Managing the water-energy-food nexus in India: Insights from three states

Water-energy-food nexus is on top of the global policy agenda these days. What does this nexus mean for India? In India, it means, how do we manage electricity and groundwater without causing a lot of collateral damage to our farmers? There are no easy answers. Here are some of my thoughts where I draw evidence from my previous work in West Bengal, Punjab and Karnataka.

India is the world’s largest groundwater user. By far the most important factor explaining this is the regime of power subsidies that India has evolved to support agricultural growth. As a result, agriculture, groundwater and electricity sectors in much of India are now bound in an invidious nexus of mutual dependence where the growth of one sector (agriculture) is being supported by unsustainable trends in the other two sectors (groundwater and electricity), so much so that even growth in agriculture is now threatened. Interestingly, all three components of the nexus – groundwater, electricity and agriculture are state subjects according to the Constitution of India. Hence it is the state governments, rather than the central government, which can formulate policies for tackling this nexus. Not surprisingly, different states in India have adopted different ways of managing this nexus.

Let’s take the case of West Bengal – an eastern state of India endowed with alluvial aquifers and high rainfall and recharge. Here till 2007, farmers had to pay a flat rate for electricity consumption – a rate, which was non-trivial and quite high when compared to other states where farmers get electricity subsidy. Due to a number of favorable political factors the government of West Bengal (see Mukherji, 2006) was able to meter all electric tube wells and charge a metered tariff which is equivalent to the cost of supply of electricity. This did away with the need for electricity subsidy. Thus, a strong price signal was sent to the farmers to make efficient use of electricity and groundwater and break the invidious nexus. However, the consequences were not so equitable — the small and marginal water buying farmers lost out as some of our previous studies showed (Mukherji et al. 2009). The recent plans of the government of West Bengal to give more electricity connection to farmers may help in reducing the negative impacts of metering by introducing competition in informal water markets.

Punjab, the heart of Green Revolution and the bread basket of India is located in the north-western part of the country. This is a semi-arid state, endowed with alluvial aquifer – an aquifer that has been over-exploited for over 30 years now. The Punjab government gives free electricity to farmers for groundwater pumping, but the amount of this electricity is strictly rationed through separation of feeders into agricultural and non-agricultural feeders. There is a strong political resistance to metering and hence rationing came up as the second best option. Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) was set up in 2000. Since then, it has encouraged the electricity utility to do better energy accounting, lower their technical losses and to improve quality of power to farmers through installation of High Voltage Distribution Systems (HVDS). Here, the main policy lever for controlling groundwater use has been rationing of electricity, thereby forcing farmers to invest in efficiency enhancing measures such as use of energy efficient pumps and laser levelers.

Karnataka, a drought prone, hard rock state in Southern India provides another contrast to Punjab and West Bengal. Agriculture here is precariously dependent on groundwater and aquifers with limited storage capacity have been depleted. Here too, like Punjab, the government has taken upon a scheme to separate agricultural and non-agricultural feeders and ration electricity to agriculture, but the design of this scheme is such that it has defeated the very purpose of rationing. For instance, in segregated agricultural feeders, three-phase electricity is provided for 6 hours, but single phase electricity is provided for another 10-12 hours. This enables farmers to withdraw groundwater using a single phase electric pump. Similarly, cases of power theft and illegal tube wells are rampant and the Karnataka State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has not been able to do much about it, in spite of its good intentions, purportedly due to strong farmers lobby and unwillingness of the state government to take decisions deemed to be anti-farmer.

To sum up, I present examples from three states in India—states which have used very different approaches for managing this nexus—ranging from economics text book solution in West Bengal, to second best solution in Punjab, to utter anarchy in Karnataka. This underlines the importance of politics and governance in managing water-food –energy nexus in India.

Additional readings:
Mukherji A. 2013. ‘Water-Food-Energy nexus in the context of groundwater use in India: Experience from three Indian states’, paper presented at Expert Group Meeting on Improving Access to Water Sanitation and Energy Services in Asia and the Pacific by addressing the Water-Food Energy nexus, 20-22 March 2013, Bangkok, Thailand

http://www.unescap.org/esd/Energy-Security-and-Water-Resources/water/egm/2013/wfe-nexus/documents/Session%203/Aditi%20Mukherji-20-March-2013.pdf

Shah, T; Giordano, M; Mukherji, A. 2012. Political economy of the energy-groundwater nexus in India: exploring issues and assessing policy options. Hydrogeology Journal, 20(5):933-941.

