Earlier this month, news outlets reported that Day Zero — the day that Cape Town, South Africa would officially run out of water — will no longer fall this year.
Whatever form it takes, corruption and lack of integrity in the water sector has profound effects because it ultimately makes water services more difficult to access, and especially the poor, marginalized and voiceless are affected most.
Acknowledging the role of corruption in growing water scarcity is important because too often the problem is examined only as a climate change issue.
This is not to negate the importance of addressing climate change as a factor — but without a comprehensive understanding of how the effects of climate change are exacerbated by poor governance, solutions that are put forward for climate-related problems such as water scarcity may be rendered ineffective.
In a handbook TI has designed for journalists interested in covering climate finance corruption, it is stated that the “stakes involved in financing such programmes are high; how these funds are spent could save the lives of millions now, and ensure billions in the future are set on a safe path.” But they also warn that the governance structures involved in responding to climate change problems may not be strong enough to manage the threats effectively, pointing out that “some of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world also fare the worst on their Corruption Perceptions Index.” A noteworthy example from TI’s research and investigations into tracking where climate finance actually ends is that of $3.1 million of national climate funding being used to build ‘climate resilient housing’ in south-west Bangladesh, in the aftermath of Cyclone Aila.
Water scarcity is more and more so being viewed as a climate change problem, a problem that will inevitably require climate finance in order to fund projects that make the water sector more ‘climate ready.’ In 2014–2015, around US$4.1 billion was given to the Water Supply and Sanitation sector globally, making up about 9 per cent of total climate-related development finance.
Connecting the dots — the role of journalists What investigations into climate finance by organisations such as TI and GermanWatch bring to fore is that climate finance is not something that can simply be slapped on to climate change problems such as water scarcity.
Rather as TI puts it, ‘we need to highlight corruption cases in climate finance to make climate finance work better, not because we think climate finance is a bad idea.’ The workshop organised by TI and WIN in February aimed to emphasise two main points; first, that some very pertinent and relevant societal issues are aggravated by corruption, and second, that journalists need to make that connection in their reporting so as to improve wider understanding of how these problems are being mismanaged, and what factors might hinder the effectiveness of their solutions.
From WIN’s perspective, investigations into the water sector are pivotal to revealing corrupt practices that affect water availability.
TI’s presentation on climate change highlighted that ‘climate change communicators have done a good job of turning technical topics such as greenhouse gas emissions into a widely understood and recognised problem’; however, journalists need to bring the conversation further by shedding the same light on the solutions available for these problems, starting with climate finance.

More than one billion people around the world have no access to safe, clean drinking water, and over 2.5 billion do not have adequate sanitation service.
Though water covers two-thirds of the surface of the earth, but fresh water estimated 0.002% on the earth.
In Afghanistan, as experts say, the water table has dropped unprecedentedly, and thousands of settlements and farms face sever water crisis.
According to the recentreports of ministry of energy and water, the total volume until a few years ago had been 76 billion cubic meters but this dropped by 10 billion cubic meters in recent times.The ministry reports emphasizethat the drop in water was extremely worrying and that if the situation continues – with people using too much water – the water resources will drop another five billion cubic meters within the next five years.
The government need to make bigger plans to control Afghanistan’s waters and these plans should be implemented in the framework of a clear water policy.
As experts believe, If the situation continues in this way, by 2030 we will face a lack of water in our river basins and we will also face shortage inunderground water.
However, the issue which has raised now, follows several decades of steady droughts across Afghanistan’s northern, northeastern, central and western provinces which already led to a large-scale of food crisis but now it is the high time to take a strategic action.
The good news for now, is that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently announced that they plan to launch a two-year water distribution program to the people in 27 provinces across Afghanistan.The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) has said that the UNICEF will provide $43 million to implement the program in 2018 and 2019 to help Afghan children and their families get access to safe drinking water.
The Government of Finland has contributed $2.4 million to support UNICEF’s program in Afghanistan to provide children and families with safe water, sanitation and hygiene, according to UNICEF’s statement.
According to experts, the amount of rain and snowfall in Afghanistan makes 57 billion cubic meters of water annually but due to lack of proper management only between 30 to 35 percent of this water can be used in Afghanistan and the rest ends up in foreign countries.

