BY D M DESHPANDE
Citing acute shortage of drinking water in certain parts of Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court has directed the authorities to shift all IPL matches to venues outside Maharashtra where ‘water is available in abundance’. It is true that this will not bring relief to the worst affected regions in that state; in fact, the two member judges also, have admitted to this fact. Nor is it possible to take the water from these places to say, Latur or Marathwada area. Stadia in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, in any case, consume only a fraction of the total, in the state of Maharashtra. Quite possibly, no or very little drinking water may actually be used for keeping the cricket pitches green and clean. The verdict, an unusual one, may also be criticised as judicial activism/over-reach or unnecessary intervention in the governance space.
However, having said that, IPL has been accused of all kinds of excesses and exceptionalism. Hence, even if it is symbolic, the higher court verdict has definitely served the purpose of attracting the attention of everyone, including that of the policy makers. Never underestimate the power of symbolism; very often, it can transmit the message far more quickly and widely to achieve the desired objective. It is only imperative that the root causes of the water scarcity are identified and addressed in a time bound and efficient manner.
Indian agriculture is the main water-guzzler in the country. According to an estimate, 80% of the water in the country is consumed by this sector alone. We grow more crops that require huge quantities of water. We use field flooding type of irrigation which is highly inefficient; if we were to substitute it by sprinkler and/drip irrigation, we could reduce water consumption in agricultural operations by half. According to former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, every Kg of Basmati rice exported amounts to sending 5000 Kg of water! Similarly, Sugarcane requires a lot of water; yet it is grown in arid and drought prone regions in Marathwada and elsewhere in the country.
Our agricultural subsidies also cause a certain amount of distortions. Farmers want to cultivate cash crops even at the cost of food grains because it is highly remunerative for them. The Government pays procurement prices which are often higher than the market prices. Free electricity is given for agricultural in some states; several other states charge very low tariff for electricity used in agriculture. This has resulted in overuse of ground water, as a result of which, there is an alarming depletion of these resources. There are also reported instances of waterloging in several fields. This has led to erosion of surface soil affecting crop productivity. Even the extension of irrigation in the country is mostly by way of using water beneath the earth’s crust.
Studies show that in parts of Indian agriculture there is excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Even in the green revolution belt, this has resulted in soil losing its fertility. Here again, huge subsidies given for purchase of fertilisers has resulted in such a sorry situation. Unfortunately, this subsidy, like many others, does not go to the poor farmers; rather the beneficiaries are the rich fertiliser manufacturing companies.
Agriculture accounts for more than half of the total employment in the country. However, its contribution to state GDP is less than 15% and is likely to go down further as we scale up services and manufacturing sectors. Yet 60% of the population lives by the farm income. In the last one decade, the frequency of droughts has increased; there were three droughts in the said period. Studies also show that the number of wet days has decreased and the monsoon rains have been more erratic than before. All this points out to the need to insulate agriculture from excessive dependence on rains. There is a need to shift a large chunk of people from farms to other occupations. It is also important to use technology to increase farm yields and incomes. We need to take a pragmatic view with regard to extension of GM (Genetically Modified) crops to other foods. More than half a dozen farmers’ organisations have been demanding permission to grow GM foods; on a rough reckoning the farm yields will improve by 20 to 30%.
Water is a critical resource and we need more efficient use of this resource.