Mapping Drinking Water Scarcity in Kashmir

The change in global precipitation, increasing global temperatures, melting of glaciers, rising sea level waters, displacement of people, erratic monsoons pose an unprecedented threat to human existence. Distribution of drinking water has also faced a cascading impact of climate change over the years. The structural imperatives causing paucity of drinking water cannot be discounted at all. However, the domestic factors also exacerbate the drinking water crisis within sovereign territorial borders. The valley of Kashmir, located in the Himalayan ranges and fed by perennial glaciers, has begun to experience acute scarcity of drinking water. The state of affairs is quite ironic, given that Kashmir has one of the longest total lengths of rivers and canals. An urgent drinking water discourse needs to be problematised in Kashmir and policy intervention required to address this emergent crisis. 

This study delves into the various aspects of Kashmir’s water scarcity and tries to locate the causality of drinking water scarcity in Kashmir through an impact assessment and evaluation.

 Retreating Glaciers 

Reduced snowfall and retreating glaciers are aggravating the impending water crisis. The glaciers in the Kashmir Himalayas are melting at an alarming rate, threatening the region’s water security. A study titled ‘Linking the recent glacier retreat and depleting stream flow patterns with land system changes in Kashmir Himalaya (India)’ examined changes in the Kolahoi Glacier between 1962 and 2018, and discovered that the glacier is receding at an affrightening rate. Since 1962, it has lost nearly 23 % of its area and fragmented into smaller parts. 

Another study titled ‘Satellite-observed glacier recession in the Kashmir Himalaya, from 1980 to 2018,’ finds that glaciers have shrunk by 28.82 % from 1980 to 2018, and the glacier loss in the region is much higher than in other Himalayan regions. The Sind watershed has the most glacier recession.

Contaminated Water

The increasing pollution of groundwater is also contributing to Kashmir’s impending water scarcity crisis. Water supplied to drinking water supply plants is contaminated not only by liquid or solid waste or human and animal faeces, but also by toxic chemicals such as organophosphorus, organophosphates, and other carbamates sprayed in orchids and fungicides sprayed in apple and vegetable farms, gardens, golf courses, and parks. The Doodh Ganga river, which flows from the Pir Panjal glaciers, becomes contaminated with pesticides drained into it from nearby apple orchards about 30 kilometers downstream. The municipal committee dumps tonnes of municipal solid waste on the Vishaw river banks in Kulgam every day. Even the Dal Lake in Srinagar has been contaminated by faeces from around 750 houseboats and residential houses. This is not only hazardous to humans, but also to fish, which Kashmiris consume in large quantities.

Freezing of water supply lines 

The freezing of water supply lines in the winter season also intensifies the problem of water scarcity. Lakes, water supply lines, taps, water tanks, and motors freeze as the temperature drops. Srinagar recorded a temperature of -8.8 degrees Celsius in 2021, the lowest in the previous 30 years. Supply lines are clogged in some areas due to subzero temperatures. In the higher latitudes of the valley due to sub-zero temperatures during winter, drinking water shortage leads to lack of water consumption in both humans and cattle. 

Groundwater depletion due to infrequent rains

The infrequency of rain in Kashmir is one of the causes of groundwater depletion. According to the Ground Water Year Book 2016-17, none of the 23 wells in Kashmir analyzed for the May 2016 report had a water level more than 20.0 meters below ground level (m bgl).The report further argues that water levels less than 2.0 m bgl have been recorded in 14 wells while seven wells have shown depth to the water level in the range 2-5 m bgl. Whereas 1 well has shown water level in the range 5-10 m bgl, and 1 well has registered deeper water level, i.e., 10-20 m bgl.”

Impact assesment and valuation of water scarcity in Kashmir

Paucity of drinking water is an established fact. However, merely focusing on the fact and not on its consequences brings out an incomplete picture. According to a UN report, 844 million people in the world do not have access to basic drinking water, out of the 2.1 billion people who do not have access to safely managed water. A study found that nearly half of the schools and 30% of villages in Jammu and Kashmir, which is known for its glaciers, freshwater lakes, and streams, are being fed with contaminated drinking water. According to the assessment study conducted by the National Level Monitoring agency, nearly two-thirds of the villagers do not have enough potable water in their homes. According to the assessment report, only one-fifth (21%) of villagers have access to safe drinking water, while water treatment facilities are available in only 5% of the villages visited by NLM. 

Drinking water has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other diseases. According to a report published in the Indian Journal of Medical and Pediatric Oncology in October 2010, 389 of 432 cases of primary malignant brain tumors (excluding metastatic lesions) were reported to be those of orchard farm workers. While 61 percent of farmers/farm workers were directly exposed to various pesticides in apple farms, nearly 39 percent were indirectly exposed, which included drinking contaminated water. The study found that the most affected districts were Anantnag, Baramulla, Budgam, and Shopian. According to data collected under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP), acute diarrhea diseases (ADD) affected 5217 to 17,146 people in J&K in January 2017. Three months later, the figure had risen to between 12803 and 33291. According to the 2016 Statistical Report, the under-five mortality rate in J&K was 35 per 1000 births, which was higher than in many other Indian states. 