The experience is changing the way people think about water and how it is managed.
Adaptation to climate change The big lesson is being better prepared to deal with a prolonged drought.
Over 95% of the city’s water comes from surface water dams.
Sixty years ago the Australian city of Perth was in a similar position with most of its water supply from dams.
National governments are slow to intervene, and when they do their actions are often not at the right scale or timely enough.
Measure more, manage better ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure’ should be the rallying cry for improving the quality of data and analysis needed to support and inform decisions.
In the case of Cape Town the city has been reporting on the state of the water by supplying information on dam levels, water demand, models and water quality .
Public trust Above all, public trust is key to encouraging water saving and helping to establish confidence in managing the crisis.
But if cities are going to become more resilient and responsive to climate change then a search for new water supplies will be necessary.
Drought Cape Town drought response Drought strategies Cape Town drought

Print The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states the global warming will lead to “changes in all components of the freshwater system,” and concludes that “water and its availability and quality will be the main pressures on, and issues for, societies and the environment under climate change.” The current climatic situation of Kashmir valley reflects the relevance of such a statement.
This in future will increase the vulnerability of ecosystems due to more rise in temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, frequent severe weather events, and prolonged droughts.
Worldwide, the glaciers are an important source of freshwater, and same is the case with Kashmir.
Once these glaciers have melted away, it is impossible to restore them.
Decreasing availability, declining quality, and growing demand for water are creating significant challenges to horti-businesses and other related economies.
But due to the industrialisation and globalisation impact of the developed nations and states, the valley gets also affected, resulting in the temperature increase and water crisis at present.
As the contribution of countries to climate change, and their capacity to prevent and cope with its consequences, varies enormously.
The Convention and the Protocol regarding climate change and climate finance therefore foresee financial assistance from countries with more resources to those less endowed and more vulnerable.
In regard with this issue, the regions like Kashmir valley should be promoted with more investments and incentives against the cost of climate change led by other states.
However, there is no such policy.

ROURKELA: With Gopabandhupali slum cluster in the Steel City continuing to face drinking water scarcity during summer, a dozen owners of deep bore wells are making a fast buck by selling water.
Sources said with temperature hovering between 41 and 42 degree Celsius, tube wells are failing to yield adequate clean water thus mounting the woes of the slum dwellers.
Gopabandhupali slum cluster, comprising around 36 medium and tiny urban hamlets including Tina Colony, Tingtangbasti, Sunarpatti, Mahavir Chowk Basti, Amarnathbasti, Trinath Colony, Jagannath Colony and Indiranagar continues to face acute drinking water scarcity with groundwater level dropping drastically due to over-exploitation.
Depending on depth and capacity of water pump, each bore well owner has 100 to 300 connections and each household is charged from `350 to `400 per month for daily supply of 10-15 minutes.
Those buying water are required to arrange flexible plastic pipes.
In fact, at least 10 other deep bore well owners are now out of business as their facilities have become defunct due to further drop in ground water.
Rita Devi, a 40-year-old woman of Budhimaa Sthan, says she works as a domestic help and her husband works as a coolie, adding that as both of them return in the evening and cannot wait for hours to collect water, they have no option but to buy water.
Former Councillor of the erstwhile Rourkela Municipality Pramila Das said about 10,000 population residing in interior slum pockets and Durgapur foothills are the worst suffers where water tankers could not reach and tube wells go defunct.
Incidentally, as a relief, three deep bore well projects of oil marketing companies with overhead tanks and pipelines are successfully supplying water to 600-700 households, while two other deep bore wells funded from MPLAD of Jual Oram are supplying water through stand-posts.
Public Health and Engineering Organisaiton (PHEO) sources said the ongoing piped-water distribution project connecting Nayabazaar and Gopabandhupali via Timber Colony on completion would resolve water crisis of Gopabandhupali slum cluster and adjacent Timber Colony.

The water crisis is gaining momentum all over the globe.
The crisis has hit hard in cities like Cape Town, Karachi, etc.
The paucity of water is alarming, and it is essentially required to address the issue giving it the highest priority.
Recently, cities like Bangalore, Delhi and many more are kept under the watch due to the rising deterioration of drinking water likely to cause water scarcity in future.
The national capital is no alien to the water crisis, and with approaching summers the city faces the shortage of water.
The major water dependency of the people of Delhi is from Haryana.
With polluted and dry Yamuna, the water facilities in Delhi are either partially functional or completely dysfunctional.
This has led to a severe water crisis in the city.
The Government of NCT of Delhi recently moved to the Hon’ Supreme Court of India seeking directions to order Haryana Government of releasing 450 cusecs of potable water daily to Wazirabad Water Barrage to supply to Delhi.
The petition is moved by the Kejriwal Government alleging that Haryana by not fulfilling its obligation of supplying water to Delhi is in violation of the 1996 Apex Court directions.

