IWRM Road Map, Orissa :Water Pricing

Orissa going for fixing price for water use

Satyasundar Barik
Under the plan, users could be charged according to the measured volume of water
Water Regulatory Authority is expected to fix the charges

Civil society groups and farmers' organisations are up in arms against the proposal

BHUBANESWAR: Is Orissa proceeding to fix a price for water? This appears to be true going by proposals elaborated in the report of Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management Investment Programme (OIIAWMIP ).

One could get fair amount of idea about creation of market for water, identification of civic bodies as water retailers and classification of high value users.

As per the plan, users of water could be charged according to the measured volume of water. It proposes installation of metres for water measurement. It says all water allocations should be quoted in mega litres (ML) for agriculture and industry and kilolitres (KL) for domestic.

“With a common unit of measurement in place, the price will become more transparent,” says the document of Department of Water Resource and Asian Development Bank.

“Water users in Orissa do not yet have access to formal entitlements, much less access to a market or exchange where they can purchase additional rights. Once the safe yield available within a particular river basin or system becomes fully allocated, it will be desirable to establish an exchange where access rights can be traded on a temporary or permanent basis,” the document posted by DoWR on its webpage says.

It goes on to say ideally the exchange should function as a ‘market place' where the access rights can be bought and sold.

“While no one would be forced to sell their access rights, market forces would act through time to bring about efficient outcomes.

The exchange could be operated by DoWR or some reputable third party,” the document says. The OIIAWMIP report talks about earning cash if sellers would be giving up their water access right.

Water Regulatory Authority, which is expected to be in place by March 2012, could be fixing charges for surface and sub surface water used for domestic, agriculture, industrial and other purposes. “This is a dangerous idea. Gradually, access to water will become costlier. Those who have purchasing capacity can access water. When the report was prepared, stakeholders such as politicians, civil society groups, farmers, intellectuals and general water users could have been taken into confidence,” said Achyut Das, member of Odisha Water Forum.

“The proposal has been implemented to a large extent in Maharashtra.

The experience has been bad. The department has mooted pricing of water giving a reason that it would lead to more responsible use. We apprehend people who had traditional rights over water would be made to pay for the use,” said Pranab Ranjan Choudhury, another member of Odisha Water Forum.

Civil society groups and farmers' organisations are up in arms against the proposal. They demanded that the State government must elicit views of all sections of population before deciding on a critical sector like water

IWRM Road Map, Orissa :Water Pricing

Orissa becoming a dry State?
Siba Mohanty First Published : 25 Oct 2010 07:39:41 AM ISTLast Updated : 25 Oct 2010 12:03:40 PM IST
BHUBANESWAR: In the midst of a raging controversy over water diversion for industry, Orissa’s woes are going to worsen. Its rivers will provide for less as the water stress grows in future. If that is not all, the rising pollution will add to its misery, the latest report on water management by Department of Water Resources and Asian Development Bank (ADB) says.
At least three rivers would experience water stress by 2050 even as the per capita availability is going to dwindle.
Calculating the water availability from 11 major river basins, it says that per capita availability will decline by 34 per cent by 2050.
The average surface and ground water potential of the State, currently at 141 billion cubic metre (BCM), would fall by at least 10 per cent to 129 BCM.
“Per capita water availability varies throughout the State according to the relationship between availability and population. As the State’s population is still expanding, per capita supply will decline sharply,” the report said.
With rising population and consequent increase in demand for food and water with growth in mining and industrial activities, the demand for water from various sectors could increase to 55 BCM by 2050, the report indicated.
The water availability decline too points at water stress condition of the rivers. Three rivers __ Baitarani, Rushikulya and Budhabalanga __ will become water stressed. The per capita water availability from Baitarani is going to decline from 1,976 cubic metre to 1,348 cubic metre whereas the drop for Rushikulya will be from 1,341 cubic metre to 1,021 cubic metre. In case of Budhabalanga, it is expected to decline from 1,616 cubic metre to 1412 cubic metre.
Although Orissa possesses 11 per cent of the country’s water resources as against a population of just 4 per cent, it’s challenge remains in the strong seasonality of supply.
Increased demand due to a growing population, economic development as well as rising consumption in upstream states will lead to a decreased inflow and falling availability. Besides, climate change will also be a big factor. “The overall scenario points to increased flood risk and hydrological uncertainty,” it explained.
Availability apart, water quality will pose a major a challenge as the industrialisation makes things worse. The report suggested a bleak situation for at least six major rivers whose water quality rarely meets drinking water standards, thanks to inadequate treatment of the municipal and industrial effluents.
The report paints a grim picture saying the entire stretch of Mahanadi is in a state of slight to moderate pollution. Of the dozen monitoring stations of Mahanadi, all except five show water quality is below acceptable levels.