Vulnerabilities of East Flowing RiversSome Issues and Concerns
S.Janakarajan
Professor
Madras Institute of Development Studies
Chennai – 600 020
Western Ghats – The Foundation of South India
Western Ghats (WG) - the well known hot spot for ecology and bio-diversity in
India and the core of South Indian lung-space
The east flowing rivers – most of which originate from the WG – are the mainstay
of South Indian life and livelihoods
The major east flowing rivers are Krishna, Godavari, Pennar and CauveryThe major east flowing rivers are Krishna, Godavari, Pennar and Cauvery
There are hundreds of small and medium rivers and streams (forming large river
basins) contribute to the richness of the region – (for the state-wise information see
the word file)
The subject is so vast that for the present purpose I shall restrict primarily to
Cauvery and to some extent to Krishna and Godavari
"The Western Ghats has to be made an "ecologically sensitive
zone". It is as important as the ecological system of the
Himalayas for protection of the environment and climate of the
country. The Central government will not give sanction for
mining and hydroelectric projects proposed by the State
Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa that will
destroy the Western Ghats ecosystem”destroy the Western Ghats ecosystem”
Minister of Environment and Forest, Mr.Jairam Ramesh (1999)
Some basic details of east flowing rivers
River
basin
Catchmen
ts area sq
km
Average
annual
potential
km3
Utilizable
surface
water
potential
KM3
Live
storage
capacities
incl. those
projects
under
constructiconstructi
on (KM3)
Godavari 3,12,812 110.54 76.30 31.33
Krishna 2,58,948 78.12 58.00 49.55
Cauvery 81,155 21.36 19.00 8.87
Pennar 55,213 6.32
Inter-state nature of rivers of Western Ghats
Krishna – traversing a distance of 1440 KM – flows through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and AP
Cauvery – traversing a distance of 820 KM – flows through the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry- The upper part of the basin partly falls in the Kerala state
Godavari – traversing a distance of 1465 KM – flows through the states of Godavari – traversing a distance of 1465 KM – flows through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and AP
Pennar – traversing a distance of 597 KM – flows through the states of Karnataka, AP and Tamil Nadu
Critical issues concerning the east flowing rivers
• Increasing water needs of agriculture but dwindling water
supply
• Upstream development and reduced flow in the downstream
• Competing demand / claim for water across users and uses
• Increasing pollution load and environmental security
concerns
• Delta vulnerability and food security concerns• Delta vulnerability and food security concerns
• Climate change impacts
• Water conflicts – important of which are Inter-state water
disputes, between urban-peri-urban and pollution induced
Water quandaries need contextualization
• Unsustainable development, least concern for environment
flow, myopic water governance, fractured institutions and
unhealthy hydrocratic hegemony over water science
• Persisting poverty, growing inequality and deprivation
• Lack of access to basic needs such as food, water, housing
and health
• Competitive populism
• Myopic and sectoral approach for growth and development• Myopic and sectoral approach for growth and development
• Lack of transparency, lack of information flow, lack of scientific
data generation and dissemination
• Inadequate and unscientific planning
• Growing environmental and ecological concerns
• Rapid, uncontrolled and unplanned urbanization and
industrialization and conversion of rural poverty into urban
poverty
Krishna in troubled water
Krishna river basin covers an area of 2,58,000 sq km (nearly 8% of India’s geog area)in major – developed states of Maharashtra, K’taka and AP with a combinwed population of over 70 miillion in the basin
All the basin states are experiencing very high demand for agri.
Highly industrialized with a high degree of urbanizationHighly industrialized with a high degree of urbanization
Industrial, urban and drinking water needs have been escalating and so also the pollution load in the river
Increasing competing claims result in rising water conflicts
Growth, employment, livelihood options and food security are extremely dependent upon Krishna water
The estimated total irrigation requirements for 2001 are
estimated to be 34 km3 and this will reach 43 km3 by 2035.
The irrigation efficiency used for this estimate is 50% for
surface water and 60% for groundwater. To meet the growing
food demand more water will be required for irrigated
agriculture even after improving irrigation efficiency. And, there
is also a growing demand for industry and domestic needs
besides needs for environmental flow.