Mukherji, A., B. Das, N. Majumdar, N.C. Nayak, R.R. Sethi and B.R. Sharma (2009), Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: Who gains and who loses? Energy Policy: 37 (12): 5530-5539.

Mukherji, A. (2006), Political ecology of groundwater: The contrasting case of water abundant West Bengal and water scarce Gujarat, India, Hydrogeology Journal 14(3):392-406.

Food in Delhi

As we are about to leave Delhi in a couple of days, I thought it is time that I write about the food I loved eating in Delhi. Well, after all, my blog is about food!

Let me start with Oh! Kolkata – the place we frequented most, partly because it serves Bengali food, but even more importantly because, being right next to our house, we could just walk there any time we felt like. And we felt like it pretty often! Food is good, reminiscent of home cooked Bengali food that I grew up eating. Most often, we went on Sunday afternoons and ordered the buffet lunch. It is reasonably priced and offers a large selection of traditional dishes. But I must say that over the years, I have seen some decline in quality of food. And then, I can pretty much cook everything they have to offer; so the only reasons we kept going there were sheer laziness and the temptation of eating full course Bengali meal without having to cook one. My all time favorites are: prawn cutlet, kosha mangsho and nolen gurer ice cream.

Next in the order of frequency of visits is a Chinese restaurant called Royal Princess – again, within walking distance from our house. Located on 16^th Floor of a business complex in Nehru Place, it offers beautiful view of the Lotus Temple. Food is authentic Chinese (and not Indian-Chinese), but I can bet that my friend Lingli Gao cooks better Chinese. Deprived of Lingli’s home cooked Chinese meals, we took refuge in the next best alternative that Delhi had to offer. But it is an expensive alternative with meal for two costing up to Rs. 4000! Peking duck was crispy and delicious and we enjoyed a whole lot of lamb, prawns and pork dishes.

We have eaten at several restaurants at Hauz Khas village. Let me start with Park Baluchi, located inside the deer park. We have been there quite a few times and pretty much ordered their chicken potli every time. It is a tennis ball sized kebab– chicken mince stuffed inside thin layers of chicken breast. Full marks for innovativeness and taste. Sadly, two of these, and I would be full every time. My husband also loved one of their paneer dishes—tender pieces of cottage cheese in white sauce and liberally sprinkled with dry fruits.

L’Amour is another place we have eaten quite often. It serves Mediterranean food. Entry to this restaurant is through a tiny rattling lift, which makes you rather scared, but brave hearts are rewarded with a spacious restaurant with outdoor seating arrangement. I have always liked the ambience. Risotto is good (though not as cheesy I would have liked it), as are thin crust pizzas.  They have a nice Sunday brunch, but sadly, we never ended up there on Sundays. I don’t recommend fish though; my husband and one of my friends did not feel so well after eating fish.

Another Italian place, though not in Hauz Khas (but in M block market, GK II) where we went once is Diva. And we went with an Italian friend and he declared it authentic. What more can I say? Food was lovely and now I wonder why we never went back there. Perhaps I can squeeze in a dinner at Diva before we leave.

I can think of two more places in Hauz Khas – Golconda, which serves Hyderabadi food, and Tarami, which serves Kashmiri food. Hyderabadi and Kashmiri food make on top of my list of favourite foods, but none of these restaurants quite do justice to them. Nahari of Golconda is good, biriyani is not. Tarami, I will not go again. Chor Bizzare near New Delhi Railway station also serves Kashmiri food, but I have had better Kashmiri food – food I will talk about later in this blog.

Gunpowder is a place we never ended up going, but I can’t say I am a fan of South Indian food. Same holds true for Naivaidyam, another South Indian joint in Hauz Khas. But I have heard wonderful things about them from my friends.

