DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand faces a severe water scarcity crises due to  mismanagement by Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan. Immediate action is needed to address this critical issue.

Uttarakhand, the land of snow-clad peaks and glaciers from where many rivers originate, quenches the thirst of hundreds of millions of people in northern India’s plains.

The Himalayan  mountain system is the  source of 12  rivers, out  of  18  major rivers  of  the  country,   hundreds  of  small rivulets  and thousands  of stream  makes the  Himalayas as water source of the country.  It is ironical that these rivers have not been of any use to the local residents, except for the minor utilities .

Despite several rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna, Kosi, Kali, and others, originating in Uttarakhand, the residents of several parts of this hilly state routinely face water shortages.

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Is water a priority of Government?

The problem of water shortage is not new to Uttarakhand. In early 2018, a report by the United Nations Development Programme found that the state is facing acute water crisis.

In December 2018, people from around 40 villages in Pauri Garhwal region threatened to boycott the 2019 elections if the water crisis was not resolved.

In 2018, the state commission on migration released a report stating that the absence of potable water was the main reason for the “de-population” of 734 villages across Uttarakhand.

The residents, mainly  women & girl of severe water shortage villages have to  walk 2-4 kilometres for portable water. A study showed that around 60% women have to walk 1/2 km while 10% of  them walk  4 km to fetch  water.

Also, the tourist towns frequently report a water shortage during peak tourist season. The reporter recently visited Yatra route and experienced water shortages in most the towns on the way to char dham yatra. The hotel owners of Joshimath were not letting hotels due to shortage of water in Joshimath.  Mr. Ram Krishna Baduni, owner of a hotel in Josimath was disappointed during the peak tourist season as the supply of water is restricted to only half an hour with a very low pressure. They are not giving the rooms only due to water scarcity problem.

The Central government has started the project ‘har ghar jal yojna’, in which the pipe lines have been laid in many villages in Uttarakhand, but no water in these pipes. The installation of these pipe lines smell a corruption angel from the point of view of villagers. Most of the villagers are of the opinion that only 20-25 % budget is actually used in lying the pipelines, rest is distributed from bottom to top level bureaucrats and politicians. Now a days, in many villages there is  no water in these pipelines and the supply has been restricted for a short period of half an hour  in morning in some villages.

Salda,  a big Village in Pauri Garhwal district, faces this problem throughout the year. About 30 years back a water supply scheme was launched from a spring down the village for about 10 villages of Bangarhsyun patti.  The spring is dying stage as it has only 10% water left during the summer season, the water woes of the villages has not resolved. Sri Dayal Singh Rawat, RTI activist and social worker had raised the issue of this scarcity to Government officers and local MLA ,MP many a times but problem has not been resolved yet. The people of the village have some hope with the another scheme “Kadekhal yojna” from Alaknanda river. For which politicians gave assurances to villager but nothing has done from Jal sansthan engineers. Sri Dayal Singh Rawat said ‘In original scheme Salda village was part of the Kadekhal yojna, for which  construction of tank  and lying of pipeline was started from Kingodi dhar about 5 years ago but later on diverted to other areas and even the laid  pipe lines were removed.’  Now State Government is waiting some big movements, boycotts, dharna etc from local people if their demand is not met by government. During recent Lok Sabha elections also villagers of Salda  gave ultimatum to boycott the polling on the issue of road, for which DM gave assurance for the same.

Amid the ongoing water crisis in the hilly state, residents have also raised concerns about the quality of water being supplied. The issue of water scarcity during the summer is an annual occurrence, and the extremely high temperatures this season have further exacerbated the demand.

Reasons for Water Scarcity-

Uttarakhand  Jal Sansthan is responsible for water management and distribution in Uttarakhand. The misstatement by this department is the main reason for water shortages in most of the villages in the hilly state. The government scheme of water supply has largely fall to  its appropriate  nature, poor  maintenance and distributions.

The drying up of mountain springs, considered lifelines for people in the hills, has worsened the problem of water shortage.

Deforestation is another reason behind water shortage in Uttarakhand due to continued deforestation for projects like road construction etc.  According to experts. “Lack of harvesting and loss of green cover leads to a water shortage situation during summers in Uttarakhand. Besides, a reduction in arable land — which retains water — causes a drop in groundwater level,”

A 2018 report by the Indian government’s NITI Aayog think tank acknowledged that most of the drinking water supply in the mountainous parts of Uttarakhand is spring-based. It had revealed that approximately 50% of the mountain springs in Uttarakhand are drying up. In view of this, we should return to our traditional water harvesting methods of Naula (aquifer) and Dhara (springs).

Forest fires also add to water woes in Uttarakhand, the  alpine  regions are becoming a potent source of forest fires due to  widespread  presence  of  natural  turpentine  in  pine  trees which can affect the overall climate stability of the country. Forest fires cause soil erosion and uneven rainfall. This triggers water shortage in most of the areas in Uttarakhand.

During summer season villagers also come to their villages for religious ceremonies, gram puja etc. This increases about 30 % demand of drinking water during summer season. Increased inflow of tourists during summer season also causes water shortage.

Solution of Water problem –

It is not water crises but actually the water management problem. The solution is proper water management is needed.

In Uttarakhand the water crises is seasonal as springs dried up during this season. In view of this, we should return to our traditional water harvesting methods of Naula (aquifer) and Dhara (springs).

In every village there were ‘khal’ means water pond. Now only names are there and water has vanished from these khals. It is the time to regenerate these khals in every village of Uttarakhand in which water can be collected during rainy season, which will increase ground water level in every village.

Proper rain water harvesting system is required in every village. The solution to this shortage, according to experts, lies in afforestation, water harvesting, and its conservation.

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