The Hindu Business Line : Pune summit to highlight India's expertise in water management

IN a bid to highlight India's experience and expertise in water management and irrigation systems and how other developing countries can benefit from them, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Department of Commerce are jointly organising a two-day India-Africa Summit on Water Partnership at Pune on February 11.

"The conference will also assess the possibility of private sector involvement and partnership with African countries to achieve sustainable water supply in those countries," a FICCI official said.

According to a background paper prepared for the summit, it is estimated that with technology and methods available today, water consumption for agriculture could be curtailed by 10-15 per cent, for industries by 40-90 per cent and cities by a third with no sacrifice of economic output or quality of life.

"India can show its research and development and technology in such fields with Africa," FICCI said.

The summit will also deliberate on important fresh water conservation issues crucial for Africa such as purification, recycling, and rainwater harvesting. Africa's supply of fresh water resources is low in comparison with other continents, less than 5 per cent is withdrawn each year for water supply and for agricultural and industrial use.

Consequently, about two-thirds of the rural population and a quarter of the urban population still lack access to safe water.

Similarly, the total irrigated area is less than 25 per cent of the existing potential and hydropower - despite its immense possibilities — accounts for less than 5 per cent of the generated electricity.

According to an estimate, 14 African countries are experiencing water scarcity and the number is expected to rise to 25 by 2020 if this trend is to continue.

Adoption of water auditing programme in a system leads to reduced water losses, improved financial performance, improved reliability of supply system, efficient use of existing supplies and reduced legal liability. Pushing for adopting this system on a regular basis, FICCI said, "Water audit study is a qualitative and quantitative analysis of water consumption to identify means of recycling water. A water audit also determines the amount of water lost from a distribution system due to leakage and the cost of this loss to the utility."

Recognising water as a scarce and precious natural resource, the Government of India formulated the first National Water Policy in 1987 and updated in 2001. As per a FICCI study, irrigation sector consumes as much as 83 per cent of available water resources followed by domestic sector use (4.5 per cent), energy development (3.5 per cent) and industries (3.0 per cent). Other uses account for approximately 6 per cent of the total use.

"For development of these sectors we require adequate amount of good quality water. Providing safe drinking water to every human habitat is the most crucial challenge in India,' FICCI sources said. However, in competition to most other developing countries, it could be said that India's water resource management initiatives are more comprehensive, the FICCI official said.