‘RIVER-LINKING CAN HIT INDIA’S MONSOON CYCLE’
Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University says river-linking may reduce the water flowing into the Bay of Bengal, impacting the country’s monsoon system and potentially threatening agriculture.
NEW DELHI: India needs a long-term plan to overcome its water crisis but inter-linking of rivers is not a workable idea, two American professors said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday.
Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University suggested that a pricing mechanism and smart engineering solutions to curb water wastage could solve one of the country’s biggest problem. Also, he criticised the lack of “long-term planning” to solve the crisis.
His University of California counterpart, David Sedlak, said solutions offered in India such as inter-linking of rivers would not work. He also suggested long-term goals for efficient use of natural resources. He said that solutions, such as an affluent treatment plant for a group housing society, might appear expensive at the moment, but would become affordable once the scale of manufacturing increases.
Moderator of the session — titled “Global Water Crisis. What Next?” — Mihir Shah agreed with Sedlak that a study has shows river-linking can adversely impact India’s monsoon cycle as less water will flow into the Bay of Bengal.
India’s primarily agriculture-driven economy depends on the annual monsoon rain. Deficit rainfall triggers farm distress, which the country has recorded in the past two years with back-to-back droughts. Moreover, rising temperatures is claiming thousands of lives across the world and 2016 is set to be the warmest in recorded history.
India could contribute significantly to stop the climate change by moving from coal-fired technology to cleaner options, said Sachs, a former director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute. His remarks came two sessions after power minister Piyush Goyal ruled out the possibility of India’s dependence on coal to fuel its power units and industries. Sachs agreed with Goyal that the developed world is responsible for the climate change and should now pay to clean up the mess it created.
Sachs criticised the political class for not acting on climate change and air pollution. “These political leaders are irresponsible louts. They just want to stick with power and don’t do anything to ensure my children and grandchildren breathe safe air. People in Delhi should decide on how they want to demand pollution-free air for their children and grandchildren,” he said.