FORCE

Dwarka Underpass – An Avoidable Water Logging Fiasco

Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Civic Planning, Water Management on July 31st, 2009

Dwarka Underpass has been in the news for the sheer visual shock of seeing 6m (20ft) high column of water on a road after a more than average rainfall in a single day.

Actually, the water was standing not just in the underpass but also on the road leading into the underpass from both sides. Approximately, 1.5 km stretch of road including the underpass had water logging. The water logging was so bad that, even today, 4 days after the downpour, and hectic efforts to pump out the water, the road is still blocked for traffic.

As per our calculations, the total volume of water that was standing in this entire area was between 10-12.5 crore (100 -125 Million) liters. If we take Delhi’s average rainfall, then over the year, this area alone would hold approx 40-50 crore (400-500 Million) litres of water!

To put this figure in perspective,

10 crore litres = 7,50,000 people’s requirement for one day or more than 2000 people’s total water requirement for one whole year!

WHY THIS HAPPENS:

1) Faulty drainage planning – An underpass is an artificial depression dug out from the ground. Drainage in an underpass is always a problem because it’s almost always impossible to align the slope of the underpass drainage with that of the main drain outside the underpass (whose level will be higher than the underpass). The problem becomes worse when the underpass is located at a site which is topographically also a naturally depressed zone. In such an area the tendency of water from all the surrounding catchment area is to flow towards that depression with no escape route in sight.

It is important therefore to ensure that the drainage for surrounding catchments is planned in such a way that all water gets diverted away from the underpass BEFORE it enters the depressed zone.

2) Poorly designed / constructed rainwater harvesting systems. As per court orders all flyovers are supposed to do rainwater harvesting. It does not seem like the Dwarka Underpass has done it. Even if it has,

a) The system is obviously insufficient because its recharge capacities have not been designed after taking into consideration the runoff generated by the entire CATCHMENT of the underpass area.

b) Poor intake of the system because of faulty design / construction.

c) The system is poorly maintained. Rainwater harvesting system needs regular cleaning to maximize its intake capacity. If this is not done, the system gets choked and becomes defunct. Its cleaning is especially necessary where the RWH system takes (water from road / open surfaces etc where the silt load is high.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

1) Proper Drainage planning. The Problem can be corrected even now. However, planners will need to look beyond the underpass and plan for catching run-off from the catchment area for the underpass itself.

2) Rainwater Harvesting – All along the 1.5 km stretch, maybe perhaps more (analysis of exact site conditions needs to be made) an extensive rainwater harvesting system needs to be made. This will ensure that the runoff gets recharged to groundwater and there is no surplus flow left to “water-log” the underpass.

POLICY CHANGE NEEDED

The Dwarka Underpass is just a stark reminder of the urgent need to change policies to reflect urban water conditions:

1) WATER PLANNING SHOULD BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE DESIGNING WITH INTEGRATED EFFORT FROM ALL AGENCIES: Drainage and Water Harvesting planning to be done by agencies in co-ordination. When the underpass would have been constructed, PWD would have been given jurisdiction only over the immediate stretch of land over which the underpass is to be constructed. Hence, their designing and implementation would have to be a closed loop with minimal co-operation / interface with authorities managing that catchment area roads and drainage. So even if PWD wanted to plan an extensive drainage system, it would not have been able to do so. By the same logic, they might have been aware of / might have been advised by experts to do RWH for the entire catchment but since their intervention area was limited, they might not have been able to implement those suggestions.

2) RAINWATER HARVEQTING SYSTEMS SHOULD BE MADE PART OF THE STORM WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEM. Currently, since RWH is seen as an ad-hoc activity, it is largely unplanned and adequate provisions for maintenance – BOTH OF STRUCTURES AND CATCHMENTS – are not made. RWH systems should be integrated with Storm Water Drainage systems. This will at least ensure that an annual schedule and provision for maintenance will be made by government. It should also be ensured that the catchment conduits for runoff and the RWH systems are maintained simultaneously. This will help ensure efficient working of the systems.

Unless we plan for these now, such fiascos will increasingly occur over time. And why not turn fiascos into opportunities – harvest water from all such areas!

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The Winds of Change in the Ministry of Water Resources!

Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Events on July 20th, 2009

The Winds of Change are whistling through the corridors of the Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR) – happily threatening to turn this staid, typical ministry into a vortex of new ideas, unconventional solutions and win-win partnerships.

All it took was a mild mannered, smiley-faced man who sometimes sounds more like a satsang guru (sermon priest) than a bureaucrat. The Jt. Secretary of the MOWR – Shri. RM Mishra – has been slowly but steadily opening up the doors of the ministry to positive minded community groups working on water issues. For the past two years, I have seen the ‘public’ being invited for seminars, workshops, intensive meetings – not just to sit and clap but also to share their ideas and action agendas. Of course, I’m sure, the other senior bureaucrats in the ministry and also the past and present Minister of WR are equally to be thanked for this change – I just hope they keep up this drive.

