FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR

WATER SHORTAGE
IN
BHUBANESWAR
AND
MUMBAI
 CONTENT
1. Water Issues & Conflicts
a. Drinking Water Crisis
b. Concerns over weak embankments and choked drainage
c. Escalating Water Pollution
d. Deepening Ground Water Crisis
e. Water scarcity adding to Man-animal Conflict
f. Culture and livelihood issues
g. Threats to Hydropower
2. Govt Plans and Programs
 In Coastal Odisha, the drinking water issues and conflicts in Puri , Gopa,
Baranga, Jatani, Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Soro, Cuttack, Naugaon etc areas
were most highlighted and followed-up in different news papers

Serious drinking water crises and the resulting diseases due to drinking of
Drinking polluted and contaminated water in Chandaka, Gopa, Puri, and Jatani areas
were reported by most of the Odia Dailies.

water crisis in
Odisha Similarly different problems related to pouched water in Cuttack, Balipatana
areas were also covered.

On the other hand, the acute drinking water scarcity in Koraput of Southern
Odisha and many places in North and Western Odisha like, Baripada,
Kaptipada, Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Vatli, Rourkela, Kendujhar, Baragarh,
Sonepur, Rairangpur, Karanjia etc were also widely highlighted in LOCAL
dailies.
 THREAT OF FLOODS AND
BLOCKAGE
With rainy season on the corner, the weak and un-repaired river embankments were causes of the
concerns and reminders of scary memories for the river bank communities not only in the flood-
affected delta, but also in the newly
flood-prone upper catchment regions .

The bandhs and embankments of different rivers

like River Daya near Bhubaneswar, River Hati
near Kalam Puri, River Kuakhai near Balianta,
Mahanadi near Cuttack, River Indrabati
near Kalahandi, Kundei Canal in Balipatana,
River Kochila near Dhamnagar, river Rusikulya near Ganjam and
Chhatrapur, River Luna near Mahakalpada are specifically in critical
conditions and need immediate attention.
 BLOCKAGES

Govt of Odisha has also identified about 584 weak places on different river bandhs and
embankments throughout Odisha. “The blockage due to siltation and deposition in more than
15 natural canals connecting Chilka
with other natural water reservoirs is leading to decrease in
inflow and storage in the lake
and thus negatively influencing the floral and faunal biodiversity”
reported the leading Odia daily ‘The Sambad’.
d. Deepening Ground Water Crisis
The deepening ground water level in different areas is being realized as a serious cause of
water scarcity in Odisha.
But the after effects of the problem has led to
dysfunction of hundreds of wells and tube wells
in Khurdha, Puri, Nimapara,
Bhubaneswar, Gopa, Subarnapur areas.
 Escalating water pollution

Water pollution is snowballing to be a big problem in Odisha. Direct discharge of

polluted and contaminated water by different industries to common water distribution
systems like canals and rivers has been highlighted as the main cause of water pollution
.

Particularly the pollution of Angul main canal

due to Angul industrial excreta, Taladanda
canal in Cuttack, the nearby rivers
and canals of Paradip due to PPL,
the farmlands in Koraput due to the
local Paper mill etc have been
clearly presented by different reports.
Water scarcity adding to man-animal conflict
The water scarcity has not only affected the human life but also the wild life to a great
extent. The water scarcity in different sanctuaries and forest ranges (like Astaranga in Puri,
Chandaka near Khurdha) has led the wild animals to enter the human settlements and being
victimized.

Cultural concerns
Along with the unresolved resettlement of many displaced people in Hirakud Dam project,
around 80 Gods and Goddesses who have lost their temples are waiting for their
resettlement as their temples have been destroyed in the name of project and has come out
as a cultural and religious issue in Odisha
g. Hydropower worries
The dangerously decreasing water level in most of the reservoirs and the resulting acute
hydropower scarcity in state have been covered as the headline news in leading Odia
dailies.
WATER USAGE IN ODISHA
 WATER CRISIS IN
MUMBAI
.Fifty million people in 15 cities — including Mumbai — of the ‘global south’ (Sub-
Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America) lack access to safe, reliable and
affordable water, a new working paper by the World Resources Institute (WRI) says.
While this is enough to ring alarm bells, the urban water crisis is much worse in
Maharashtra , with the residents of the Mumbai
city having the lowest water availability across
the surveyed cities, after Karachi. B. Siddharth
Nagar in Mumbai are among the 15 urban
settlements surveyed by the WRI researchers. In
both cities, lack of piped water from the
government has made way for the local water
mafia, illegal borewells, and expensive private
water.
 FLOODS AND WEATHER
Over the past few years, Maharashtra has experienced increased flooding, dry wells, and
decreased water availability from the Cauvery, while Mumbai two-year drought is
associated with a 35% less rainfall and “unofficial rationing” in Maharashtra. Some
neighbourhoods receive water for less than two hours per day, with reduced pressure and
poorer quality. In response, households turn to tankers that source water from
boreholesCities need sustainable financial and political infrastructure for this. Resource
availability is not the problem, its management is. A major water crisis is looming large
over Mumbai— the business, banking and financial capital of India— with storage levels
in dams dipping because of insufficient rainfall. Though the Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD) has said that southwest. Maharashtra is facing a water emergency of
unprecedented proportions. Following years of drought, the rivers’ currents have ebbed,
water in dams and reservoirs has depleted and over-exploitation of groundwater has raised
concerns over the long-term availability of water.
.
How severe is the water crisis in Maharashtra?

