A Voice from India

Brandy Lellou presents Anuva Bajpai with her award as one of the 2011 International Art Contest winners

Earlier this year, PBS ran a special called Water Scarcity in New Delhi; which left us with many unanswered questions.  A visit last week from our 2011 poster contest winner Anuva Bajpai and her family, who live in New Delhi, gave us the opportunity to learn more about their daily difficulty with water, and the extraordinary measures the Indian government is taking to ensure sustainable water supplies.

I had lunch with Anuva and her family at the American Indian Museum in Washington DC.  Anuva’s father, Samir Bajpai, was in town for work and it was the families first visit to the United States.

Anuva's Winning Poster

When I asked  Anuva about the inspiration for her poster she said she had seen a photo in a magazine, and had adapted the scene to New Delhi.  Water trucks are, indeed, a common sight in the city, where a large part of the population has to buy their water from trucks. Even an upper middle-class family like their’s has access to water for only two hours a day.  Anuva’s mother, Ritu Bajpai, described how they have to plan most of their water-use activities, including  laundry and cleaning, around that short time.  They also have a water storage tank on their roof, where the water they pump during the daily two hours can be stored for use later on.

Anuva’s father, Samir Bajpai, indicated that many changes have been made to New Delhi’s water system over the past few years.  The entire water supply and sanitation system has been privatized, and is now operated by many different companies (the majority of them Indian).  Pipeline water loss has been cut in half, falling from over 20 percent to less than 9 percent (better than the 14 percent that is the average in the U.S.).  And while New Delhi’s water supply was previously subsidized, with privatization the subsidies have ceased.  Residents now pay five times more for their water than before.  Anuva’s family of four uses about 180 liters (47 gallons) a day, costing some $35 a month.  This is close to the average monthly bill in the U.S.  An American middle-class family of four, however, uses 1480 liters (392 gallons) a day — thus getting eight times more water than their New Delhi counterparts.

The removal of subsidies has been particularly difficult for New Delhi’s poor.  Rather than pipelines, they rely on tanker trunks that pull up and deliver water in much the same way Anuva depicted in her poster.  The increased price of water for the supply trucks is passed down to consumers, and slum dwellers, too, are now paying more for less.

Because of the severe shortage of water in New Delhi and throughout India, rainwater harvesting is mandatory for all those who can afford it.  In addition, buildings in New Delhi with 200,000 square feet or more must develop a government-approved water plan.  The plan must include rainwater harvesting, water reuse, and on-site sewage treatment.

As a consultant for the India Infrastructure Finance Company, Mr. Bajpai, is especially interested in policies that encourage sustainable infrastructure.  He noted several measures the Indian government has implemented to encourage self-reliance and sustainability at the local level.  For example, the 73rd and 74th amendments to India’s constitution, enacted over a decade ago, gave local communities an independent budget and control over how it is spent. Over time, this has proven to be very successful in increasing local sustainability.  A stark reminder that change doesn’t always see immediate results.  Any positive actions we take today may only be realized within the following decade or more; likewise any failures to act may be felt even more over time.

The conversation with Anuva’s family was informative and inspiring.  It was especially delightful to meet as strangers but discover similar interests.  We could have spent the entire day talking, but Anuva and her younger sister were excited to continue their explorations of D.C.

When we finished our lunch, Mrs. Bajpai packaged up the left-over tarts and said, “It’s a sin to waste in India” – a lesson that is universal with food, but one we all still need to learn with respect to water.

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