The 16^th of July ’09, I think, was a watershed in this journey. A Meeting without a name, without a pre-defined agenda, was held in the ministry.

The invitees – roughly 30 practitioners of water conserving community movements from different parts of the country
The broad objective – to create a forum for free interchange of ideas, email-ids, phone numbers and support groups.

The invitees included:

Religious groups that used religion to create mass movements to protect rivers and make water bodies
Poets and intellectuals
Youth groups
Media and web professionals
Unconventional water cleansing technology providers
Activists, and of course
FORCE!

What makes this a historic meeting is the fact that a government ministry created this forum for

Completely unrestrained expression,
Auto-evolving agenda, and
With an objective of creating an ever expanding river of water conservationists working in harmony with each other in their own unique ways.

The spread & power of the government coupled with the passion of the crusader – can change be far behind??

Some credit for these winds of change must go to FORCE as well. Not only has FORCE been a partner of the ministry in helping create the public interface, but we also pioneered the JAL RAKSHAK movement (a forum of community leaders working for the cause of water conservation).

Incidentally, the Jt. Secy. Mr RM Mishra – is a Special JAL RAKSHAK too!

May the tribe of JAL RAKSHAKs increase! Here’s your chance to jump on to this juggernaut – register yourself as a JAL RAKSHAK and be a part of the Great Indian Water Turn-Around!

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How to Become Water Wise

Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Water Wisdom on June 15th, 2009

A couple of day’s back I received a very interesting little note from Mr. Kishore Nath, who lives in Canada and appears to be very water conscious. He stated and then asked, “We can educate the masses but not the rich. As one becomes rich, one wastes water to have tub baths, washes cars, washes white bed sheets and linen more frequently, builds big lawn and waters them. Please advise how to address the rich and corrupt?”

I am posting here the reply that I have sent to him because I think Mr. Nath has brought up a very interesting topic.

Sometime back, FORCE carried out a survey on water consumption patterns in different socio-economic areas within Delhi. The study covered samples from urban poor (slum cluster); urban village; middle class DDA flats; rich individual houses. We found that the average water consumption of a slum household having 5-6 members was 300 liters per day; of urban village with 5 members was 500 liters per day; of middle class DDA with average 4 members was 1000 liters /day; of rich houses with 3-4 members was 1500 liters per day. And the funny thing was – each section was equally dissatisfied with the supply!

It would at first glance seem that the richer you are, the more wasteful you become. However, let’s not condemn the middle class / rich as being more “consciously” wasteful than the poor. The basic amount of water that we use for cooking / drinking is more or less the same – approx 40 liters per person. It’s just that as income increases, the dwelling unit size and lifestyle improvement adds to the average water consumption per household. A jhuggi (house in a slum) will need barely 25-30 liters of water to keep itself and its surroundings clean but a 500 sq meter house in Greater Kailash in a dry dusty area like Delhi, needs 1000 liters for the same purpose. A poor man who goes to a community toilet for open defecation (which should be totally eradicated) uses 5-7 liters of water as against a rich person who uses 13-15 liters of water each time he uses the toilet. Rich or poor, we all like to live it up within our means.

There’s lots we can do to save water. Like follow the 5 Rs to become Water Wise:

‘R‘educe water wastage – through adoption of water saving products (aerator taps, dual flush cisterns, small head showers, auto switch off motors), water wise practices (swabbing floors / vehicles instead of washing, plugging leaks, withdrawing only as much water as we need).

‘R‘euse Used Water – using the same water twice or more before finally throwing it in a drain – wash vegetables and use same water for your kitchen garden, use last rinse water from washing machine for swabbing floors etc.

‘R‘echarge Groundwater – Rainwater Harvesting

‘R‘ecycle waste water - The only way we can actually ‘Generate’ water i.e. add to naturally available supply.

And MOST IMPORTANT ‘R’ESPECT water – We have forgotten this totally. We treat it like a commodity – to be used and abused but never revered. It is time perhaps to revive traditions that taught us to respect water.

In terms of water wastage, it is sad but each segment seems to waste as much as is possible within their circumstances! The rich over-water their lawns, allow water overflows, wash roads / gates / vehicles unnecessarily etc while the poor throw away unused water of the day before, or leave community taps running or waste water madly when filling up from tankers. Both are equally callous – the rich think nothing before over-extracting groundwater, throwing chemical contaminants in open areas which then leach into groundwater or littering water bodies / green areas with plastics.

The poor too direct their sewage into storm water drains, throw garbage into drains, defecate in the open even if there is a community toilet available…..the list of the unthinking devastation we do to water and environment is endless! The only exceptions are traditional village societies which are dependent upon internal catchment generated water sources such as ponds / shallow dug wells.

