Water conservation

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Posted on December 10, 2020June 18, 2025 by admin

World Environment Day Interview: Navkaran Singh Bagga, Founder and CEO, AKVO Atmospheric Water System

December 10, 2020

This interview is a part of the World Environment Day 2020 Interview Series. We welcome views from environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders on present environmental challenges and request their innovative ideas to find sustainable solutions to solve them.

Name: Navkaran
Singh Bagga

Organization: AKVO
Atmospheric Water Systems Pvt Ltd.

Designation: Founder
and CEO

Navkaran Singh Bagga, Founder and CEO, AKVO Atmospheric Water Systems

ST: According to you what is
the biggest environmental threat in the world at present?

Navkaran Singh Bagga: Water scarcity reports have become the norm across the globe. Cape Town and its impending water scarcity,The Chennai Water Crisis of 2019 has established the harsh truth that we are depleting all sources of water. Water is the driving force of all life on earth. Every one out of nine people lack access to clean drinking water. 1.8 billion people in seventeen countries with India in the extremely high category of water shortage within next few years is a matter of grave concern. Thus, a
quarter of the world’s population, appear to be veering towards an un-mitigatable water crisis.

Currently India holds the undesirable title of having the highest number of rural people without access to clean water. Although being home to nearly a sixth of the world’s population, India only gets 4% of the Earth’s fresh water. Already more than half of Asia’s third-biggest economy faces high water stress. 70% of Indians have poor or no access to safe drinking water and 22% of Indians do not have water reaching their homes and walk minimum more than a kilometre to reach a proper source. With only 60% of water available for consumption by 2030 we are alarmingly marching towards a crisis that will require human intervention right away otherwise we will stare at a third world war and this time over water.

Unfortunately, it is a sad truth that as a nation we still depend heavily on groundwater availability, be it for farming, drinking, washing, construction and any other miscellaneous use. 3.8 billion people could be living under water stressed conditions by 2025.

According to the figures of the report by WaterAid, a global advocacy group on water and sanitation; India has around 63.4 million people living in rural areas without access to clean water, more than any other country. The figures are part of ‘Wild Water, State of the World’s Water 2017’, a report by WaterAid. That is more than the combined population of Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand. Compared globally, that is as many people as who live in Australia, Sweden, Sri Lanka and Bulgaria–combined.

12 per cent of India’s population is already living the ‘Day Zero’ scenario, thanks to excessive groundwater pumping, an inefficient and wasteful water management system running for years has rendered irreparable loss and depletion of the water reserves. According to the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) report released by the Niti Aayog in 2018, 21 major cities (Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and others) are racing to reach zero groundwater levels by 2020, affecting access for 100 million people. The CWMI report also states that by 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and an eventual six per cent loss in the country’s GDP.

ST: What do you think a common person can do to help the environment?

Navkaran Singh Bagga: I think it should be a basic responsibility of every individual to do their bit to help and save the environment. The year 2020 has given us a good shake up and reminded us that we are not doing enough to help Mother Nature. It is high time that we pulled up our socks and tried. It does not require a lot of financial expenses or effort and anyone can take a few measures. Reuse, Reduce and Recycle should be our mantra. We should try to use eco-friendly and biodegradable things. Every individual can take very simple steps like reducing water wastage, reducing use of paper, carpooling, switching to alternates of plastic, afforestation, using energy efficient appliances. Moreover, we should try to look for alternate sources of energy and water. Even the government should emphasize and invest more on alternative and eco-friendly sources of energy. Embracing new and alternative technology is also a step forward. Being self-sufficient and not being dependent on earth’s natural resources is the key to a better future. The education system should incorporate the issue of global climate change in a more elaborate manner to make the future generations more aware and take charge of the situation. As an individual, I have always been very conscious about the environment and have always strived to use the best environmental practices in my personal life.

ST: What message do you have for the present and future generations?

Navkaran Singh Bagga: “Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment” says the United Nations. The earth’s temperature is rising, ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, species are getting extinct – a horrid future is staring us in the face. If we do not act right away, it might be too late. Hence, it has now become an imperative for present and future generations to save the environment if they want to stay on planet Earth. We must look for ways to reduce carbon dioxide emission and our carbon footprint. We must all work towards a sustainable future. We need more crusaders like Greta Thunberg who will make the world a better place to live in.