Yee,M.S. et al., 2009Yee,M.S. et al., 2009
• But the annual availability of surface water in the basin is 78.12 KM3
• Main issues relate to the water availability across reaches of the basin –upper reaches are reach compared to the tail reach, where the current water deficit is already over 40%; Further the pollution load is more severely felt in the down stream – in particular from upper Krishna, upper Bhima and Tungabadra where the industrial water demand is growing every day
Pollution intensity in the Krishna basin• The river receives the pollution load from all major, medium ands small towns and hundreds of industries and mining activities – major cities which dump the pollution load in the river include Pune, Satara, Kolhapur, Hyderabad, Kurnool and Vijaywada. • Over 500 important industrial units (many of them toxic) 200 of which are large-scale and red industrial are located in the basin; Besides, mining activities (in particular Hospet region) contribute to heavy pollution and sediment load • The high tech city Hyderabad contributes to nearly 650 mld of polluted water and sewage originating from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and sewage originating from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad • Two units of Gwalior Rayon Silk Manufacturing (Weaving) Company Ltd (Grasim) and the whole indusrtrial complex of Dharwar together generates nearly 33,000 cum of effluents which is dumped in the Tungabadra river. This has severely affected hundreds of villages and health and livelihoods of the people in the downstream• But the worst affected are the fisher folks. Huge bunches of fish kills have become common in the T’bhadra river - A study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, showed that the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels in the raw effluents released into the river were 1,000 mg/l.
Cauvery – not very different from Krishna
Disturbing featuresHighly used and deficit basin
Very high competing claims
Highly industrialized and urbanized states of TN and KAR depend upon Cauvery
for irrigation, Drinking and industrial needs – Drinking water supply of about 50% in
KAR and 80% in TN is received from Cauvery, including the major city of Bangalore
Acutely polluted with serious implications
Have been experiencing a bitter inter-state water dispute being fought over a
period of 35 yearsperiod of 35 years
Water flow in the down stream is drastically reduced and the environmental flow
into the sea is nil except in the N-E monsoon period (October-December); As a
consequence there is a reverse flow of seawater through hundreds of backwater
canals and streams which join the Bay of Bengal; This has resulted in salinity of
groundwater and soil up to 40 KM in the coastal districts of Nagapptinam,
Cuddalore and Tiruvarur
Category Inventory
Large Medium Small Total
Red Orange Gree
n
Red Orange Green Red Orange Green
Coastal
Distri
401 131 35 441 518 274 2740 3259 708 8507
Inventory of Industries in Tamil Nadu (January 2002)
Distri
cts
Total
Non-
Coast
al
Distri
cts
Total
312 361 19 429 1065 73 5521 6097 324 14201
State
Total
713 492 54 870 1583 347 8261 9356 1032 22708
Source: TNPCB
Threats confronted by the deltaic eco-system-Delta VulnerabilityAlready the Increased tourism and concentration of industrial activities (all water
intensive units such as refineries, chemical industries, cement, textile and tanneries
are located in the coastal and delta regions) contributing to devastating impacts on
the delta / coastal population
Seawater rise and other coastal hazards such as storms and cyclones
Very high level of human settlements
Marginalized cropland and increased salinity of land and soil leading to loss of
livelihoods and eco-system collapse
Lack of clean freshwater due to saltwater contamination resulting in health hazards
Fragility of thousands of backwater canals – their traditional roles – and the collapse
of the delta eco-system due to anthropogenic and coastal extreme events
Fragile lifestyle, uncertain and insecure livelihoods of millions of fisher folks
Specific Features of Delta VulnerabilitiesPhysicalVolatile and fragile ecosystem
Groundwater salinization
Soil salinity
LECZ – flood prone – both from sea and rivers
Mono cropped area for centuries
Plastic clay (powdered) soil
Low yield due to poor soil fertility
Vulnerability of marsh lands due to raising salinity level and beach erosion
Estuaries, Lagoons. Tanks ands ponds are turning saline
Backwater rivers and canals carry reverse flow of sea water due to reduced
freshwater flow
Climate related
Cyclones (According to the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, four times more cyclones
are formed in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea).
Heavy rainfall in a few days
Erratic monsoons
Intense or heavy spells in a few days
Changing agricultural seasons
Seawater rise / beach erosion / seawater inundation
The specific vulnerability of Cauvery Delta
The population density along the coast and delta is 528 per sq. km which is
almost double the State’s average
Of the state's total population of approximately 62 million almost 29 million live
along the thirteen coastal districts of which over 60% falls in the Cauvery basin –
the districts of Nagappattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai and a part of
Cuddalore districts
The Nagappatinam district is doubly disadvantaged: One, most part of this district The Nagappatinam district is doubly disadvantaged: One, most part of this district
falls within the LECZ ;Two, most part of this district also lies below sea-level.
