“Benefit sharing mechanism, feasible water-taxation policy and transparent monitoring system are needed to reduce the urban-rural water conflict in Nagpur Metropolitan Area (NMA) which is increasing day-by-day due to shortage of water in Nagpur,” said a joint study published in MDPI Journal recently. A group of experts including Vibhas Sukhwani, Kamakshi Thapa, Rajib Shaw, Sameer Deshkar, Bijon Kumar Mitra and Wanglin Yan worked on this report named ‘Addressing Urban-Rural Water Conflicts in Nagpur Through Benefit Sharing’. Urban and rural areas often meet their water demands from a shared stock of estimable water resources. In case of Nagpur region, water stress has today become a subject of serious concern.

 

The water demands in Nagpur City are primarily met through the multipurpose Pench river on priority, but the recently declining water availability has raised undue concerns for irrigation in the Pench command areas. According to the study, the water availability in the Pench dam is subjected to changing climate and upstream developments in the neighboring Madhya Pradesh, the increased transfer of fresh water to Nagpur City is found to be disproportionately affecting the co-dependent rural areas, especially during the water-deficit years. Undergoing infrastructure development in the city is utilising more available water. At the same time, the urban and rural areas in wider Nagpur Metropolitan Area (NMA) have been experiencing acute seasonal water stress in recent years. In 2019, the Wadi, Digdoh and Nildo Municipal Councils around Nagpur city faced the water crunch after many decades due to dried-up Vena dam at Amravati Road.

 

The residents of Wadi, MIDC Hingna and Ordnance Factory Ambajhari faced severe water shortage during summer. Keeping the crunch in mind, the administrations approached the then Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Thereafter, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) started water supply to Ordnance Factory, Wadi and other Municipal Councils from Ambazari lake. This incident is a perfect example of urban-rural water conflict in Nagpur in recent years. The study has also highlighted the same issue and the time has come when all stakeholders must take cognizance for water conservation.

 

“The fresh water demand has increased drastically in the city but the water resources are limited. Now, it is the peak time when the administration must check the ground water extraction to avoid any type of conflict,” said Kaustav Chatterjee, environmentalist to The Hitavada. However, the study also suggested that there were many other small and medium reservoirs, which could serve for meeting the water demands of NMA and they must be also explored. The study said, there is also a need for broader consideration of upstream–downstream areas and the range of water users across different sectors. Further research also needs to be conducted to determine a feasible water-taxation policy and a transparent monitoring system for its wider acceptance, the study recommended. “Until and unless authorities and citizens come together, water issues will remain unending and achieving sustainable development goal will be a dream,” said Surbhi Jaiswal, environment activist.