Is water at the centre of survival or collapse of the present civilisation in the 21st century?

All the present indicators point in that direction. Water is also at the centre of potential conflicts between nations (within nations). Some even predict "Water Wars". For centuries, nations have battled for domination of the world's oceans. In recent years, the battle has moved to a new arena, control of fresh waters of the world. More than one billion people worldwide lack sufficient fresh water. In developing countries of Asia and Africa, 80% of all diseases are water related.

Per capita daily water consumption worldwide - personal, municipal and industrial - has gone up from 250 cubic metres in 1900 to 700 cubic metres today. Water is fast becoming shorter in supply because of extensive desertification and ever increasing demand by the growing population, set to reach a peak in the 21st century. Water is being polluted due to modern practices in agriculture, industrial development and other human activities. We are continuously confronted with new and emerging problems affecting both water quantity and quality. Beginning with localised epidemics and sewage pollution in the mid 19th century, we have faced challenging water problems: Eutrophication, Toxic chemical pollution, Large dams and diversions, Acidification, Global warming and Global Change. Spatially these problems extended from local-regional-continental to global scales and correspondingly time lags ranged from years-decades-centuries to millennia.

At the beginning of this millennium, we are faced with some serious and challenging water resource problems: water supply for the ever-growing urban centres and megacities, water and irrigation systems to assure food security, man-made and natural disasters affecting water resources, and global warming and global change induced catastrophic events. A fundamental and even revolutionary thinking in how to manage this vital resource is urgently required, if we have to avert calamities down the road and protect this resource for future generations. UNCED Agenda 21, Chapter 18 dealing with fresh water resources specifies a number of steps nations can take to stop the present trend towards decreasing world's fresh water resource. Two major issues confronted in regard to fresh water resources are: (1) Arresting the dangerous trends of polluting the water resources and (2) Conserve and manage the water resources for future development.

Now coming to the main theme of this symposium, "Restoration of Lakes and wetlands", we know watersheds are considered to be the fundamental component in safeguarding an ecosystem's water supply. Lakes, reservoirs, rivers and wetlands are just parts of the larger natural systems. Water resources research and development must comprehend this situation. Aquatic sciences (Limnology, hydrology and hydrogeology etc.,) must adopt a systems oriented concept dealing with water bodies as ecosystems embedded in broader natural environment. Conceptual and theoretical models on ecosystems in general and aquatic-ecosystems in particular are available and constantly evolving. Some of the basic ecosystem

principles sometime appear to be trivial but are often grossly ignored leading to consequences which impede our ability to predict the future response of the lake, when its environment is drastically changed, sometimes naturally and more often as a result of human activities. We must acknowledge at the outset that the basic ecosystem principles have important consequences for water resources management. I am sure we will discuss a number of examples highlighting this during the conference.

Kempegowda, founder of this beautiful city, recognising the difficulty of bringing water from a far of river to Bangalore situated at an elevation of about 900 metres above mean sea level, devised a novel idea of developing lakes taking advantage of the natural morphology of the catchment and monsoon rainfall. Conceptually he visualised that these lakes (or tanks as they are often called) would provide a ground water table for the growing settlements. Bangalore also enjoyed a moderate climate due to a large number of water bodies. Each lake has its own watershed into which rain water flows recharging the aquifers and thus assuring year round water supply for residents of Bangalore.

Urbanisation and a large influx of people to the city as a consequence of State Reorganisation on linguistic lines increased the demand for land. Bangalore Municipal Council (later Bangalore City Corporation), the City Improvement Board (later Bangalore Development Authority), without proper urban planning, formed residential layouts and commercial and industrial complexes on tank beds, altering permanently the hydrological regimes of these catchments. Lakes that were not encroached were used as receptacles for waste disposal. The consequences of ignoring these basic ecological principles are obvious. With disappearance of a large number of these water bodies, the natural ability to replenish the ground water table declined. As the ground water depleted and with increasing urban population, the authorities relied more and more on organised water supply schemes beginning with the construction of Thippegondanahalli reservoir in 1934 and later several Cauvery water supply schemes. Although these organised water supply schemes has to some extent met the needs of Bangaloreans, they have created very serious environmental problems by not having adequate wastewater treatment facilities. The urban water supply schemes look at only one end of the water cycle, namely exploit more and more water resources to meet the ever growing demand, and completely ignore the environmental implications of indiscriminate disposal of waste water into the environment.

With the hydrologic regime of the catchments of water bodies irreversibly altered (and with poor maintenance of the drainage channels), Bangalore became highly vulnerable for floods in many low-lying areas. 1999 and 2000 were the worst years for urban flooding all across the country. Bangalore had its share; residents of Balaji layout, situated next to the Hebbal tank, endured the nightmare of water logging for 15-20 days during the summer of 2000. The residents living in the catchment area of Bellandur Lake were also subjected to the wrath of floods this summer due to lash of heavy rains. Apparently due to the large quantity of sewage entering the lake, there was heavy frothing, covering a vast area of the surroundings. The forth in its course destroyed paddy and other crops over an area in excess of 500 acres.

The main reason for urban floods is the total disregard for the functioning of the hydrologic systems. With heavy monsoon downpour expected every few years, one must keep the natural drainage systems well maintained (particularly in Bangalore with its undulating landscape), and the lakes and tanks well maintained and protected. The founder of this city, Palegar Kempegowda, knew this centuries ago, but our urban planners, administrative bureaucracy and above all our politicians cannot be bothered about such mundane things.

Conclusion:

In the recent World Water Forum held at the Hague, Ms. Maude Barlow, President of the Blue Planet Project promoted the concept that water must be safeguarded as a basic human right and anything less than a right becomes a commodity subject to commercial exploitation. Ms. Barlow also indicated that multinationals were attempting to decide the destiny of the world's fresh water supply. We already see commercial elements making their way into the water business in many countries including India. One litre of mineral water sells in the open market for Rs. 16/-, about half the cost of one litre of petrol. The same quantity of mineral water sells for Rs. 40-50/- in hotels. I have not heard any complaints or seen any protest about the high cost of mineral water, whereas there is widespread discontentment and even disturbance about the recent hike in petrol prices. Somehow we seem to have misplaced our priorities.

Address:

President,
KERF