Endangered Waters - Greenpeace

Endangered Waters
Greenpeace India
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The Gobind Vallabh Pant sagar dam in
Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh The dam on river
Rihand also supplies water to all the thermal
power plants in the region
A cluster of power plants coming up in
Vidarbha and their impact on water availability
is discussed in detail in sections 3 and 4.
Thermal power projects in coastal districts
may draw seawater; others are slightly inland
and may draw from rivers or other bodies of
freshwater. It is illegal for thermal power plants
to draw groundwater. Inland clusters will use
only freshwater from rivers and other water
bodies, such as irrigation reservoirs, and so
the chances of the water requirements of the
power plants clashing with the local water
requirements of farmers are high.
As power projects must obtain water clearance
from the relevant state departments before
the final stage of applying for environmental
clearance from the Ministry of Environment and
Forests, all the projects above will already have
been allocated water.
2.4 The Draft National Water Policy
2. Irrigation
3. Hydro-power
4. Ecology
5. Agro-industries and non-agricultural
industries
6. Navigation and other uses. 26
However, the Draft National Water Policy of
2012 - the final version was not available
at the time of going to print - specifies only
that priority should be given to the ‘minimum
quantity of water required for survival of human
beings and ecosystem’. 27 Beyond that, it writes
that water ‘should be treated as an economic
good’. This creates a very real danger that
freshwater will be allocated to thermal power
projects ahead of irrigation programmes to the
great detriment of farming communities, as
has already been the case in Maharashtra (see
sections 3.5 and 5).
The National Water Policy of India, 2002, listed
water uses in order of priority:
1. Drinking water