All the above sounds suspiciously like criticism of rich and poor alike – but I do not really think they are to blame. No-one is consciously ‘bad’. Our problem is simply that we have forgotten to value water – today it’s just something that flows out of a tap – we’ve forgotten to worship it, love it and care for it. When was the last time you felt the joy of getting happily drenched in the rain or experienced the wonder of God’s immense power when you saw thunder and lightening in black heavy monsoon clouds? Has it ever struck you that all religions treat water as the ultimate purifier – baptism is in water, a Hindu Pooja begins and ends with purification with water…..

Therefore, to sum up – change will start when we remind people to love and respect water as a gift from God and when we educate them about products / practices that can help them conserve water WITHOUT significantly impacting their lifestyle / standards of hygiene.

Can I also invite you to join us as a ‘JAL RAKSHAK’ – a community of Water Saviors that we are creating? This community will enable others to learn more about and actually implement water conservation methods.

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JAL RAKSHAK FORUM

Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Events, Jal Rakshak on June 2nd, 2009

To celebrate World Environment Day, Forum For Organized Resource Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE) – an NGO dedicated to the cause of Water Conservation- is organizing a One day workshop on June 6, 2009 from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. at Institute of Social Sciences, 8, Nelson Mandela Marg. The workshop is titled:

COMMUNITY LEADERS IN RAINWATER HARVESTING

JAL RAKSHAKS TO CHART THE WAY FORWARD

The Workshop is being supported by Coca-Cola India. The agenda of this interactive workshop will be

1) Knowledge sharing with experts and Community leaders on Rainwater Harvesting Experiences

2) Capacity Building for Rainwater harvesting maintenance and ensuring its sustainability

And, perhaps most important,

3) Creating a JAL RAKSHAK FORUM which will act as a nucleus group to broad base adoption of Water Wise behaviours, practices and implementation of innovative water conservation solutions in their areas. This Forum will organize mass awareness activities, cultural programs and interaction with government bodies for water conservation. We hope that it will become a pressure group for mass adoption of Water Wise behaviours by all stakeholders and for policy change in the government.

A Directory of ‘JAL RAKSHAKS’ who participate in this workshop – printed and electronic – will be compiled and presented to the Chief Minister, and relevant administrative bodies and to all JAL RAKSHAKs. This directory will be a ready reference for government and citizens for taking advice on water related issues.

As a Community Leader, who has already done Rainwater Harvesting in his / her area, you have already proven that you are a JAL RAKSHAK. Let’s all, join hands to form a unified forum and be the fountainhead of a Water Conservation movement.

I request you to join us for this interactive workshop so that we can learn more from each other and jointly decide on the way forward for the JAL RAKSHAK FORUM.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

9.30- 10.00 a.m.	Registration
10.00 – 10.30 a.m.	Inauguration with Kalash Ceremony and Welcome of Chief Guest, Special Invitees
10.30 – 11.15 a.m.	Presentations by experts on various aspects of Rainwater Harvesting
11.15 - 11.45 a.m.	Magic Show on Water
11.45 a.m. – 12 noon	Tea
12.00 – 12.45 p.m	Training on Maintenance and precautions for RWH with Case studies
12.45 p.m. – 2 p.m.	Experience Sharing and round table discussion with community leaders
	Discussion with Community Leaders on building Sustainability into Maintenance of RWH
	Summarising of learnings and conclusions. RWH protocol
2.00 – 2.45 p.m	Lunch
2.45 p.m. – 3.00 p.m.	Introducing the concept of the JAL RAKSHAK FORUM
3.00 p.m. – 3.45 p.m.	Defining the Caring for Water – Rainwater Harvesting, Protection of Water Bodies, the 5 ‘R’s of water
3.45 – 4.00 p.m.	Tea
4.00 – 5.10 p.m.	Creation of a ‘Delhi Jal Rakshak Forum’ – Charting the Agenda, Selection of Core Co-ordination Committee and Action Plan for The Way Forward
4.00 – 5.10 p.m.	Enrolment and Presentation of JAL RAKSHAK badges
5.10 – 5.30 p.m	Summing up, valedictory and Vote of Thanks

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A FORCE’ful Message

Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Water Management on April 3rd, 2009

Water is a life sustaining resource but one that is limited in Quantity.

Its distribution is inequitable and so is its usage.

However there is a tremendous scope in economizing on its consumption while at the same time bolstering its locally available supply.

We believe the route to doing so is through mass movements that support local bodies in water conservation and influence the government to adopt more water friendly policies.

We realize that for any sustainable change in basic resource usage patterns, the involvement of all sectors of the society is important.

Citizens, Government and Business must join hands together to achieve the common objective of a better life for all – for us and the generations to come.

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Most Popular Posts

Dwarka Underpass – An Avoidable Water Logging Fiasco

The Winds of Change in the Ministry of Water Resources!

How to Become Water Wise

JAL RAKSHAK FORUM

A FORCE’ful Message