The Water Talk Series was started in 2017 with the objective of creating an intellectual platform to critically discuss the issues in practice as well as in policy. The event provides a space to water policy professionals, bureaucrats, academicians and activists to share their opinions on the importance of water in the contemporary Indian situation.
The theme for the Water Talk Series 2019 will be "The Discourse of Flood and Drought in India – The Question of Life, Livelihood and Ecology." The one day event will try to critically look into the meteorological, anthropogenic and institutional roots of flood and droughts. At the same time, potential solutions will also be presented and deliberated upon by best practitioners and policy makers from across the country.
One of the burning issues in water today is both the problem of scarcity - drought and the problem of plenty - floods. These disasters, among many, are affecting livelihoods, employment, socio-economic development, the functioning of the larger ecosystem.
Droughts are the world’s costliest natural disasters and affect more people than any other form of natural disaster (Wilhite, 2000). They are also considered to be the most far-reaching of all natural disasters, causing short and long-term economic and ecological losses as well as significant secondary and tertiary impacts (UN WATER). 16% of India’s geographical area is drought prone (GoI, 2013) and with the country having wide variations in physiographic and climatic conditions, the monsoon is also quite variable, both spatially and temporally.
Due to these features, even in a good monsoon year, various regions suffer from drought. And during drought years like 2002, 2004, 2009, 2016, 2019, the impacts are very severe affecting the poorest and most deprived sections of the society and there by affecting various sectors and economic development of the country. In 2019 itself, more than 43% of India’s geographical area is grappling with a crisis of severe drought
Even in areas which are naturally and historically water abundant (for eg: Kerala, Karnataka and cities like Bangalore, Chennai and so on), today the water demand outweighs the water supply. Population growth, increase in demand for water from agriculture, industries and urban centres has resulted in more demand over availability and supply. Exploitation of groundwater beyond the equilibrium of recharge along with destruction of recharge areas has resulted in the depletion of aquifers, worsening the situation. As the availability of water in the country is variable along with the Changing scenario of climate change, the availability of water for irrigation, drinking and domestic use becomes the need of the hour.
Monsoon triggered floods and mudslides have ravaged several parts of the country, including the North East India, Bihar, Odisha and killed thousands of people, displacing tens of millions of people. The situation has become excessively worse in the recent decade with the change in intensity and distribution of monsoon/ rainfall and anthropological induced changes to the ecosystem. There is also a “deficit in abundance” – the availability of potable drinking water is a problem during wide spread floods.
With increasing urbanisation, demand for land and economic development, the natural ecosystems are under great pressure. Degradation of the natural ecosystems has destroyed the ecological niche (role) of the wetlands to accommodate the flood waters. Urbanisation also brings in cementing of urban soils, destruction of natural drainage and recharge areas and inadequate artificial drainage aggravating the issue of flood resilience. Adding to this, high intensity and erratic rainfall/monsoon fuelled by climate change has resulted in huge storm water load resulting in urban flooding.
Both crises are of an urgent nature which needs to addressed at the local level by sustainable, pre crisis approach and problem solving and institution management.
Timing | Topic / Agenda | Speaker | Duration |
9 - 9:30 AM | Registration | ||
9:30 - 9:45 AM | Welcome Speech | Dr. Shalini Bharat | 15 minutes |
9:45 to 10 AM | Setting the context of the day: Introduction to the topic & proceedings of the day | Dr. Amita Bhide Dean, School of Habitat Studies, TISS | 15 minutes |
10 to 10:40 AM | The management flaws of flood and droughts in India | Mr. Himanshu Thakkar Coordinator, SANDRP | 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion |
10:40 to 11:20 AM | Deficit to desired - groundwater and water security in floods and droughts | Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni, Executive Director, ACWADAM | 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion |
11.20 to 11:35 AM | Tea and snacks | 15 minutes | |
11.40 AM to 12.20 PM | The recurring havoc - floods in Northeast - causes, consequences and the way out | Dr Partha Jyoti Das - Head, Water, Climate & Hazard Programme at Aaranyak | 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion |
12:20 to 1PM | Gender perspective to droughts and floods | Mrs. Seema Kulkarni Facilitation Team member of Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch (MAKAAM) Forum for women farmers' rights and Founding members of SOPPECOM | 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion |
1 to 2 PM | Lunch | ||
2 to 2:40PM | Drought & the mitigation of the agrarian crisis and rainfall use efficiency | Mr. Ravindra A - Director WASSAN | 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion |
2:40PM to 3:20PM | Drought & Agrarian mitigation in dry land – technical perspective | Dr. K.V.Rao, Principal Scientist, CRIDA | 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion |
3:35 to 4:15PM | Million wells in the making - answer to urban water distress | Mr. S.Vishwanath - "A Million Recharge Wells Project" - Biome Environmental Trust | 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion |
4 to 4:15PM | Tea and snacks | ||
4:15 to 5:15PM | Youth Engagement - Panel Discussion Urban resilience - emerging priorities and key initiatives Post flood rebuilding after Kerala floods 2018 Natural Resource Management strategies to mitigate drought |
Vincy Abraham, Water Youth Network, an International NGO Navneet Anand, KPMG Amit Deshmukh – worked in drought prone region of Latur | 15 minutes 15 minutes 15 minutes 15 minutes discussion |
5:15PM | Thank you note | Bhatta Ram - President, TISS Student Union | 5 minutes |
5:20PM | Tea and snacks |