Until June 3, residents of 5,127 villages and 10,867 hamlets were solely dependent on tanker water supply for
their daily needs
Between May 20 and June 3 alone, 512 villages and 728 hamlets were added to the list of areas being
.catered.
More than half the tankers have been deployed in Marathwada, which is the worst-hit region.
These include 1,146 tankers in Aurangabad, where more than 761 villages are facing water shortage, and 939
tankers in Beed (652 villages).
In North Maharashtra, 822 tankers have been deployed in Ahmednagar and 358 in Nashik. In Western
Maharashtra with its drought-prone belts,
Solapur is the worst-hit with 275 villages and 1,671 hamlets facing a shortage.
The water scarcity has also hit livestock, with about 10.68 lakh animals sheltered in cattle camps for fodder
and water needs.
With the weather department forecasting a delayed onset of monsoon, the state government has now deployed
the highest ever number of water tankers — 6,597 as of June 10 — to meet the drinking water needs of
parched regions. This is over three times the number of tankers deployed around this time last year (1,777). In
2016, due to another deficient monsoon, 6,016 tankers were deployed during peak scarcity .
How much water is stored in reservoirs in Maharashtra?
Out of 17 major reservoirs listed by the Central Water Commission (CWC), with a total live capacity of
14.073 billion cubic metres, the live storage until June 6 is just 0.778 BCM, or 5.5%. A CWC bulletin
listed live storage as nil in five of these —Paithon, Bhima (Ujjani), Yeldari, Upper Tapi and Pench. In eight
more reservoirs, current live storage was between 1 and 10%. Only Khadakvasla (39%), Bhatsa (28%),
Upper Vaitarna (15%) and Upper Wardha (14%) had more than 10%.
How depleted are groundwater levels?
The latest survey of the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency found that of Maharashtra’s 353
talukas, 279 have experienced depletion in ground water levels. Parts of Marathwada and North
Maharashtra are among the worst-hit. In 2,642 villages across the state,
groundwater levels were found to be more than 3 metres lower than
the five-year average — a pointer to uncontrolled extraction of water
and damage to groundwater aquifers. GSDA officials blame
non-implementation of the
Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Act,
which was enacted to regulate extraction.
With food production in rain-shadow belts also
dependent on groundwater use, depleting water levels
are putting the state’s harvest at risk.
How dry has the weather been?
In weather regions as classified by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Marathwada had annual rainfall
of 601.5 mm in 2018 (27% short of the normal of 821,6 mm), Madhya Maharashtra had 744.3 (15% short of
876.8 mm) and Vidarbha had 923.9 mm (15% short of 1,084.5 mm).
The forecast, however, is for a “normal monsoon outlook” (96-104% of long period average). In a presentation to
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last week, the IMD forecast that a full-blown monsoon would hit Mumbai’s
coastline by June 17, and spread to the rest of the state within hours. The forecast for pre-monsoon rain spells is
weak.
Last week, the Cabinet sanctioned a Rs-30-crore proposal for cloud-
seeding experiments in dam catchment areas of Marathwada, North
Maharashtra. In 2017, Chief Minister Fadnavis had set 2019 as the year to
make Maharashtra tanker-free as a result of water conservation works,
with community participation, under the flagship initiative Jalyukt Shivar.
With the deadline missed, the Opposition has been questioning the way the
initiative is being implemented. “While the state is facing a severe
drought and water shortage, adequate mitigation measures have been put
in place. Implementation is being monitored at the highest level. A water
management plan is in place till the monsoon sets in.”
 OVER IRRIGATION AND DROUGHT
This situation has been made worse by the man-made problem of over irrigation.
Sugar and sugarcane industrialists have used a lot of money to create massive
irrigation systems to supply water to their sugarcane plantations – a crop which
accounts for only some 9% of the State’s crop supply, but uses three to four times as
much water for its sustenance. However since it has good value in the market and is
used to create sugar and jaggery and for a plethora of further uses, the plantation
owners have continued growing this plant at the expense of others, which has
ultimately resulted in the water crisis.
Drought, is not a new experience for the farmers of
Maharashtra. These poor grain-makers on whom
depends the sustenance of entire cities, have often gone
hungry, starving as they face the cruel judgements of the
Rain gods. If being kicked by Nature wasn’t enough, they
have also been trampled upon by man-made disasters
and government ignorance while the water – and their
fate – has steadily run out, fading from the world, leaving
a parched memory behind.
Causes of water crisis
Mumbai

Odisha at 3rd and

Maharashtra occupying the
6th position in having the
highest number of industrial
affluents in water sources
Presented by-

TANYUSHA DAS

XC, 46
YASHASHVI
PATTNAIK XC
47
ALIVA DAS XC
48