Against a normal preciptiation of about 70mm, this January recorded only 4.4mm.
By then natural springs and streams, thirsting for adequate rains since last June, would turn dry.
There was no significant snowfall or rain this winter.
When there is no snowfall in the mountains it is naturally going to affect water level in the plains.
It causes both qualitative and quantitative loss,” MeT director Sonam Lotus said.
Against a normal preciptiation of about 70mm, this January recorded only 4.4mm.
ShakilRomshoo, professor and head dpartment of Earth Sciences at the University of Kashmir, said the dry phenomenon is part of global climate exchange and “Kashmiris are not responsible for this”.
“We now have an eight-month-long dry spell now,” he said.
Although water flow in streams would increase in a month, it would recede after some time, he added.
Romshoo said people in northern and central parts of Kashmir, especially the hilly regions, will face water scarcity.

The crisis of water deficit is being encountered by almost all residents of the city that hosts four million people.
With 27 inches of rainfall, 2013 was the wettest year for Cape Town filling all its reservoirs.
Hailed as the Garden City and City of Lakes, Bengaluru has been listed among the cities that may face a massive water shortage in the future.
This is despite the fact that there is the Cauvery River – a major source of water supply to the city.
In Bengaluru, proactive citizens have formed a group called Bengaluru Water Warriors to revive the water bodies.
Acknowledging that groundwater reserves in Gurugram have been adversely affected due to the growing population, Chief Minister ML Khattar said that not only will old ponds be revived but, if required, new water bodies will also be created.
According to a study, the non-revenue water loss in Mumbai is 900 million litres per day.
The total river zone area in Delhi is 9700 hectares, of which, 1600 hectares houses the Yamuna River the rest 8100 hectares are river zone areas.
Not only Delhi but all the four major metros of India today have a river as their source of water supply.
We all know that there is water crisis that is affecting our cities.

Women travel around one kilometre to reach Vaigai river to scoop water from holes on its banks.
The situation remains the same throughout the year, with the occasional respite coming whenever a Reverse Osmosis plant in the village comes alive.
“I need at least five pots to meet the drinking water requirement of my house for two days.
Since we received Vaigai water this year, water is only a shallow dig away.
However, there are fears that a situation would arise, like in the past, and we would have to trek to far-off places to get water once summer bares its fangs,” says Kavitha, who is accompanied by her four-year-old daughter Karnika.
The women would not have to trek or dig holes at ungodly hours if the government gives water connection to the hamlet, says P Chandran, a resident.
“We will replace the substandard motor installed by the local panchayat with a branded one at the reverse osmosis plant within five days.
We will ensure that the panchayat collects only `2 per water pot,” the official said, adding that there was another issue, which was not being highlighted.
“People are reluctant to fetch water from the plant.
People should change their outlook towards the plant,” Chelladurai added.

Several billion people around the world live without sufficient access to clean water.
The water crisis in the Cape Town has commanded headlines around the globe when the African National Congress declared a national state of emergency as the city had expected to run out of drinking water by April.
The city of 20 million faced its own Day Zero in 2015.
China is home to 20 percent of the world’s population but has only seven percent of the world’s fresh water available.
Challenges facing Cairo include the facts that 4.5 billion cubic meters of its water come from non-renewable sources and that its main source of water, the Nile, is a transboundary river.
In Mexico City, 20 percent of residents have tap water available only a few hours a week, and another 20 percent have running water just part of the day.
The city’s 30 million residents depend on surface water for 70 percent of their supply.
They serve as the early warning systems that demand correction now and in the future.
A March 2018 report World Water Development Report from the UN said that 36 percent of the cities in the world will face a water crisis by 2050.
Everyone has the right to sufficient, continuous, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use.” Sources: The Mirror, Water shortage crisis: Millions of residents in London and South-East urged to use “as little as possible” after extreme weather hits supplies