largest district spanning 45,674 sq km, covering 22% of Gujarat (196,024 sq km). Lakhpat residents keep leaving because, as Patel said, “there is no way to make a living here”. He said his was a basti (hamlet) of 20,000 that is now down to 1,500 people.

“In places like Lakhpat, there is no water. Not even underground water is left that we could pull out and farm with,” said Patel, weary after working for six hours.

Dayapur is 520 km from the Narmada Main Canal, but has not received any water from the canal in the 71 years since its foundation stone was laid, promising to bring the waters of the Narmada river to the parched Kutch, Saurashtra and North Gujarat regions of the state. Already facing years of drought, these regions have seen no rainfall so far in 2019. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded that Kutch saw a 99% departure from normal climate conditions, while other regions’ rainfall deficit is 100%.

This is the third story in our series on drought that is affecting more than 40% of India’s land area. This story examines the situation in Gujarat’s worst-hit Kutch region, where scanty rainfall and rising temperatures have exacerbated competition for scarce water between farms on the one hand and cities and industries on the other, while raising questions over why the Narmada Valley Project’s raison d’etre--to irrigate farms in Kutch, Saurashtra and North Gujarat--remains unfulfilled 71 years on.

Promises made and belied

When the Narmada Valley Project was envisioned in 1946, the government’s plan was to harness water for irrigation and hydropower through construction of the Sardar Sarovar and Narmada Sagar dams, and over 3,000 smaller dams and canals. The first plan proposed that the Sardar Sarovar dam be built in two stages, 160 ft and 300 ft, which was later increased to 320 ft--the height considered necessary for the water to reach the arid Kutch and Saurashtra regions.

After various disputes over water sharing between the states of the Narmada basin--Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan--the central government constituted a Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) on October 6, 1969 to settle the matter.