Water, water everywhere, not a drop to irrigate?
It seems that every time this city moves towards normalcy and sets its sights on prosperity, a monkey wrench is inevitably thrown in the process. Today, it is the much awaited final verdict of the Cauvery River Tribunal, which after 17 years of deliberations has said that of the average of roughly 730 tmc (thousand million cubic feet, or billion cubic feet, which is what I will refer to it henceforth as) of the annual Cauvery River flow, Tamil Nadu deserves 419 billion cubic feet, Karnataka 270 billion cubic feet, Kerala 30 billion cubic feet and Pondicherry 7 billion cubic feet.
When this first broke out on television, I was stunned. Karnataka was under an interim order by the Tribunal issued in 1991 and was required to release 205 billion cubic feet of water. The final verdict more than doubled the amount of water that Karnataka was required to release, which amounts to 57 percent of all Cauvery River water! Shortly after that, sporadic violence broke out across the city, schools and businesses closed early and bus services between the two states were canceled, and tires and the occasional vehicle bearing Tamil Nadu registration was burnt. Anticipating violence like the major anti-Tamil riots of 1991 (when the interim verdict was issued), the state government had ramped up security across the city which has thus far kept violence to a minimum.
Meanwhile as this whole situation was unraveling itself, more details emerged. The 730 billion cubic feet is the ENTIRE flow of the Cauvery River and the 419 billion cubic feet that is Tamil Nadu's share is part of that ENTIRE flow, which includes rain that falls within Tamil Nadu as well as groundwater recharge of the river in Tamil Nadu. The amount of water that Karnataka is supposed to release to Tamil Nadu from its reservoirs is 192 billion cubic feet, which is in fact lesser than the 205 billion cubic feet that it is currently releasing as per the interim 1991 order. But due to the media's hasty actions, the damage had been done. The magical number of 419 billion cubic feet was out there and being circulated amongst the agitating farmers and the masses on the streets of southern Karnataka (although much of the Karnataka share is used to irrigate land in southern Karnataka, more than 500 million liters per day is pumped more than 100 kilometers to quench Bangalore's thirst (~60% of Bangalore's daily water needs)).
Because of the media's hastiness in announcing this verdict without having the details in full, the politicians in Karnataka were forced to express "shock and disappointment" with the verdict. Thus we had the unusual situation where the politicians in Karnataka are promising to appeal the verdict while the lawyers that represented Karnataka before the tribunal hailed the verdict and said the Tribunal had done a "tremendous job."
So what is the actual situation? Of the 730 billion cubic feet of water that is the Cauvery's annual flow, about 475 billion cubic feet falls within Karnataka. Of this, Karnataka is required to release 192 billion cubic feet of water to Tamil Nadu, or about 40% of Karnataka's annual catch. Of the 192 billion cubic feet that Tamil Nadu receives, it is supposed to let 10 billion cubic feet flow to the sea for "environmental reasons" which probably includes the health of the diverse aquatic riparian ecosystem in the Cauvery River delta.
Tamil Nadu has ended up a winner here, however. It was widely expected that Tamil Nadu would receive no more than 300 billion cubic feet of water total and no more than 75-100 billion cubic feet from the Karnataka side. 419 billion cubic feet is certainly a victory for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka farmers have a right to be sore.
The main problem is that Tamil Nadu is downstream of Karnataka and they receive their monsoon rains later. The rainfall in the catchment areas of the Cauvery River in the Western Ghats mountains of Coorg district occur mainly June through September. During this time, Cauvery water is flowing downstream to Tamil Nadu which farmers in the Cauvery delta utilize. In addition to this, Tamil Nadu receives its annual monsoon rains in the months of October through January. So in effect, Tamil Nadu farmers will have a continuous supply of water from June through January, or two thirds of the year. In addition, being a lowland state, Tamil Nadu has ample groundwater reserves that farmers up in the Deccan Plateau here in Karnataka do not have.
