Dam-rashtra and Drama-rashtra

Ever since the NCP was caught in the irrigation scam whirpool, everybody’s talking about the Pawar sahebs and the twists and turns in the ongoing resignation drama.

While the strained relations between the NCP and Congress, the impact of this on the Centre and state and the dynamics of the chacha-bhatija relationship is discussed in great detail, one rarely hears of the massive ecological and human costs of the construction of the various dams in the state.

Figure this: Maharashtra is the dam capital of India; so much so that it should be renamed Dam-rashtra. There are a whopping 1,821 large dams with more coming up in the state. That comprises 35.7% of large dams in the country.

But the question is, despite all these dams, why is the irrigated area in the state so low? The proportion of irrigated area in Maharashtra vis-à-vis cropped area is 17.8%, much lower than the national average of 44.6%. What is worse, in nearly 70% of the state’s 27,600 villages, water is either not available within a 500m radius or within 15m below ground level. Even in instances where it is, the water is unfit for drinking.

Of the five river basin systems in the state, 55% of the dependable water yield is available in four river basins — Krishna, Godavari, Tapi and Narmada — east of the Western Ghats. These basins comprise 92% of cultivable land in the state and over 60 % of its rural population lives here. 45% of the state’s water resources come from West-flowing monsoon rivers emanating in the Western Ghats and draining into the Arabian Sea.

Watering the irrigation scam for a bountiful harvest of spoils began with amendments to MWRRA Act (2005). The clause for equitable water distribution was removed and the Cabinet was given the right to have the last say on water entitlements. This led to a diversion of water for irrigation from the vulnerable, suicide-prone Vidarbha region to thermal power plants. Entitlements of more than 1,500 million cubic metres was changed from agriculture to industries and urban drinking water projects.

Among these is Mumbai. Six dams — Kalu, Shai, Gargai, Pinjal, Poshir and Barvi — were planned to slake its thirst. Two — Middle Vaitarna and Balganga — are under construction. While work on Kalu stopped following HC’s orders due to illegalities, work on the others continues despite imminent displacment of over 2,50,000 tribals and submergence of over 14,000 hectares of tribal land. The latter includes 5,685 hectares of forest land from the rich bio-diverse Western Ghats.

Due to a serious omission in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) notification 2006, these dams supplying water to industrial areas and special economic zones (SEZs) are exempt from environmental clearance, hence no EIAs, no public hearings and no environment management plans (EMPs) for them!

With Ajit Pawar’s exit, it is high time both amendments to the MWRRA Act and the exemption from environmental clearance to such projects are reviewed.