There is a Japanese restaurant called Izakaya at DLF Promenade Mall where we have gone a couple of times. I love Japanese food, can’t say my husband loves it as much, but he comes along to humor me.  But even he loved their panfried salmon and I think this is the best salmon I have eaten in Delhi. I also liked their thick wheat noodle soup. There are two more places where I have tried salmon. One is Latitude at Khan Market and another is Indian Coffee House at Connaught Place, but none are as good as Izakaya’s. If you like salmon, head to Izakaya.

What I have really missed in Delhi is a plate of piping hot paella – seafood or otherwise. We have tried two places and been disappointed by both. Al Fresco’s paella was mediocre and Shalom was just being optimistic when it called it’s fried rice a paella! I think there is a niche for authentic paella in Delhi and I hope someone corners this niche market soon. I, for one, will be one loyal customer.

Good news for chicken lovers in Delhi is the recent opening of Nando’s in one of the DLF malls. Delhi, it seems, loves Nando’s because we had to wait in queue both the time we went there. And we love Nando’s chicken. It was our favourite place to eat back in the Cambridge days and I think I have eaten at Nando’s pretty much in whatever city I could find one. Colombo and Dhaka comes to mind. In Dhaka, one evening, a couple of colleagues and I walked across several blocks late in the evening, just to eat at Nando’s. I can bet that they ‘do their chicken right’!

Now, let’s talk barbeques. Barbeque Nation and Kebab Factory are both awesome. But, if you are into just kebabs, then I recommend Barbeque Nation as they have a better selection of kebabs and barbequed meat. Kebab Factory, on the other hand, have a better buffet menu – but then, it’s kebabs we want, don’t we?

And I have saved for the end my top two favorites. One is Karims opposite Jama Masjid. Their mutton burra and lamb stew is to die for. There are several other Karims spread across the city, but none match the original Karims. Well, if you are into ambience and décor, this is not the place for you.  It’s just tables and chairs, tables that you have to share with strangers during rush hour. But the food is delicious and I will keep going back there, even if I have to elbow my way through the most crowded streets I have ever walked on.

And then there is Ahad Sons – a takeaway joint well hidden in the alleys of Masjid Moth village in South Delhi. And they make the best Kashmiri food ever. Tabak Maz, Rogan Josh, Dhaniwal Korma, Aab Gosht, Rishta and Gustaba – you name it and they cook it to perfection. Everything is just heavenly, just as Kashmir is supposed to be – a veritable heaven on earth.

As we leave Delhi, I will look upon these last two years as a gastronomic journey par excellence – a journey peppered with numerous visits to Delhi’s historic sites courtesy Delhi Heritage Walk. And yes, reunion with old friends and making new ones. Goodbye Delhi, till we see you again.

My blog posted on WLE website

My blog posted on WLE website

On the occasion of World Water Day. This year’s theme is water cooperation. Here I write about a review of water user’s association that we did for the ADB a couple of years ago.

Asian Water Development Outlook 2013

Now, let me begin by saying that I am a fan of composite indices, be it Human Development Index, Hunger Index or Water Poverty Index. Yes, they do sometimes add up apples and oranges, but then, they also give a composite snapshot of actual developmental outcomes in a succinct way — a way that is easy to comprehend and compare. The latest in a series of composite indices is the Asian Development Bank‘s and Asia Pacific Water Forum‘s National Water Security index published in the Asian Water Development Outlook 2013. This was released at last week’s Asia Water Week in Manila. This morning,  Wouter Arriens of ADB presented it at the ESCAP-FAO meeting on Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Bangkok  that I am attending.  And I found his presentation very interesting. So, what is this National Water Security? It is a composite index of five key dimensions, with each dimension having its own indicators. These key dimensions are:

1. Household Water Security measured in terms of access to piped water supply, access to improved sanitation and hygiene
2. Economic Water Security measured as agricultural, industrial and energy water security
3. Urban Water Security measured in terms of water supply, waste water treatment and drainage
4. Environmental Water Security measured in terms of watershed disturbance, pollution, water resource development and biotic factors
5. Resilience to water related disasters measured in terms of exposure, vulnerability, hard and soft coping strategies

Indicators of these five key dimensions were calculated for 6 regions of the Asia Pacific: Central and West Asia, East Asia, The Pacific, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Advanced economies in Asia. Outcomes are not very surprising: the advanced economies have achieved  much higher levels of water security than most other regions, with East Asia (including China) not too far behind. What was particularly disturbing, though not surprising, is that South Asia fared poorly in terms of all five types of water securities — putting the region at the bottom of the heap. India’s score is particularly poor, it scores 1 (where 1 is minimum and 5 is maximum) in household, urban and environmental water security; 2 in resilience and 3 in economic water security. I hope this Report is taken seriously by the Indian policy makers and that it leads to introspection and action.

