How lack of water is sparking social and political unrest: right now in Maharashtra, India

Published on by


How lack of water is sparking social and political unrest:
right now in Maharashtra, India

A lack of a a great many of things...
lack of water, controversy about irrigation potential, irrigation projects with exorbitant costs, planned thermal power plants projected to using lots of water, water for people and/or industry, political issues, ...

from a NY Times article on Dec 4, 2012:
According to the study, whose authors are Prof. A. K. Gosain, Dr. Rakesh Khosa and Jatin Anand from I.I.T. Delhi's department of civil engineering, the proposed thermal plants will require 1.7 billion cubic metres of water per year, enough to irrigate more than 410,000 hectares of farmland. If the planned thermal power expansion is carried out, the water available in the Wardha River basin would drop by 40 percent, according to the report. In the Wainganga River basin, it would drop by 16 percent.

"There is clearly a crisis in water in the region, but that seems to have escaped the planners"...

More information in the NY Times article from 4 Dec, 2012:
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/lack-of-water-is-already-sparking-social-and-political-unrest-in-maharashtra-and-greenpeace-says-the-situation-will-get-worse/

More information on the "irrigation potential" in an article in The New Indian Express:
http://newindianexpress.com/nation/article1365700.ece

Related to this, from the report produced by Greenpeace India Society, August 2012
"Endgangered waters - impacts of coal-fired power plants on water supply"

...Water conflicts and risk
"India is already in a condition of water stress, and national demand for water is projected to outstrip supply in less than thirty years. National irrigation water requirements are expected to increase 50% by 2050. The government's push on such water-intensive methods of power production, therefore, will make conflicts between power projects and agriculture inevitable.
Three case studies from the Wardha river basin show communities are beginning to fight against diversions of irrigation water, causing political and regulatory risk for governments and administrators, and economic risk and risk to reputation for power companies.
A study by HSBC found that coal projects in several Indian states faced significant earnings risks due to water scarcity, with the risks highest during summer months. A 2010 analysis found that each 5% drop in a coal-fired power plant's load factor will result in nearly a 75 basis point drop in the project internal rate of return."

Link to the full report:
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/Endangered-waters.pdf