Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's address at the National Congress on Ground Water - 2007

"I am happy to be able to join you today at this very important meeting. I attach the highest importance to the subject of water security. I thank my colleague Prof. Saifuddin Soz for convening this meeting. I thank Prof. M.S. Swaminathan for his intellectual leadership in using modern science and technology in the service of our people. I am also glad that we have assembled here a truly interdisciplinary gathering. The challenge of water scarcity can only be addressed in an interdisciplinary manner, in a holistic manner, in a consensual manner.

Water is life. Yet, human kind has not done enough to replenish, conserve and safeguard our sources of water supply. On the contrary, given the threat of climate change and global warming, we face the real prospect of reduced supply of water. This threat is of particular concern to us in India since we have, since times immemorial, depended on glaciers for our water supply in this part of our sub‑continent.

Today humankind faces a real danger of human conflict based on our need for water. However, I do believe that we have the wisdom and the foresight to deal with this challenge

affecting. We must resolve together to ensure the equitable, efficient and environmentally friendly use of this life‑giving natural resource.

The challenge of water security has been recognized for some time now. Many of you will recall that the Dublin Conference on Water and Environment held in 1992, and subsequently the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in the same year at Rio, placed great emphasis on water management. The idea of integrated water resources management took shape at that time.

It is now widely recognized that water, especially potable water is finite and a vulnerable resource. There is also a wide consensus that water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving all stakeholders. The Dublin Conference drew our attention to the central role of women in water management. Thereby it brought the gender dimension into sharper focus.

There was also recognition that water is both a public good and an economic good. Modern governments must base their policies pertaining to water taking into account both these criterion. The question before us is have we paid adequate attention to these principles and priorities since 1992? I am afraid we have not done so and we must make up for the lost time.

I believe today there is even greater need to address the challenge of water scarcity with a much greater sense of urgency. In my very first Independence Day address, in 2004, I had drawn attention to this challenge and said we must mobilize our people to come forward and participate in effective water conservation and management. I also said that water is a national resource and we have to take an integrated view of our country's water resources.

I sincerely hope this Conference will impart a greater sense of urgency to the challenge of water conservation, groundwater recharge and rainwater harvesting. I urge the Advisory Council on Artificial Recharge of Ground Water to create widespread national awareness and a genuine national consensus on an equitable, efficient and environmentally sustainable water policy for our vast country.

Our country faces the ironical challenge of managing every year both an embarrassment of riches and scarcity of water. The Government deals, at the same time, with the challenge of both floods and the challenge of drought. We cannot address these two problems in isolation. Indeed the challenge of floods is increasingly linked to the poor soil conservation, lack of afforestation and inadequate infrastructure for water conservation. Similarly, the problem of drought is also a manifestation, at least in pockets, of inadequate investment in repair, renovation and maintenance of water bodies, recharge and rainwater harvesting.

Our Government has taken several steps to address these challenges in the past three years. We are in the process of formulating a scheme for Dug Well Recharge in hard rock regions of the country covering seven States. However, any strategy for water conservation, management and utilization cannot be imposed on the country from here in New Delhi. We need a community‑based, region‑specific strategy that is owned by the people who have to implement it.

I sincerely believe that our Panchayati Raj institutions and our municipalities and local bodies, along with civil society organizations, have a critical and vital role to play in this regard. I want each and every panchayat and municipality to come forward with a water conservation strategy. We have the impressive example of Chennai city that had a city‑based, neighbourhood‑based strategy. Every village, every locality, every neighbourhood, every town

should have a rain water harvesting scheme. Panchayats must be actively engaged in ground water recharge and the renovation and maintenance of water bodies.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme provides a unique opportunity to mobilize people for this purpose. I sincerely hope State Governments and local bodies will take an active interest in utilizing these resources for water management, conservation and utilization.

A paradigm shift is also necessary in dealing with demand management. Every living being has the right to potable water, since water is life. However, for the economic use of water, especially in irrigation, construction and other sectors, we must emphasize the importance of efficient, economical and more rational use of water.

We cannot continue to subsidize the economic and commercial use of water. There are related policies that must also be corrected to ensure adequate emphasis on water conservation, especially ground water. For example, providing free power to farmers has encouraged excessive use of pump sets and excessive drawing of ground water. If there is economic pricing of power, there would be some incentive for conserving ground water. Water conservation and management can be better served through appropriate incentives and penalties.

I should also emphasize the useful role of education and awareness. No programme in a country as vast as India can be successful unless it is well understood by the people at large. People's popular and voluntary participation in ground water conservation strategies is thus of critical importance. Panchayati Raj Institutions, NGOs, educational institutions, cooperatives, housing societies, welfare organizations, students and youth movements and all other stakeholders can play a vital role in spreading awareness and promoting water saving policies.

I compliment the Ministry of Water Resources for instituting the "Bhoomijal Samvardhhan Puraskar" and the "National Water Award" aimed at encouraging people's participation in ground water conservation. I hope these awards will promote new innovative practices in ground water augmentation through rain water harvesting and artificial recharge.

I appeal to each and every citizen of our country to make genuine and wholehearted effort to conserve water, prevent its over‑exploitation and pollution of ground water, and adopt measures both individually and collectively, as a family, as a community, as a village and locality. I hope your deliberations at this Conference will contribute to the promotion of more effective strategies towards these national goals and objectives."