Well, like every methodology, I am sure, this one too is open to criticisms and possible improvements. After all, such composite indices do simplify a complex and messy reality. But, in doing so, it provides a common metrics for comparison and comparison is often a good thing. You can find the report here and I hope there will be many such reports in the future.

Strategies for managing India’s groundwater

Following up on my blog on MI Census yesterday, here are some of my preliminary thoughts on how to manage India’s groundwater economy. To repeat, there are wide regional variations in India’s groundwater economy, with some states further along the way and some lagging behind. The management strategies for the future therefore need to take these trends into account. Blanket groundwater regulations, like the one proposed by the 12^th Five Year Plan, without considering that groundwater economies of eastern India are on an altogether different trajectory will not lead to sustainable and equitable regional outcomes. What could those strategies be?

Strategies for regions facing groundwater over-exploitation

The first are the regions facing groundwater over-exploitation and this covers much of northern, southern, central and western India. All these regions have one thing in common: they all lie in arid and semi-arid climatic zones characterized by low to medium rainfall leading to low natural recharge rates. The type of aquifers ranges from hard rock aquifers in much of southern, western and central India and deep alluvial aquifers in northern India. Electric tubewells are the main source of energy for water lifting devices. Our analysis shows that none of these states require any further investments in creation of new groundwater assets and farmers here must be actively discouraged to dig new wells and tubewells. Farmers in few states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are making intensive use of existing groundwater structures, but other states in this category are not. In these states, there is a need to make efficient use of existing groundwater structures through investments in water efficiency measures. Primary fieldwork done in Punjab and Karnataka shows that such investments in the form of energy –efficient pumps, adoption of micro-irrigation and laser levelers have already underway. What is also happening across most of these states are separation of agricultural feeders from rural domestic feeders and investments in high voltage distribution systems which will allow rationing of high quality power to agriculture, thereby forcing farmers to make more efficient use of groundwater. Combining reduced pumping with more efficient water use will enhance crop per drop of groundwater.

Apart from innovations in groundwater sector, what is also needed is revitalization of surface water irrigation sector. All these states have made substantial investments in surface irrigation. However, at a time when farmers have become used to ‘on demand’ irrigation thanks to their tubewells, public canal irrigation systems needs to respond to farmers expectations of timely and reliable water supply. Some innovations like on-farm water storage (called diggies in Rajasthan and melon-on-vines in China) helps increase reliability and flexibility of canal water supplies. Further ideas on how to revitalize canal irrigation can be found here.

Rural electrification for groundwater abundant eastern India

In eastern India, where much of the topography is flat, groundwater is relatively abundant and rainfall and recharge are high, but groundwater use is low, and use that has further contracted from 2000-01 to 2006-07, investments in rural electrification is needed. This will help intensify groundwater use and in the process boost agricultural productivity. In these areas, rates of pump electrification are as low as 10% it can be brought up to at least 50%. The fact that farmers in eastern states of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Assam already pay for electricity and diesel means that electricity need not be subsidized. For example, in West Bengal, all tubewells are metered and farmers pay a metered tariff which is very close to the cost of supply. Providing electricity together with investments in roads and market infrastructure will help increase agricultural production in this region. This will in turn take the pressure off regions like Punjab and Haryana which have been systematically over-exploiting their aquifers to feed the rest of India. Intensifying agriculture in eastern India is also in tune with the overall policy thrust of the government of India. The state of West Bengal has already taken at least four policy decisions in this direction. These are: change in Groundwater Law which will make it easier for small and marginal farmers to invest in wells and tubewells; reduction change in one time electricity connection charges for agricultural tubewells for the same purpose; one time capital cost subsidy for pump electrification to the tune of Rs. 8000 per farmer and capital cost subsidy up to Rs. 20,000 per pump set for those wanting to invest in pumps. The state of Bihar has also launched a number of schemes such as diesel subsidy scheme, pump subsidy scheme and solar power schemes, all aimed at reducing cost of groundwater irrigation. That, small and marginal farmers own a major share of India’s groundwater resources also makes this a pro-poor strategy and can possibly pave the way for a second green revolution in eastern India. I talk more about green revolution in eastern India here and here.

