DAMS AND DEVELOPMENTEVOLVING FRAME WORKS FOR DECISION MAKING

The famous Sanskrit saying is " Jalaam Jeevanadharam". Water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious National Asset. Planning, development and management of water resources need to be governed by National Perspective. Water Resource is a public trust. The need for regulating the use. control and distribution including redistribution has arisen, in order to optimize the use of water, to maximize the number of beneficiaries with special attention to weaker section of the society and weaker life on this planet and to correct the regional imbalances for securing social justice. Natural right to water of all people and living beings should be protected.

Water as a resource is one and indivisible; rainfall, ice and snow , river waters, surface ponds and lakes and ground water are all part of one system and water is a part of larger ecological system and our limited water resources are to be used to improve the quality of life for all.

The availability of water is highly uneven in both space and time. Precipitation is confined to only about three or four months in a year and varies from 100 mm in the western part of Rajasthan to over 10,000 mm at Cheerapungi at Megalaya. Further, water does not respect state boundaries. Majority of the rivers in the country often cut across state boundaries, y

Sir M.Visveshwaraiah emphasised need for irrigation said that" Irrigation is the main stay of the country". Conventionally, water resources have been utilised through run of the river schemes. The high dam technology is about a century old. The construction of dams across major rivers have definitely contributed to the increase in food production, availability of drinking water, production of more hydro-power, control of floods and substantial relief to the drought affected areas. The storage capacity built through the completed and on going reservoir is about 250 km3. In our country 3596 dams are completed and 695 dams are under various stages of construction. Totally there are 4291 dams in India. There are large number of new projects under consideration to provide another 132 km3 of storage. '

Out of the available water resource of 1953 km3 of surface water it is estimated that 690 km3 of water can be utilised through conventional schemes.

This quantity excludes the possibility of using additional water from inter basin transfer from surplus basin to deficit basin and from the diversion of west flowing rivers to the east.

The country's population is 950 million at present and it is expected to reach a level around 1390 million by 2025 AD. The production of food grains is 198 M.T. at the end of 8th Five Year Plan and this target is to be raised to around 400 MT by the year 2025 AD. The drinking water needs of the people and live stock have also to be met besides meeting the requirement for industrial development. The demand for water for hydro.thermal and nuclear power generation is increasing substantially . As a result water which is already a scarce resource will become even Scarcer in the years to come.   This emphasises the need for utmost efficiency in water utilisation and a public awareness of importance of its conservation. Realising the importance and scarcity attached to the fresh water it has to be treated as an essential environment for sustaining all forms of life. The increase in demand for water can only be met by judiciously harnessing the rain water and storing it in the reservoirs so that it can be used beneficially for all sustainable demands. The dams play a vital role in creating this artificial storages.

FAMILIES:

The main reason for the opposition of large dams is that earlier there were no legislation for environmental protection and the awareness was lacking among the public and hence the project displaced families were given a raw deal. Very recently the packages offered for rehabilitation and resettlement for such project oustees/PDFs is very satisfactory and specially in Karnataka the State  Government has been very reasonable in/R & R and dealing with the problems of project oustees/PDFs.   There is a need to evolve a rehabilitation and resettlement Policy so that a good package is provided to safeguard the interest of project oustees.

THE REPORT OF THE WORLD COMMISSION on DAMS:

The recommendations made in the Executive summary include in the report of the World Commission on Dams have considerable significance on new works to be taken. They are also worth considering in adapting on existing one to the extent possible. The recommendations have been made after elaborate interaction, survey of 125 existing dams, 17 thematic review papers as well as the results of public consultations and more than 900 submissions made to the commission.  They have prepared Five key decision - points and prepared checklists.  I am sure the findings and the recommendations of 'the world commission will be discussed at the present seminar and sustainable conclusions reached.

The role of the Government during the past centuries was that of an inspector of use of water resource. The situation has underwent a sea change in the last decade of the 20th century. The Government is now the trustee, manager and regulating authorities of the Water Resource. The 'Welfare State'

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT PLAN:

The concept of preparing Environmental impact assessment and supporting management plan is recent development in India and is about Seven to Eight years old. The concept of public hearing is a very nascent one in India. Opportunities are now available to every one to focus the attention of the decision makers before any major irrigation or power project is taken up. This provision is already being used by people likely to be affected from such projects, NGO groups and other stake holders. This is a healthy development. Presently considerable time is taken for granting environmental clearance which includes forest clearance also. There is enough scope to stream line the procedure and speed up granting such clearances.

CLEARANCE OF PROJECTS BY CWC AND CEA:

Major Water Resources Project and Hydel projects require clearance from CWC an arm of water resource ministry and CEA a wing of the Energy Department. At present these organisations take very long time for clearance of projects.  Invariably these projects would have gone into construction and reached a stage making a fate-accompli situation before such clearances are issued. These clearances are needed to seek plan support and investment clearance' from Government of India. In view of inordinate delay there is a need to streamline the issue of clearances by these authorities and prescribe a time limit for issuing such clearances failing which "deemed clearance status" should be available to the project states.

Concept postulates 'Spatial Justice' to the Water Resource utilisation. The paramount duty of the state  is to undo the injustice done to areas and people. The Government of Kamataka has taken a bold initiative and approved 16 points for irrigation sector reforms. Prominent are:

1. Providing water to drought prone rainy shadow areas

2. Improved peoples participation in  the management of water system

3. Development and conservation of eco-system through planting of trees on canal
     bunds and banks of reservoirs.

The dams were built earlier only on economic and technical considerations. But the growing awareness has resulted in voice for ecological considerations which is quite an healthy development. A 'golden mean' has to be adopted taking into consideration of both the approaches. I request this august gathering to come out with 'golden mean' so that Governments' can seriously consider recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS:

I would like to remind the august gathering that India is in the Developing phase. The population growth is significant. Globalization and privatization has opened up our economic activities. Demand for water is increasing day by day. We have to produce 400 MT of food by 2025 AD. The challenging task of inter linking rivers and diversion of west flowing rivers has to be accomplished. Additional storages is to be created to serve the above needs. Therefore, construction of number of dams may become a necessity. We have learnt from past mistakes and are taking corrective measures by amending the National Water Policy, enacting Environmental Legislation, having appropriate R & R Policy and giving wide opportunity to all the Stake holders to interact right at the project planning stage so that the interest of every one is safeguarded. I am confident that any new ideas that will emerge in the deliberation of this workshop will be looked at with keen interest by the Government. I on behalf of Government of Karnataka assures this gathering that the recommendations of this workshop will be considered by the State Government.