It seems like it was only yesterday when PM Narendra Modi on Independence Day, from the ramparts of Red fort announced the Make In India initiative, an ambitious plan to boost manufacturing in India. Along with a host of things, he spoke about his vision of waste water management and solid waste management in 500 towns across India through public private partnership.
With the recent conclusion of Make in India Week, it is time for us to analyse some vital ingredients of ‘Make in India’ and its impact on the same. It is imperative that we begin with waste water management, diving in deep (read: literally) on various aspects of it.
Managing water
To understand the world water scenario, it is vital to seek answers to a simple question, How serious are our water issues? Global research by The water project says, 1 in 9 people globally lack access to clean water. And this shortage leads to 2.5 billion people globally, lacking access to improved sanitation and 1.1 billion lacking access to toilets. Water related disease kills a child every 21 second, and diarrhea being the chief killer, more than malaria, aids measles combined. Thus keeping this data in mind, waste water management is the need of the hour, especially in today’s day and age with water shortage posing as a rising global challenge.
Make in India juxtaposed with ground reality
Of all the hullabaloo surrounding Make in India promotional campaign that took place in Mumbai, in an attempt to attract potential investors, the Government didn’t address the predicaments of the existing industries in some of the state’s prominent industrial belts that are battling serious water scarcity.
“Industries in Marathwada region, which faced one of the worst droughts in recent years, has water cuts of up to 30-35 per cent, up from at least 10 per cent in September last year,” according to officials of the water resources department.
Aurangabad is an important industrial centre in Marathwada where mega industrial parks of Shendra and Bidkin are being developed for the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). This was apparently the highlight of Make in India week in Mumbai.
An MIDC report last November says the entire Marathwada division, which includes the districts of Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, has 6,174 industrial units and a gross domestic product of Rs 1.3 lakh crore.“Industries that require water as a raw material such as breweries and pharmaceutical companies have been most affected. Overall, industries in Marathwada have adopted water conservation techniques over the past 4-5 years.Even breweries have embraced methods to cut down water requirement to at least 3.5 litres of water for every 1 litre of beer from the earlier 5-6 litres of water, but the production of breweries and pharmaceutical companies has definitely taken a hit,” says Ashish Garde, president, Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA). On conditions of anonymity, an official from Water Resources Department, “Years ago, industries mushroomed around the Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad district, which was the main source of water supply for industries in and around Aurangabad. However, now the water storage level at Jayakwadi has come down to 3-5 per cent. As per a court directive, we have to give priority to water for drinking purposes. The water cut to industries has been increased to at least 35 per cent, and the situation is unlikely to change until monsoon.”
“Roughly, industries are not getting water on at least 1.5 days of the week…”Bhushan Gagrani, chief executive at MIDC, was quoted saying. Apart from big industries, even medium sized companies are facing water scarcity problems. Vishal Sharma, managing director, Nalco Water India Limited, explains how the Make in India initiative will not be a success, if water related issues are not tackled effectively. “If we continue with a situation of ‘water is a problem in India’, the ‘Make in India’ initiative will be difficult to move. Water is the key in every industry we can think of. As an example it takes 150 KL of water to produce one car. Hence, adoption of the right water strategies is very critical for India, and not just for Make in India but for the overall industrialisation of India.”
Water management is the only answer
So, how can we handle this crisis, is reuse a solution? “Water recycling and reuse definitely will address the issue of availability, but the same may increase the issue of effluent and wastewater because as we use more chemistry to recycle water, therefore we also need to discharge the water with those chemistry eventually in the right way at the right parameters. This is very much possible and all technologies are available. It is only a question of adoption of the right technologies. Also as the adoption of the wastewater treatment technologies becomes more widespread, it will lead to a reduction of the cost,” elaborates Sharma.
A brief overview of the state of waste water treatment
A government report on Urban and Industrial Water Supply and Sanitation warns of huge implications on urban and industrial India by the use of water and discharge of waste. What does it state? “It categorically states that the challenge of sewage collection and treatment has not received adequate attention. And even though we boast of smart cities, not a single city can be proud of a complete sewerage system, which can keep up the sanitation and pollution challenge. And the vital point here is, if sewage systems are not comprehensive – spread across the city to collect, convey and intercept waste The report surely shows a grim scenario as far as sewage treatment in India is concerned,” elucidates Pravin Ingole, Manager proposal, Greywater, India.
Factors that hinder wastewater treatment
The report says, “The cost of a wastewater treatment plant depends on two key factors — the quality of raw influent and the quality of the receiving medium,” says Pravin. He adds ,” that most cities in India do not have facilities to treat human excreta or chemical industrial waste. And , most of these plants are technologically ancient, built at a time when waste was not chemical but biological. In today’s time, the nature of waste is drastically different in quantity and character.” Adding another perspective to the line of thought, Priyanka Mukherjee, a social scientist says,” An important factor that hinders wastewater treatment is unavailability of land for building new plants. Land is expensive and unavailable, therefore, cities are finding it difficult to treat their waste on a daily basis. Take for example , of the Shendra-Bidkin corridor, of which , Bidkin land acquisition is still underway,” says Priyanka Mukherjee, a social scientist. Last but not the least, construction and maintenance costs are major deterrents too. Today, plants cost close to Rs 1 crore approx per MLD to build. India’s deficit of sewage treatment would require huge investment, if only greenfield options are considered. “Hence, upgrading the existing waste water treatment plants is a good step towards Make in India. Lets hope INR 15,20,000 Cr investment for Make in India that the government had announced in twitter is put to good use.
By Dr. Arvind Kumar President India Water Foundation
