Tackling Non-Revenue Water for a Water-Secure Viksit Bharat

Tackling Non-Revenue Water for a Water-Secure Viksit Bharat

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Why in News

  • India wants to build a **Viksit Bharat**, but its growing cities face severe water shortages because of heavy groundwater use, quick urban expansion, and climate change.
  • Government planners are deeply concerned because municipal water utilities lose more than **30%** of their clean water supply as **Non-Revenue Water (NRW)**.

What is Non-Revenue Water (NRW)?

  • **Non-Revenue Water (NRW)** is clean water that a city treats and pumps out, but loses before it reaches consumers or generates bill payment.
  • Physical losses happen when water leaks out through old broken pipes, damaged valves, or overflowing storage tanks.
  • Commercial losses happen because of faulty water meters, illegal pipe connections, and unbilled public taps.
  • Well-managed international cities keep their **NRW** level below **10%**, but major Indian cities lose between **40% to 50%** of their treated water.
  • This means city governments spend huge sums of money treating clean water that produces zero income and never reaches household taps.

Challenges in Urban Water Governance

  • High water losses leave **Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)** financially weak, allowing them to recover less than **55%** of their daily running costs.
  • Cities must haul water from distant rivers and deep underground wells, which increases electricity bills and triggers disputes between states.
  • Most Indian cities treat only **28%** of their wastewater because they follow a traditional use-and-throw approach instead of recycling water.
  • Cities lack modern tools like **Geographic Information Systems (GIS)** and **SCADA** systems to spot underground leaks early.
  • Rich families get piped water at low flat rates, while poor families in informal colonies must spend extra time and money buying private tanker water.
  • State agencies build water systems while municipal bodies run them, creating confusion over who is responsible when systems break down.
  • Construction on lakes, wetlands, and natural water channels leads to severe city flooding during rainy seasons and acute water shortages during summers.

Major Government Initiatives for Urban Water Governance

  • The central government launched **AMRUT 2.0** to improve municipal water distribution and restore local water bodies across urban areas.
  • The **Smart Cities Mission (SCM)** installs digital sensors and modern water management tools in selected cities.
  • The **Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban)** focuses on providing functional tap connections to every urban household.
  • The government uses **Pey Jal Survekshan** to assess water quality and utility performance across different cities.
  • NITI Aayog tracks state-level water management efforts using the **Composite Water Management Index (CWMI)**.
  • The **Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain** campaign encourages cities to harvest rainwater and recharge underground aquifers.

Measures Needed for Effective Urban Water Governance

  • Cities must adopt **Sponge City** designs by building permeable roads, green areas, and urban wetlands to absorb rainwater and prevent floods.
  • Laws must separate drinking water pipelines from non-drinking systems, forcing industries to use recycled municipal wastewater under **Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)** rules.
  • Local governments should charge fair fees for commercial groundwater extraction to prevent private wells from drying up local underground reserves.
  • Water departments must combine **GIS** pipeline maps with **SCADA** monitoring systems to detect pressure changes and repair underground leaks quickly.
  • Municipalities should divide pipeline networks into smaller **District Metered Areas (DMAs)** and reward local teams that successfully reduce water losses.
  • Health departments must conduct regular sewer line inspections to catch leaking sewage before it pollutes groundwater and spreads diseases.
  • City authorities need to register, inspect, and track private water tankers using **GPS** to protect residents from unfair prices.
  • Cities should judge their water departments by how fairly they distribute water rather than just how many kilometers of pipeline they install.
  • States must set up **State Urban Water Regulatory Authorities** to set loss targets, inspect pumping energy use, and make fair tariff choices.
  • Local bodies can partner with private firms through the **Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM)** and link private payments directly to verified reductions in water loss.

Way Forward

  • India cannot achieve its dream of **Viksit Bharat** while losing nearly half of its municipal drinking water to avoidable leaks and theft.
  • Building true urban water security requires smart city planning, circular wastewater reuse, fair pricing, and strong action toward achieving **SDG 6**.