Try to inculcate the habit of being environmentally responsible living in your children from a very young age so that they don’t take their home for granted. Moreover, for entrepreneurs who are looking for areas to invest, I would suggest that instead of looking just for exciting business opportunities, look for problems which are worth solving. Thus, along with doing a business, you will also be helping the society and making the world a better place.

ST: What is the significance of ‘World Environment Day’ at the present time?

Navkaran Singh Bagga: The theme for World Environment Day 2020 is biodiversity, a concern that is both imperative and existential. As I mentioned earlier, 2020 has been a wakeup call for us. Recent events, from bushfires in Brazil, the United States, and Australia to locust infestations across East Africa and now in India and of course, a global pandemic prove the interdependence of humans and the network in which they exist. This World Environment Day should be a reminder that humans do not own this planet. We are mere inhabitants and we must learn to co-exist with nature else we might cease to exist. With our increasing demands, humans have pushed nature beyond its limit. It would take 1.6 Earths to meet the demands that humans make of nature each year. If we continue on this path, the biodiversity loss will have severe implications for humanity, including the collapse of food and health systems. When we destroy biodiversity, we destroy the system that supports human life. Reversing biodiversity loss is the only way to restore and sustain a healthy planet. This will only be possible when we understand and appreciate that the world we live in functions as a whole system. It is time to redefine our relationship with nature and put nature at the heart of our decision-making. It is, indeed, ‘Time for Nature’.

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Chennai water crisis: A wake-up call for Indian cities

Posted on February 20, 2020June 18, 2025 by admin

Dried-out taps, shutting down of schools, restaurants and hotels running out of business, police protection for protecting water resources, water being transported by train and tankers are not isolated events taking place in faraway places but are increasingly taking place almost every year in our neighbourhoods.

When situations like these strike an affluent and mega city, as it did in 2017-18 in Cape Town, they made headlines, bringing attention to the unfolding urban water crisis globally. Post Cape Town, multiple articles/reports pointed out the impending and existing water crisis for many Indian cities.

This year, it was Chennai that ran out of water.

The Chennai metropolitan area (CMA) — consisting of Chennai city, with a population of 4.9 million, and its adjoining areas — has an estimated population of 8.6 million and is the fourth-largest urban conglomerate in India.

Chennai was in the news four years ago for an entirely opposite reason but an equally serious situation — the unprecedented floods of December 2015, that drowned the city for many days, devastating lives and impacting businesses.

This year, the reservoirs that overflowed during the 2015-16 floods, dried out. Of Chennai’s total requirement of 830 MLD (million litres a day) water, the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewage Board(CMWSSB) was able to supply only about 525 MLD during the worst days of the crisis.

Empty reservoirs

The city of Chennai has four major reservoirs/lakes: Poondi, Cholavaram, Redhills and Chembarambakkam. These supply about 200 MLD of water. They fill up at the end of the Northeast monsoon (October-November) and supply water till the next monsoon season.

Post the 2015-16 season, the monsoon has been in deficit for two out of three years, with last year’s monsoon deficit being ~ 40 per cent. Due to a deficit monsoon this year, the reservoirs did not get filled up, bringing their combined storage to almost zero.

On June 30, 2019, the combined storage stood at just 18 million cubic feet (mcft) (0.1 per cent of total storage of 11,257 mcft). Last year, on the same day, the storage was 2,245 mcft. With a couple of months still left to go before rainfall, Chennai is in for a hard time in the coming months.

Chennai’s vanishing groundwater

Groundwater is extracted extensively, both within and outside Chennai city limits, to meet the city’s water demands. The CMWSSB and private tanker suppliers extract groundwater from rural areas on the outskirts of Chennai and transport it via tankers.

Within city limits, groundwater extraction takes place from about 0.42 million private groundwater wells, with 66 per cent of households having their own private wells. The result is overexploitation, with the city extracting almost twice the annual recharge.

Limited recharge due to the deficit monsoon and long-term indiscriminate groundwater extraction is making water tables fall rapidly, leading to wells drying up, deteriorating water quality and the risk of saline sea water ingress requiring well deepening or the search for wells further away from the city.

