Expert dismisses fears of water wars between nations

There is no water scarcity in the world, but the entire crisis is due to poor water management. The world has enough water to sustain its population provided there is proper water management. Stating this Prof Asit K Biswas, President of Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico dismissed possibilities of countries going to war with each other due to water scarcities.Delivering a special lecture on “Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia” at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Prof Biswas remarked that most current paradigms used for water management are erroneous and will be obsolete within the next decade. Seemingly unrelated issues like globalization, free trade, energy security, HIV/AIDS and immigration will impact water issues. “Water problems of the future are solvable using existing technologies”, he remarked.Prof Biswas suggested that AIT should play a leading role in water management. “AIT has a bright future, and it should focus on the real problems of Asia”. The President of AIT, Prof Said Irandoust complimented Prof Biswas as being a visionary person. The President highlighted the new initiatives that AIT had taken towards positioning the AIT as a leading institute in Asia. Prof Said Irandoust welcomed the suggestions of Prof Biswas and added that the AIT is looking towards creating courses for the future. “The context and content of
Asia has radically changed and we need to reorganize and recharge ourselves”, the AIT President said.

Talking about the scare of water scarcity, Prof Biswas cited the example of the Indian capital Delhi where water is regarded to be short supply, and an inter-basin transfer is being suggested as a remedy.

Prof Biswas dismissed the idea of solving the water issue through an inter-basin transfer stating that such a system would take 20 years to construct; and Delhi would still be losing 55 per cent of water through unaccounted losses. He revealed that 50 per cent of fruits and vegetables and one third of cereals produced in India never reaches the
consumers due to harvest, post harvest and storage losses. The food problem cannot be solved by increasing area under agriculture but by reducing such losses.

Prof Biswas quoted a study from Latin America to state that less than 9 per cent of the population has access to sanitation as opposed to official figures of 30 per cent. “We have to consider sanitation as a holistic issue with waste collection, treatment and discharge being an integral part of sanitation”. Prof Biswas remarked that out of the 17 mega cities in the world with a population of over 10 million, 15 are situated on the coast. However none of these citieis are looking at desalination as an option. “It takes 2-3 years to build a desalination plant, but 15-20 years to build a dam”, Prof Biswas added.

He extensively quoted the example of Phnom Penh in Cambodia which has one of the best water supply systems in the entire world. “If Phnom Penh can do it, why can’t Bangkok or Delhi?” he asked. Prof Biswas identified leadership as the key quality in the success of the Phnom Penh experiment. While unaccounted water losses in Phnom Penh were 83 per cent in 1993, it is now down to only 7 per cent.

He regretted that there was not a single country in Asia that considers energy policy to be a part of its water policy and vice versa. “In India, 22 percent of electricity is produced by
hydroelectric means, while the water sector consumes 24 per cent electricity”. Hence every water issue should be viewed along with energy and other related issues, Prof Biswas said.

Earlier Dr Mukand S Babel, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Water Engineering and Management Field of Study introduced Prof Biswas.