Fresh water wisdom for Smart cities

Shanti Kushwaha waits anxiously for the water tanker to reach the slums of Seelampur in New Delhi, bringing a scarce and fought-over essential. Many of India’s urban slums have no piped water, only getting a delivery by public tanker on alternate days. So as soon as the tanker arrives, people rush with buckets and other containers to grab their share.

“This struggle is now part of our life,” said Kushwaha. “The water supplied through tankers by the municipal body in our area is not enough.” Frequent quarrels erupt between neighbours trying to get water from the tanker, with everyone wanting as much as possible. Those who lose out have to fetch water from far-off public hand-pumps, overhead tanks or wells.

Others get their water from friends and relatives who have a piped supply. Independent environmentalist Anupam Mishra said India’s cities have a much greater need for potable water than acknowledged by the government, which cannot supply enough. “A large number of people in cities depend on groundwater, and this has led to a sharp decline in the water table in a number of places,” he added.

India plans to develop 100 "smart" cities, creating modern satellite towns around existing cities. The aim is to create urban spaces where green, high-tech initiatives bring more efficient management of resources, including water and energy, and better services to citizens.

Experts predict the number of people living in Indian cities will touch almost 850 million by 2050, up from 350 million now. A key question is how well equipped these "smart" cities will be to handle a bigger inflow of citizens from rural to urban areas – not least when it comes to water.

According to data from India’s Urban Development Ministry, at least 30 of 35 big cities have much less water than they need, leaving their inhabitants to deal with daily shortages. In a 2012 report looking at water needs for the next five years, the Planning Commission of India said that, in cities with a population of over 100,000, only 73 percent of people were getting sufficient water.

Nearly half the water supply was lost in distribution, as old, rusty water pipes fractured and broke, it added. “The paradigm for water supply is to grab as much from wherever possible, while laying insufficient, leaky pipeline networks and not monitoring usage or billing,” said Nitya Jacob, head of policy for Water Aid India.

“This must change to maximise supply from local resources such as surface water, rainwater and groundwater,” he added. Members of an expert panel set up by the government to suggest ways to improve urban drinking water supplies have called for clear and effective policy, arguing that official agencies rarely try to preserve precious water sources.

In a report, the panel said city officials, planners, builders and developers had ruthlessly destroyed water bodies in and around cities, despite their important role in re-charging groundwater and ensuring water security. Protecting and restoring those water bodies was crucial to meet rising demand, the panel concluded.

In India, water is often regarded as a mere input for other activities rather than a resource to be used wisely and sustainably, experts say. Hence water management is inefficient and plagued by corruption, they argue. Sewage treatment must be universal and high-quality, he explained, otherwise untreated sewage seeps into groundwater which is then pumped up for human consumption.

India's "smart" cities will clearly need better planning for water and sanitation than is the case now. Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, which ran from 2005 to 2014, the government approved infrastructure development schemes worth around $7.8 billion, including for drinking water, sewage and drainage. Yet while public investment in drinking water projects has increased nine-fold over the last decade compared to the preceding two, India's cities are still thirsty.

Experts say more money is needed, but this alone will not resolve water shortages since corruption in the sector is rife. “Transparency is necessary so that the desired results can be achieved (on the ground),” Jacob said. One major barrier to the people of Seelampur getting a better water supply is the apathy of government officials towards impoverished slum dwellers.

By SHURIAH NIAZI