Obtaining water for the locals requires a significant amount of time, energy and effort. According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), household members in rural J&K spend an average of 21 minutes per day fetching drinking water from a source outside their premises. In addition, they spend an average of 12 minutes per day waiting at the main source of drinking water. However, in urban areas of J&K, a person spends 10 minutes fetching drinking water, on top of a seven-minute wait. Every day, women, especially girls, are forced to travel for miles through a dense forest to collect water for themselves and their cattle.

As a consequence of difficulty in obtaining potable water, high dropout rates were also observed. More than a dozen tribal girls have dropped out of school in the last two years in a remote hamlet in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district due to a severe lack of drinking water. “As per Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE) 2019-20 drop-out rate at secondary level was 16.68 percent across Jammu and Kashmir,” according to the MoE document. Between 2017 and 2018, the dropout rate for female students was 1.6 in elementary and 2.5 in secondary school, and 6.9 and 17.7 in elementary and secondary school, respectively.

The excessive melting of Kashmir’s largest glacier, the Kola hoi, has been found to have had a striking impact on the streamflow of the Jhelum’s two largest tributaries, the Lidder and Sindh. The constantly depleting streamflow has resulted in major land system changes in the downstream areas of the Lidder watershed, where irrigation intensive rice cultivation is decreasing while land under orchards and build up areas are augmenting at an unprecedented pace. 

For economic reasons, the majority of farmers in Kashmir have converted their paddy fields into orchards. Farmers are also planting other crops, such as maize. According to a Jammu and Kashmir government policy document, the region has seen a significant shift from rice cultivation to horticulture in recent decades. The area under fruit cultivation was only 12,400 hectares in 1953-54, but it has now grown to 325,000 hectares. According to a study, irrigation-intensive agriculture in the Lidder watershed area decreased by 39% between 1980 and 2017, while orchards increased by 177%.

Lack of accountability 

The government has spent millions of rupees on the construction of water tanks and filtration plants, but many of these schemes are either defunct or do not function properly. Despite billions of rupees spent on the maintenance of Dal Lake over the last three decades, the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, a government-owned body, is yet to find a solution to the pollution problem. Senior officers in the public health engineering department revealed that infrastructure remained underutilized in the major towns of Jammu and Srinagar, as well as hamlets spread across the Shivalik range, the Kandi belt, mountainous towns, and border districts. Unnecessary procrastination of infrastructure projects and lack of accountability is the biggest bottleneck from the government’s side which needs to be addressed as soon as possible. 

Way forward 

The negative glacier mass balance threatens to drive glacier recession and a decline in glacier runoff, resulting in decreased stream flows; urgent efforts must be made to devise strategies to deal with glacial recession and the looming water scarcity, which could spell doom for the state’s economy. In addition to traditional ground water structures such as dug wells and springs, shallow to medium depth tube wells can be built in the valley to develop the ground water resource.

According to the Central Ground Water Board, a governing body, 11 Indian states have a state groundwater department—a nodal agency for groundwater investigation and groundwater structure construction. Kashmir should also have a groundwater department to analyze groundwater quality and keep an eye out for illegal activities that degrade groundwater. Policies and plans should also aim to rejuvenate the catchment area of springs and ponds, as well as to recharge groundwater using artificial recharge structures such as check dams and contour farming techniques. Crops that require the least amount of rain are also an option, given that much of Kashmir’s agricultural land is rain-fed. Massive vegetable cultivation is another option that farmers in various parts of Kashmir can successfully implement.  

The J&K Pollution Control Committee plays an important role in preventing pesticide contamination of drinking water. JK PCC has the authority to take legal action against farmers who violate the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 by discharging chemical fertilizers into drinking water sources. This should be done with the help of the Central Pollution Control Board. The CPCB must investigate whether the discharge of pesticides into Kashmir’s rivers and lakes violates the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016 with all four amendments from 2016 to 2019. The multi-stakeholder approach necessitates people’s participation in all types of developmental activities. As a result, they must be educated on the proper use and conservation of available water resources. Furthermore, micro-level efforts are required for proper implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of development programmes. 

References

1. https://www.theleaflet.in/jammu-and-kashmirs-drinking-water-poisoned-by-pesticides/
2. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-in-kashmir-freezing-temperatures-bring-worst-water-crisis-in-three-decades/372827
3. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/safe-drinking-water-still-a-distant-dream-across-j-k/story-OYCEizoNkRqmDAkifVdU6K.html
4. https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/fast-disappearing-glaciers-kashmir
5. https://www.greaterkashmir.com/kashmir/unclean-water-causes-diseases-deaths-in-jk-study
6. https://groundreport.in/water-scarcity-in-jammu-kashmir/
7. https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/food/kashmir-water-crisis-hits-at-its-staple-rice/
8. https://kashmirobserver.net/2020/07/07/alarming-groundwater-depletion-fuelling-water-crisis-in-kashmir/