Major insights from India’s Minor Irrigation Censuses

My colleague Stuti Rawat and I have just finished writing a paper based on four rounds of Minor Irrigation (MI) Census data. Any irrigation scheme that serves less than 2000 ha is classified as Minor Irrigation in India. And over 90% of all minor irrigation structures are actually groundwater structures comprising of dug wells, shallow and deep tubewells.  So basically, a study of MI Census is a study of India’s groundwater sector. Results turned out to be far more interesting than I anticipated.  So, what were our major insights?

First, the most important insight is that rate of growth of India’s groundwater structures is slowing down. Just as India was adding a million wells and tubewells every year all through the mid-1980s to early 2000s and it seemed that the groundwater juggernaut of India was unstoppable, the 4^th MI Census of 2006-07 showed that this growth was already slowing down. In most of India, growth in number of groundwater structures has slowed down, while in eastern India states like Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, absolute numbers of groundwater structures have also declined. There could be several reasons for this overall decline.

It is possible that many places in India have just run out of groundwater, in particular in peninsular India with hard rock aquifers. Tamil Nadu, one of the basket cases of over-exploitation is one such hard rock aquifer area where number of groundwater structures has gone down marginally from 1.90 million in 2000-01 to 1.86 million in 2006-07. However, absolute numbers have not declined in other hard rock aquifer states such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, though rate of growth has declined. The same holds true for other states with over-exploitation problems such as Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat.

More importantly, than physical scarcity of groundwater, energy crisis may have played a role in this slow down. Many of these states mentioned above, depend on electricity for pumping and the deep crisis in the electricity sector meant severe rationing of electricity to farmers. For instance, in Gujarat, Punjab and Karnataka, farmers received 16-20 hours of electricity daily till early 1990s, since then electricity has been rationed gradually and now they receive not more than 6-8 hours per day.

This energy crisis assumes an entirely new dimension in eastern India. The fact that much of the decline in groundwater structures have come from eastern India where levels of development of groundwater is quite low (less than 40% of the renewable groundwater resources are tapped here) and rainfall and recharge are high, shows that decline in absolute number of groundwater structures is a function of energy squeeze experienced by farmers who depend mostly on diesel pumps and operating such pumps is a costly affair given high diesel prices.

Therefore, the second major insight is the important role that energy plays in regulating India’s groundwater economy of India. That the rate of growth in groundwater structures has declined from 2000-01 to 2006-07 seems to be  more of a function of electricity rationing in the north, south, west and central Indian states and dependence on expensive diesel for pumping in eastern India.

However, this is not to say that there is no physical scarcity of groundwater in India, or that farmers have not responded to declining groundwater levels. MI Census shows that villages with water tables of less than 10 m has declined from 62% to 56% from 1993-94 to 2000-01. How have the farmers responded to declining water tables? They have done so by shifting away from open dug wells with manual lifting devises to shallow and deep tubewells with mechanized lifting devices.  Thus, our third major insight is that composition of India’s groundwater sector is changing – from 70% of all groundwater structures being dug wells in 1986-87, only 45% of groundwater structures were dug wells in 2006-07. If anything, this trend is likely to continue, but with wide regional differences.

Our fourth major insight is that, some things have not changed over time and this includes ownership pattern of wells and tubewells. Majority (more than 90%) of all groundwater structures are owned by private individuals farmers and within this, small and marginal farmers (with less than 2 ha land) own a major share of wells and tubewells. This trend, far from diluting, is actually getting stronger, as both MI Census and Agricultural Census confirms. Thus, India’s groundwater structures are mostly owned and operated by small and marginal farmers – a fact that has important policy implications.