Of the total geographical area of this district, 56% falls below sea level which is
flood prone, and 18% constitutes marshy land which is just at the sea-level, 3% of
the cultivable land is affected by severe salinity while the unaffected land
constitute only 7%
Complexity of Coastal eco-system
Climate change impact
IPCC and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
have identified Coastal Deltas and Coastal wetlands as the
ecosystems, which are most vulnerable to direct and large-
scale impacts of climate change – due to the impending threat
of sea level rise and the increasing frequency and severity of
extreme events which will have a serious consequences on
hydrological regime and livelihood options of the people hydrological regime and livelihood options of the people
Continued loss of coastal ecosystems will have tremendous
economic as well as biological consequences.
Climate change impact
Erratic monsoons, high intensity of floods and droughts are predicted
The IPCC predicts that climate change will increase the intensity and frequency of weather extremes over the next half-decade; It has been predicted that an area of 5763 km2 along the Coastal States of India i.e., 0.41% could be inundated and almost 7.1 million i.e., 4.6 % of coastal population could be directly affected (cf. Table IV) (TERI, 1996)
A study carried out by Gosain et al (2006) predicts that there is going to be a A study carried out by Gosain et al (2006) predicts that there is going to be a 20% decline in the precipitation in the Krishna basin as a con consequence of which the there would be a reduction in the run off to the extent of 30 to 50%. This will have a serious implications for the food security.
We could safely assume similar consequences in the other east flowing rivers also
Added to the existing vulnerabilities and uncertainties, the situation in the east
flowing rivers is seemingly quite grave and threatening
Onset Date of Northeast Monsoon in Tamil Nadu 1980-2008
Climate change impact
• While the rich countries have better coping mechanisms, the developing and the poor countries
are more vulnerable due to lack of adequate infrastructure, greater dependence upon agriculture,
persisting poverty, malnutrition, low level of literacy, bad housing, lack of safe drinking water and
sanitation and so forth.
A series of questions need to be answered rather desperately:
• Does government take any conscious efforts in protecting commons and eco-systems?
• Is there anything called National Adaptation Plan for the poor and the most vulnerable?
• Do we have any estimates on possible climate change impacts on agriculture and overall GDP?
• In what way have we strengthened our early warning systems and disaster risk reduction
strategies? strategies?
• Have we built the capacities of lower and middle level government officials in disaster mitigation,
disaster risk reduction strategies, information dissemination and in awareness building?
• All coping measures hitherto undertaken have been ad hoc and structural in nature with almost
no effect.
• Land based and non-land based, long-term disaster preparedness and risk reduction strategies
and early warning systems have not been part of any policy planning framework so far.
• What we need therefore is the long-term adaptive strategies for the delta region in order to
protect the livelihoods of the vulnerable sections of the population from the impending threat of
climate change.
Summing up
The east flowing rivers and river basins are supposed to be the primary rice growing
areas of India and food basket of South India
But this region is becoming increasingly vulnerable due to various socio-economic,
hydrological and climatic factors – while waterr availability is dwindling, the demand
for water has been shooting up rapidly
This is also the region where food security and livelihood security of people are
seriously challenged due to multiplicity of factors such as growing high population
density, water scarcity, erratic monsoons, high frequency and intensity of
cyclones and storms, uncontrolled floods, salinity of soil and water bodies cyclones and storms, uncontrolled floods, salinity of soil and water bodies including groundwater and coastal wetlands, growing anthropogenic factors
contributing to a high order pollution, rapid urbanization process leading to
untreated urban sewage levels and most important of all the high
demographic pressure.
Furthermore, the issues are going to get more compounded and complex due to the
impending climate change threat
Therefore, there is an urgent need to take stock of the current situation and find
ways to overcome the volatile situation
Way forward• One of the main aims of this consultation seems to be how best water originating
from the western ghats could be harnessed and conserved for the benefit of people
and functioning of the ecosystem
• In the light of the discussion that we have just had there is an urgent need to protect
the water resources originating from the WG by preventing deforestation, by putting a
stop to the untreated effluent and municipal sewage joining all major rivers, tributaries
and hundreds of streams – this is very importanrt
• Coastal ecology and deltas are so vital for life and livelihoods which very much
depends upon the steady river flows all through the year – this warrants for a
substantial saving of water - this could be ensured by introducing appropriate land use
pattern, crop pattern, conjunctive use of GW and surface water and by adopting
modern water saving techniques – in Cauvery delta studies indicate that the water
saving techniques could save water up to 40% of current water use
• Need appropriate climate change mitigation policies and adaptation strategies
• Finally what we also need is a comprehensive policy backed by legislation for a
better river basin management, stringent pollution control laws along with law
enforcement and monitoring mechanisms, laws to protect delta ecosysyem – only to
ensure life, livelihoods, to ensure food security
Thanks a lot for the opportunity and
listening listening