Dependence on tankers

Tankers supplying groundwater from outside the city limits are Chennai’s lifeline. At the height of the crisis, there were about 700-900 CMSSWB tankers making 9,700 trips, two-three times the usual trips to compensate for loss of supply from reservoirs, supplying about ~ 100 MLD of water and 4,500-5,000 private tankers, making five-six trips daily, supplying ~ 200 MLD.

However, groundwater overexploitation was made worse by limited recharge this year. It led to conflicts and tensions brewing up in and around the surrounding urban-rural areas, where many people were against indiscriminate groundwater mining in their area, forcing tankers to travel longer distances.

Inequity of impacts

With most of the city’s water supply dependent on water tankers, the impact of the water crisis this year was disproportionately felt by the poor. A 9,000-litre tanker from CMWSSB cost Rs 700-Rs 800, whereas private companies charged Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000.

With demand outstripping supply, the waiting period for tankers from CMSSWB stood at 15-25 days. High prices and low availability of public tankers made water access unaffordable for the people living in slums and lower income societies. The cost of buying water for many came to almost half of their monthly income.

Bad planning or limit of resilience?

After the drought of 2000, Chennai made it mandatory for buildings to have rainwater harvesting systems (RWH) installed. Rainwater harvesting did initially help to increase recharge and improving water tables.

However, there are concerns that over the years, poor implementation and lack of maintenance had led to many of these RWH systems becoming dysfunctional. With the water crisis on its doorstep now, city utilities have started a drive to check the efficiency of rainwater harvesting and install more.

RWH alone can do little when unregulated encroachments, illegal construction and indiscriminate pumping is pushing the city to limits. Due to rapid urbanisation and encroachment, the number of water bodies in Chennai have reduced to 28 (2017) from 60 (1893) and area under these water bodies has shrunk from 12.6 sq km to just 3.2 sq km, significantly affecting the city’s capacity to recharge depleted groundwater.

Chennai currently has two desalination plants supplying 200 MLD. After the current crisis, work on another desalination plant has been initiated that would supply 150 MLD at a cost of 1,259 crore by 2021, with a plan to add another of 400 MLD capacity.

Would these heavy investments save the city? Many believe that in a city with more than 1,000 mm rainfall, expensive desalination plants consuming lots of energy with negative environmental externalities might not be the best answer.

The financial sustainability of desalination plants is also in question, with utilities spending Rs 45-50 per 1,000 litre to produce potable water but charging Rs 3-5 from consumers.

Way forward

The 2019 crisis is a wake-up call for Chennai and other cities in India. With cities being the powerhouse of the economy, much more is required to make them sustainable and livable.

Integrated urban water management is the need of the hour, with no single effort or intervention being able to achieve long-term resilience. Within city limits, efforts should be put into rejuvenating its existing and lost water bodies, properly installing and managing rainwater harvesting systems and increasing the reuse of treated water.

With much of Chennai’s sources of water lying outside city limits, efforts need to be put in place to secure reservoir catchments, recharge groundwater and build partnerships with farmers and stakeholders. Otherwise, conflicts over water sources would keep increasing.

Time is running out and there is an urgent need to act now on conserving water.

Source: downtoearth.org.in
Sujith Sourab Guntoju is an intern, while Mohammad Faiz Alam and Alok Sikka are researchers at the International Water Management Institute, New Delhi. This column is a personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Down To Earth

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Water Crisis and the Cost Of Water

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Coca-Cola has spent over $2bn to reduce their water use and improve water quality wherever they operate since 2003. This investment is in fact only one example of how much companies globally are starting to spend on water. Continue reading “Water Crisis and the Cost Of Water”

India’s Water Crisis Explained

Posted on September 20, 2018June 22, 2025 by admin

In India, the rate at which groundwater supplies are depleting is shocking. More groundwater is being consumed than the natural processes that replenish them. It’s not surprising, given the population of the country, that we are the largest users of ground water in the world, just behind China. The 2030 Water Resources Group, made up of private companies, argues that the “water gap” (between insufficient supply and excess demand) in Asia will only close once countries limit the water-intensity of their economies. Continue reading “India’s Water Crisis Explained”

Tag: Water conservation