By 121 News Reporter
Chandigarh 18th December:- Rapid growth in demand for water due to
population growth, urbanization and changing lifestyle has posed
serious challenges to water security. Mismanagement of water resources
has led to a critical situation in many parts of the Northern States
of India. In such a scenario, there is a dire need to address the key
issues related to water management and hence, Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) and CII Triveni Water Institute have come together to
hold Northern Region Water Conclave on December 20, 2013 at CII, NR
Headquarters, in Chandigarh which aims to address all such water
related issues and to encourage its conservation by minimizing wastage
and ensuring its more equitable distribution all across the states
through integrated water resources development and management, by
bringing together major policy makers and stakeholders on a common
platform."Chandigarh's current estimated water demand stands at 110
Mgd (Millions of Gallons per Day). However, its availability is merely
69.25 Mgd, and this is made worse in same conditions that contained
supply even further. The estimated ground water extraction that
supplements water supply is 20 Mgd, which accounts to only around 29%
of the total supply", according to the CII – Triveni Water Institute
Themepaper to be released at the Conclave."On the other hand, the
groundwater level in Punjab has fallen in about 42,170 Sq km area in
the north, northeast, central and southern parts, which constitute
about 84 per cent of the total area. The worst affected districts are
Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Moga, Patiala, Ropar, Fatehgarh
Sahib, Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Amritsar.
Due to overexploitation, underground water reserves are getting
exhausted, so much so that the water table has gone down by five to
ten metres during 1973 to 1996 in the central plain zone. It has been
estimated that the average decline of the water level is at the rate
of 23 cm per year. The water level is declining at a rate of 0.50 to
0.60 metre per year in some urban areas and industrial towns. In such
grim situation, there is a dire need of enhancing water security",
said the Themepaper. The conference will focus on – "Water Sector
Investment Opportunities in NR States, New Technologies & Case
Studies". The conference will provide a unique knowledge and
communication platform for the stakeholders from all walks of life to
come and listen to the experts from the industry, understand the
policies proposed by the government, meet technology providers and
representatives of almost all the water related services etc. The
outcome of this conference would help in developing a road map towards
a sustainable future through enhancing Water Security."Conservation,
minimal wastage, equitable distribution and development of integrated
water resources management system can help in enhancing Water Security
across the country. This Conclave will look forward to discuss more
such methods and develop a holistic and inter-disciplinary approach
towards all water related problems," said Mr Pikender Pal Singh,
Regional Director, CII Northern Region. "The Conclave will also look
forward to discuss Inter-regional, inter-State, intra-State and
inter-sectoral disputes in sharing of water that hamper the optimal
utilization of this scarce resource," he added."Out of total water
present on planet, ground and surface water amounts to only 0.76 % of
it. The worldwide demand for water in agriculture and domestic sector
is expected to increase by 1.5 times in 2030 from 2010 and for the
same time period it is expected to get double for industrial sector.
There are major uncertainties about the amount of water required to
meet demand for food, energy and other human uses, and to sustain
ecosystems. These uncertainties are compounded by the impact of
climate change on available water resources. Every year there is 0.11
million tera-litres (MMTL) of precipitation on land. Around 92% of it
is lost due to surface run off, evaporation etc. In such scenario,
there is a dire need to address the key issues related to water
management and this conclave looks forward towards addressing all such
issues by bringing together major policy makers and stakeholders on a
common platform," said Mr Man Mohan Singh, Chairman, CII, Chandigarh
Council."Chandigarh's current estimated demand stands at 110 mgd
(Millions of Gallons per Day). However, its availability is merely
69.25 mgd, and this is made worse in same conditions that contained
supply even further. The estimated ground water extraction that
supplements water supply is 20 mgd, which accounts to only around 29%
of supply", said Mr Man Mohan Singh, Chairman, CII, Chandigarh
Council."CII through its Centre of Excellence CII Triveni Water
Institute is working continuously towards achieving its sole vision -
"enabling India to make substantial progress towards achieving water
security by 2022".
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