There have been allegations that the decision by the Tribunal was politically motivated (The ruling party of Tamil Nadu is also a part of the coalition running the Central Government in New Delhi. The ruling party in Karnataka on the other hand is in opposition in New Delhi), I do not think this is the case. In fact, until yesterday, the Tamil Nadu government was expecting the verdict to go in Karnataka's favor and was blaming the former Tamil Nadu government for changing lawyers too often during the Tribunal review process. I do think however that the verdict is not fair to the people of Karnataka and Karnataka should appeal the verdict. If the Tribunal rejects Karnataka's appeal as well, the only recourse is for Karnataka to appeal to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court should reject the state's stand as well, we should abide by the terms and conditions and move on. A release of 192 billion cubic feet is not the worst scenario Karnataka could be facing.
Also, the Tribunal needs to articulate specifically what needs to be done in "distress years." When the monsoons have been good, 192 billion cubic feet is not a problem. But when there is a drought like in 2001 through 2003, that figure is impossible to achieve. The Tribunal has said that in distress years, the water release should be lowered "proportionately." It needs to expand on that and set strict limits of what water Tamil Nadu is entitled to demand in years of scarcity.
Most importantly, let's remember that since the Cauvery River Tribunal was first convened in 1990, the population of Bangalore has more than doubled and the populations of both states have increased at a rapid pace. But the annual flow of the Cauvery is still 740 billion cubic feet. Conservation needs to be emphasized and agricultural practices have to be improved. The Israelis have learned to grow crops in the desert, water can certainly be better managed here.
When this first broke out on television, I was stunned. Karnataka was under an interim order by the Tribunal issued in 1991 and was required to release 205 billion cubic feet of water. The final verdict more than doubled the amount of water that Karnataka was required to release, which amounts to 57 percent of all Cauvery River water! Shortly after that, sporadic violence broke out across the city, schools and businesses closed early and bus services between the two states were canceled, and tires and the occasional vehicle bearing Tamil Nadu registration was burnt. Anticipating violence like the major anti-Tamil riots of 1991 (when the interim verdict was issued), the state government had ramped up security across the city which has thus far kept violence to a minimum.
Meanwhile as this whole situation was unraveling itself, more details emerged. The 730 billion cubic feet is the ENTIRE flow of the Cauvery River and the 419 billion cubic feet that is Tamil Nadu's share is part of that ENTIRE flow, which includes rain that falls within Tamil Nadu as well as groundwater recharge of the river in Tamil Nadu. The amount of water that Karnataka is supposed to release to Tamil Nadu from its reservoirs is 192 billion cubic feet, which is in fact lesser than the 205 billion cubic feet that it is currently releasing as per the interim 1991 order. But due to the media's hasty actions, the damage had been done. The magical number of 419 billion cubic feet was out there and being circulated amongst the agitating farmers and the masses on the streets of southern Karnataka (although much of the Karnataka share is used to irrigate land in southern Karnataka, more than 500 million liters per day is pumped more than 100 kilometers to quench Bangalore's thirst (~60% of Bangalore's daily water needs)).
Because of the media's hastiness in announcing this verdict without having the details in full, the politicians in Karnataka were forced to express "shock and disappointment" with the verdict. Thus we had the unusual situation where the politicians in Karnataka are promising to appeal the verdict while the lawyers that represented Karnataka before the tribunal hailed the verdict and said the Tribunal had done a "tremendous job."
So what is the actual situation? Of the 730 billion cubic feet of water that is the Cauvery's annual flow, about 475 billion cubic feet falls within Karnataka. Of this, Karnataka is required to release 192 billion cubic feet of water to Tamil Nadu, or about 40% of Karnataka's annual catch. Of the 192 billion cubic feet that Tamil Nadu receives, it is supposed to let 10 billion cubic feet flow to the sea for "environmental reasons" which probably includes the health of the diverse aquatic riparian ecosystem in the Cauvery River delta.
Tamil Nadu has ended up a winner here, however. It was widely expected that Tamil Nadu would receive no more than 300 billion cubic feet of water total and no more than 75-100 billion cubic feet from the Karnataka side. 419 billion cubic feet is certainly a victory for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka farmers have a right to be sore.
