A National Water Policy for India

Summary

Dr. K. L. Rao, a former Union Minister for Power and Irrigation, delivers the A. D. Shroff Memorial Lecture for the Forum of Free Enterprise (27 October 1975, Delhi) on India’s looming water crisis and the case for a planned, integrated, nation-level response. He frames water — alongside air — as the binding physical constraint on the future progress of mankind: the world’s stock is fixed, demand is rising, and pollution and evaporation are eroding what is usable. India’s resources are erratic by geography and monsoon: 14 major and 44 medium rivers carry roughly 90% of the flow, total annual river flow averages about 1,645 thousand million cubic metres, and ground water adds another 2,55,000 million cum — but only about half is usable, and storage today captures only 15% of that.

Rao argues that irrigation is the decisive lever for Indian agriculture and that the popular line that ‘minor irrigation will be sufficient’ is propaganda. He benchmarks Indian foodgrain output against the U.S.A., U.S.S.R. and China, noting that India farms 16% of the world’s foodgrain area but produces only 9%, that Punjab (with 80% irrigation) far outproduces Madhya Pradesh (with 8%) per unit land, and that irrigation today still reaches only about 25% of India’s sown area. He also surveys non-agricultural demands — urban water supply (Delhi from 2 million gallons/day in 1896 toward an expected 1,000 million gallons/day by century’s end), industry, hydro and thermal power cooling, fishing and recreation — and warns about sewage pollution at Banaras on the Ganga and at Delhi on the Jamuna.

The heart of the lecture is a centralising policy prescription. Drawing on California’s 5,200 million cum north-to-south transfer, Soviet inter-basin plans, and India’s earlier Periyar, Jamuna and Indus diversions, Rao endorses a ‘National Water Grid’ — a Brahmaputra–Ganga–Son–Cauvery link via Farakka, with a feeder linking the Chambal to the Rajasthan canal at Nagaur — quoting a United Nations team that says such a grid ‘will be a necessity’ by the year 2000. To execute it he calls for the formal declaration of a National Water Policy and the creation of a National Water Authority chaired by the Prime Minister, on the premise that the waters of the country belong to the nation and not to its states. He frames cooperation with Nepal, Bangla Desh, Bhutan and even China on the Brahmaputra as essential, and proposes a ‘Bhagirath Service’ — a citizens’ national service for cheap canal construction — alongside cost-saving engineering (system analysis, computer studies, radar rainfall measurement, aerial flood survey) and independent post-valuation of completed projects. He closes with a warning on rising per-acre irrigation costs (from Rs. 300–400 a quarter-century earlier to Rs. 1,500–2,000) and a plea to put planning on a ‘correct footing’ so that India’s precious water reaches all in good time. The booklet carries the standard Forum of Free Enterprise disclaimer that the views are not necessarily those of the Forum.

Key points

• Frames water (with air) as the fundamental physical constraint on human progress and warns that pollution and unchecked use are shrinking India’s usable share.

• Quantifies India’s hydrology: 14 major and 44 medium rivers carry ~90% of flow; annual river flow ~1,645 thousand million cubic metres; ground water ~2,55,000 million cum; only half usable and only 15% presently stored.

• Rejects the line that ‘minor irrigation will be sufficient,’ arguing that India produces 9% of world foodgrains from 16% of the area while the U.S.A. produces 17% from 9%, and that Punjab’s 80% irrigation outperforms Madhya Pradesh’s 8% land-for-land.

• Surveys non-agricultural demand — urban supply (Delhi rising toward 1,000 million gallons/day), industry, hydro and thermal cooling — and flags Ganga and Jamuna sewage pollution at Banaras and Delhi.

• Endorses inter-basin transfer (citing California, the USSR, Periyar, Jamuna, Indus) and a ‘National Water Grid’ linking Brahmaputra–Ganga–Son–Cauvery with a Chambal–Rajasthan feeder, citing a UN team’s call for a grid by AD 2000.

• Calls for a declared National Water Policy and a National Water Authority chaired by the Prime Minister, on the principle that India’s waters belong to the nation, not to its constituent states.

• Proposes international cooperation with Nepal, Bangla Desh, Bhutan and China — including upper-Brahmaputra dams — to control floods (Ghagra, Rapti, Brahmaputra) and unlock hydro power.

• Proposes a ‘Bhagirath Service’ of citizen-built canal works, cheaper engineering through system analysis and computer studies, and independent post-valuation, in response to per-acre irrigation costs rising from Rs. 300–400 to Rs. 1,500–2,000.