POS point of start

Last Updated : May 27, 2019 08:22 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

Water usage lessons India should learn from China

To understand the situation, one needs to look at the table below. It
shows how China, despite its huge land mass, is plagued with paucity
of water. India has almost four times more water (if one looks at
surface area covered with water) than China. In fact, except for
Russia which has almost 13 % of its even more extensive land mass,
India has one of the largest reserves of fresh water.
RN Bhaskar
    

The origins of this article lie in what this author wrote in the first quarter of 2009.
India was awash with reports that China would dry up the Brahmaputra in its quest
for water.
To understand the situation, one needs to look at the table below. It shows how
China, despite its huge landmass, is plagued with paucity of water. India has
almost four times more water (if one looks at surface area covered with water) than
China. In fact, except for Russia which has almost 13 % of its even more extensive
landmass, India has one of the largest reserves of fresh water.

It is this shortage of water availability that compelled China to do many things that
India did not even bother about.  True, it might have looked covetously at the water
that was flowing through the Brahmaputra. After all, almost two-thirds of the river
flows through China and the remaining one-third through India and Bangladesh.
And, yes, the Brahmaputra is one of the largest rivers in Asia.

But China’s interest in the Brahmaputra waned once detailed hydrological studies
conducted by the two countries around 2004 showed that the two-thirds of the river
(known as Ya’arlung in China) produced only 20% of the water. Almost 60%
came from Arunachal Pradesh, and the remaining 20% from the rest of India and
Bangladesh. That could have been one reason for China insisting that Arunachal
Pradesh belonged to it, countered by vociferous denials from India.

But that crisis also appears to have eased with China discovering by 2010 that it
had managed to bring down the cost of solar panels, and that the cost of batteries too
had plummeted. Desalination of water along the eastern coast was a very sensible
idea instead of stoking tensions along the India-China border.  It would assuage the
water needs of the most congested parts of industrialising China, and would slake
the thirst of industry and business.
Moreover, planners in China had begun to realise that India and China would
together account for the world’s biggest markets. Both would need each other.
They hence had to work together. Could there be a way beyond waging a war for
water?

Yet there is no denying that China’s need for water was growing by the day. As the
first part of this series showed, as a country industrialises, it is compelled to give
more water to its industry, and must therefore work out ways to ensure that
agriculture uses less water yet produces more.
China had no option but to look to Russia for water supplies as well, much in the
same way as it had built a pipeline from Russia to China for oil and gas supplies.
Russia was the world’s largest resource for fresh water (even without including the
melting Arctic glaciers).
But the idea appeared preposterous to many at that point of time.

Finally, in 2015 China formally signed the building of a canal from one of the
world’s largest lakes in Russia to middle China. This canal which eventually will
span over 2,000 km will be one of the longest water canals in the world. Planners in
Lanzhou (central China) drew up proposals to pipe and to canalise water into the
chronically dry region of Central China from Siberia’s Lake Baikal. A video on this
subject is fascinating (China Century Project South–North Water Transfer Project
HD 2400KM.
Since it will provide water to middle China, it will probably irrigate and
industrialise even regions of China that were never harnessed for
wealth generation. Expect the additional water alone to trigger growth rates in China
that many have not considered until now.
But during the earlier 20 years, China had already reorganised itself to ensure that
it used less water, without losing out on agricultural productivity.

This is the second lesson India must learn. It has been blessed with so much water
that it has forgotten to teach its farmers how to use water carefully. It has not
penalised its administrators for allowing rivers and ponds to get polluted, and it has
chosen not to penalise industrialists and businesses that pollute both the rivers and
ponds on the one hand, and ground water on the other.
Look at the chart alongside. It almost rubbishes India’s constant defence that
fragmentation of land is what plagued India’s agriculture. China’s land-holdings
are even more fragmented than those of India. And watch its agricultural
productivity -- with considerably less water than India has. In terms of value of
farm output, China beats India. Its values are at least six times larger than those for
India (1 Yuan is around Rs.10.5).

China has managed to do wonders on the agricultural front.

One, it has taught its farmers how to grow more using less water. This means
putting into place systems to measure the amount of water consumed, and to
impose fines and charges for any excessive water drawn.

Two, it chose to draw up a list of items that were water guzzlers and then draw up
measures to reduce the domestic production of such items (the forthcoming article
on water footprint and virtual water will deal with this aspect).

Three, it recycled its water and is today one of the most efficient at this job among
countries in the world.

Four, China created policies that prevented water wars.  India’s water-war-fears s
with China have thus faded. But its water wars within the country are major
flashpoints. Water disputes over Punjab’s rivers and the Krishna dispute are well
known. More disputes will emerge. India reacts too late.  It does not plan for water
usage norms that are applicable across the country.

Lastly, China penalises industry severely if they pollute water, or even use
excessive water. Cities are designed to use only recycled water for flushing and
washing. Policies are being crafted to even channelise human and agricultural
waste to central pits for harnessing their methane, their water and the residual
sludge for manure (more on this later).

China does hold out many lessons for India. But the one on water is what India
must learn urgently.  The looming crisis caused by climate change on the one hand,
and depleting groundwater reserves on the other spell big trouble. India’s policy-
makers need to sit up and take note.

The author is consulting editor with moneycontrol.com