The main problem is that Tamil Nadu is downstream of Karnataka and they receive their monsoon rains later. The rainfall in the catchment areas of the Cauvery River in the Western Ghats mountains of Coorg district occur mainly June through September. During this time, Cauvery water is flowing downstream to Tamil Nadu which farmers in the Cauvery delta utilize. In addition to this, Tamil Nadu receives its annual monsoon rains in the months of October through January. So in effect, Tamil Nadu farmers will have a continuous supply of water from June through January, or two thirds of the year. In addition, being a lowland state, Tamil Nadu has ample groundwater reserves that farmers up in the Deccan Plateau here in Karnataka do not have.
There have been allegations that the decision by the Tribunal was politically motivated (The ruling party of Tamil Nadu is also a part of the coalition running the Central Government in New Delhi. The ruling party in Karnataka on the other hand is in opposition in New Delhi), I do not think this is the case. In fact, until yesterday, the Tamil Nadu government was expecting the verdict to go in Karnataka's favor and was blaming the former Tamil Nadu government for changing lawyers too often during the Tribunal review process. I do think however that the verdict is not fair to the people of Karnataka and Karnataka should appeal the verdict. If the Tribunal rejects Karnataka's appeal as well, the only recourse is for Karnataka to appeal to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court should reject the state's stand as well, we should abide by the terms and conditions and move on. A release of 192 billion cubic feet is not the worst scenario Karnataka could be facing.
Also, the Tribunal needs to articulate specifically what needs to be done in "distress years." When the monsoons have been good, 192 billion cubic feet is not a problem. But when there is a drought like in 2001 through 2003, that figure is impossible to achieve. The Tribunal has said that in distress years, the water release should be lowered "proportionately." It needs to expand on that and set strict limits of what water Tamil Nadu is entitled to demand in years of scarcity.
Most importantly, let's remember that since the Cauvery River Tribunal was first convened in 1990, the population of Bangalore has more than doubled and the populations of both states have increased at a rapid pace. But the annual flow of the Cauvery is still 740 billion cubic feet. Conservation needs to be emphasized and agricultural practices have to be improved. The Israelis have learned to grow crops in the desert, water can certainly be better managed here.
posted by Vivek at 6:02 AM
4 Comments:
I like your post very much. At least someone has the sense to translate a thousand million to a billion. I will not lose my hope for India yet.
You're lucky though as you seem to be in the Us and therefore dont have to suffer the crazy news channels that we have.
And tell me if this calculation makes some sense to you.
How much water do we need really? In TMC Feet to be exact :-)
http://catchr.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-eff-is-tmc-feet-anyway.html
Good article, sir. But consider this: It is surprising that 16 years of intense data collection, arguments and counters have only led to such a biased and unfair final adjudication. The British bestowed right to TN - right from 1874 - has led the new colonizers to act as an impediment to the development of irrigation in K'taka - witness the 3 million acres of Cauvery irrigated land, growing 2-3 crops a year for TN while K'taka languishes with 0.5 million acres of a crop a year irrigation. This judgment only proves that might is greater and ever more powerful than right in this country. I fear for the unity of this country. There is already talk that in response, some misguided people in K'taka will take a leaf off TN and develop terrorist outfits, adopt linguistic chauvinism and intolerance of others, and talk about seceding from India. Such are the fruits sometimes of injustice done to the weak.
Hey, I agree with your points on my blog. I understand there is much more scientific data collection/analysis required in order to accurately predict water requirements.
However, my post was about the insane reporting of this issue in the Indian news media. It is quite apparent that a simple unit such as tmcf/bcf could not be understood by most reporters.
My ideal news coverage of this story - analyse the requirements, inform the viewers what water needs there are in TN and in Karnataka (and Puducherry and Kerala), tell us how much the yield is per unit of water used - tell us how much it can be optimized to - how much investment would be required to optimize it to a certain level.
Give me informed news reporters anyday and I'd watch a documentary on Macao's effect on Trinidad's economy - give me nonsense nes reporting such as that has been on the Cauvery issue and I'll probably write more blog posts like this :-)
By the way - it might be that urban Indians are getting closer to Americans in wastefullness. That is something I realize as well and that possibly needs another post. But if you look at Indian cities, they're evolving into american suburbia more than anything else.
Good to make your acquaintance.
Cheers,
Pranay
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