Our final insight is that there are wide regional variations in India’s groundwater economy, with some states further along the way and some lagging behind. The management strategies for the future therefore need to take these trends into account. Blanket groundwater regulations, like the ones proposed by the 12^th Five Year Plan, without acknowledging that the groundwater economies of eastern India are on an altogether different trajectory will not lead to sustainable and equitable regional outcomes. Understanding regional variation in India’s groundwater economy is therefore a key for formulating future strategies.

I have some ideas on what such a future strategy should look like; I will blog on it soon.

On human ingenuity and managing water crisis

Yesterday, the Director General of IWMI, Jeremy Bird, made a presentation at the International Commission of Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) and Central Bureau of Irrigation and Power (CBIP), New Delhi. It was an excellent presentation where he talked about the looming water crisis. But even more importantly, he talked about reasons for optimism because many of those intractable problems can be solved. How? By thinking out of the box. And it is here that human ingenuity comes into play.

My favorite slide was a graph by Peter Gleick – the noted American water and climate change expert. It showed various predictions for future water demand in the US– made way back in the 1960’s, 1970s and 1980s. And if there was one universal thing about these predictions, it was that they all got it wrong. Each one of those predictions had over-estimated future water demand by several orders of magnitude, while in reality, in 2000s, water demand had not only plateaued, but was also showing signs of decline. Why? Human ingenuity and technology ensured that water is being used more efficiently than ever before.

And that made me think of groundwater in India. I was reading a book by B.D. Dhawan written in 1990. He predicted, based on numbers of electric pumps in 1980s, that electric tubewells will cross the 8 million mark by early 1990s, when the fact is it took another decade (early 2000s) before India crossed the 8 million mark. Similarly, I am pretty sure that in one of my earlier papers, I had said that there will be close to 28-30 million wells and tubewells in India in 2010 based on numbers of groundwater structures in 1993-94 and 2000-01. But I was wrong. Just as everyone was talking about India’s runaway groundwater growth and the fact we were adding a million pumps a year, it turned out that India’s groundwater juggernaut has slowed down. For example, India added 5.5 million wells and tubewells from 1986 to 1993, 7.0 million wells and tubewells between 1993-2001 and only 1.2 million from 2001-2007. However, area irrigated by groundwater continues to rise. So, why do we always get our predictions wrong?

We get it wrong, because, predictions hardly ever give enough credence to human ingenuity and our capability to adjust to all kinds of crisis in innovative ways. Why has growth in wells and tubewells in India halted? Surprisingly, it is not so much because water tables have declined (and when they have declined, farmers have just shifted from open dug wells to tubewells), but because electricity to agriculture has been severely rationed since early 2000s as a part of the larger electricity sector reforms process. In addition, most states have also restricted new electricity connection for tubewells. What have farmers done in response? They have invested in technologies that enhance water use efficiency. For example, in Punjab, laser levelers have spread like wildfire in just last five years. In Gujarat, the very same farmers, who used to pack away their micro-irrigation kits and keep them on rooftop (as I saw during my fieldwork in 2001) have started using drips and sprinklers, as have farmers in Rajasthan and Karnataka. I was doing some fieldwork in Kolar district of Karnataka recently and found almost universal adoption of drip irrigation for growing tomato. Well, as we water professionals know, this may not save water, but it surely ensures more crop per drop of water, which is good enough. And why have farmers responded the way they have by adopting technologies that they had rejected before? This is because it is only now that they faced real physical scarcity of groundwater and this made them think out of the box and adopt technologies that help them maximize returns from water. Human ingenuity is a beautiful thing and we researchers will do a far better job, if we kept this in mind at all times. But scientists who raise alarm about the future are also doing a very important job – by  putting water crisis on top of policy agenda and forcing us all to think about it.

And this is the reason I love this quote by Prof. Tony Allan, the father of virtual water and my PhD external examiner. He says:  “Water pessimists are wrong but useful – water optimists are right but dangerous”. I am an optimist and believe that human ingenuity can take care of many seemingly intractable problems, but for doing that; we do need to raise enough awareness about the problem. So, I will leave the pessimists to do scare mongering and raise awareness about water problems, while I will go looking for solutions that are already being tried by our ingenious farmers.