B.K. Chandrashekar

BANGALORE: Though Karnataka has always been a severely water-stressed State, and there has been ample warning of desertification — it is after all the second driest State after Rajasthan — policies and strategies to address the problem have been few and infrequent. Yet extensive data, appropriate technologies and best practices are available, Chairman of the Legislative Council B.K. Chandrashekar said here on Thursday.

Prof. Chandrashekar, who held a consultation with officials, experts, scientists and NGO representatives to draft a theme for a workshop on the issue, told presspersons that a small group of legislators has been trying to raise the issue of impending water famine on the floor of the legislature.

"We are all aware that ground water has been overexploited and in districts like Kolar, contamination of the water table has meant the spread of fluorosis. The problem of water shortage has always been dealt with in an ad hoc manner," he said.

The consultation has highlighted the fact that the present policy does not take a holistic approach to water management, and there is no integration of schemes, technologies and funds to ensure water security either for drinking or for agriculture and industrial activities.

Prof. Chandrashekar said the two-day workshop would begin on May 18. The workshop would focus on themes like rejuvenation of water bodies, an action plan and guidelines for water management that could become part of the curriculum at the university level and new technologies that reduce water consumption in agriculture, he said.

Climate change and its consequences, and innovations across the country in water management, success stories of community management would also be discussed.

Though the issue is serious enough to merit a daylong debate in the legislature, it rarely figures on the agenda. One of the suggestions that came out of the meeting was that legislators would benefit from the workshop, as they are the lawmakers.

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