Water

Interview: Chandrashekar Hariharan
Creating a Lifestyle Built on Integrated Water Management Practices
April 2005

By Ma. Christina Dueñas
Water Knowledge and Communications Coordinator, ADB

Mr. Chandrashekar Hariharan is head of Biodiversity Conservation (India) Limited (BCIL) Alternate Technology Foundation. BCIL promotes conservation. Its first initiative -- a self-sustained residential campus in Bangalore called Trans Indus -- is characterized by the use of energy-efficient building materials, rainwater harnessing systems, waste water treatment technologies, and an array of management skills for soil, water and energy. The campus now has around 50 eco-conscious homes spread over 42 acres of land. BCIL has now built over 250 eco-conscious homes, in seven campuses, and plans to build another 150 homes in the next 12 months. Accepting that they cannot change the world at large, BCIL has chosen the more pragmatic route of demonstrating sustainable solutions in water management within the more controlled confines of the communities they build and work with. Mr. Hariharan has always been interested in nurturing watersheds. Prior to his involvement with BCIL, he has worked on such projects in Uttaranchal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland, and so on. With BCIL, he helped launch in several towns a program for primary treatment of sewage/sullage water with a string of chemical-free, baffles-based tanks that reduced the TDS (total dissolved solids) in the wastewater before discharging it into nearby streams/rivers. Mr. Hariharan believes that while people are getting increasingly eco-sensitive, they still flounder when it comes to applying principles of conservation to their daily lives. He has always worked, therefore, to provide people not just with awareness of environmental issues, but opportunities to practice this awareness on a daily basis.

What are India's main problems in providing safe and accessible water supply and sanitation (WSS) to its people?

People's commitment is a big concern. As is typical of developing countries, we hurdle on a daily basis the apathy of government agencies, the lack of enthusiasm from the bureaucracy and elected representatives, and the initial skepticism of subject groups on the motives of development or enterprise groups.

The lack of education on the different facets of water supply and sanitation is also a big hurdle. People need to understand the value of water, the importance of hygiene, the steps for installing simple water treatment systems that they can maintain, the strength of a community against that of an individual, and so on.

What innovations has India undertaken to improve WSS in the country?

Given the unique geographic positioning of the subcontinent, with seas on all sides and the massive 2500 km Himalayan wall to the north, India's water resource has been fed by the ceaseless motion of the monsoon winds. Rains fall just 80 to 90 hours per annum, a mere 1% of the 8,760 hours available in a year. Understandably, most innovations involve simple and cost-effective techniques for storing water, in the ground or in tanks.

Historically, India has strong traditional knowledge systems in harvesting water. They are time tested and have worked very successfully in the past. For instance, states like Rajasthan have proven that water requirements can be met adequately despite limited rainfall. Problems usually lie in the implementation and maintenance of these systems.

Linear solutions never help; we need to keep working on holistic approaches. India is a land known for its complex lakes, tanks, and extremely intricate irrigation networks. These were created with the native intelligence of people who understood their relation to the five J's -- jan [people], jungle [forests], jameen [land], jaanwar [fauna] and jal [water].

Your group advocates biodiversity conservation through eco-conscious homes in sustainable communities. What are your operating principles?

Central to the idea of every community we create are the following:

• We do not import power. We offer localized power generation solutions, and these solutions are based on renewable sources of feedstock.
• We do not import water. We have configured a combination of green and physical storage options that will ensure groundwater recharging. We reduce the use of freshwater with daily reuse of black & gray water. We install a variety of water-saving devices that combine urban comforts with substantial freshwater savings.
• We handle the disposal or treatment of all waste generated in every community. Degradable wastes are used for vermicomposting, and non-degradables like plastic, metals and clinical waste are either put in landfills or given to agencies that specialize in their recycling or disposal.
• The community gets involved. They do not view themselves as 'customers'; instead, they participate in as many aspects as they can.

What specific water conservation or integrated water management practices have you introduced?

In every campus, we implement watershed management practices right from the planning stage. For instance, working on a 12-acre expanse means rainwater potential of 36 million liters. Our plans have to yield reuse of up to 20 per cent, or 7 million liters, if we are to term our effort successful. In each of the seven campuses we have so far created, we harness four to nine million liters a year.

We also introduce a set of solutions for wastewater. Sometimes, the solutions are localized -- one for every home; sometimes these are federalized -- one for every cluster of eight to twelve homes. There are times when we opt for a centralized scheme if the overall energy-use analysis suggests that central distribution is viable.

An important component of every urban plan and layout we conceive is the energy-free irrigation systems. No pumps can be used to drive water. We have to save on labor cost yet we have to water over 60,000 tree saplings that are 2-4 years old. One solution has been Root Zone Treatment with soil moisture retention systems that use recycled plastic bottles or terra cotta pots. Careful planning of the pits for new saplings with layers of mulch, coco pith, purlite and other moisture-retaining organic materials save us labor since we only need to provide water for the network of saplings in each area twice a week. Simply keeping our land areas chemical-free reduces the demand of water.

Where there are kitchen gardens and plant beds in individual homes, use of low-density sprinkler sets, which ensure even spread of the water in a manner that they simulate rain, is an essential guideline to resident families.

We discourage lawns since they are proven to consume about 30 liters of water per sq. foot. At homes, bathtubs are banned since a tub-full means 280 liters, and just twice a week use of the tubs already amount to a million liters annually. Our members easily understand when we explain these figures to them. That is the advantage of the urban marketplace -- education.

How would you rate the campuses' success in sustaining these practices?

BCIL's work spans eleven years and 1.5 million sq. feet of homes. Like in any conventional situation, there have been systems that failed. But this has only meant that we allocate an affordable sum to ensure that a team continues to visit long-completed enclaves and check the progress of the communities' maintenance efforts.

How will this approach contribute to improving WSS in India?

Well, it speaks well of commercial homebuilders and land developers if they recognize the importance of water and the need for long-term strategies to ensure adequate supply for their clients.

Secondly, in a city where only 35 per cent of the water is fed by Government-operated water supply systems and the rest is drawn from groundwater resources, which significantly drain the electrical energy source, then solutions offered by BCIL should be viewed not just as alternatives but as imperatives for the future.

These approaches to WSS will ensure less abuse of the immediate local environment, and bring about all the associated benefits of improved climate, e.g. less use of energy for cooling.

What have been your major challenges in sustaining this approach?

It is not easy to get a community to accept our offer. It's very hard to convince simple folk, and education in most of these communities is low.

For instance, we are currently working on planting 50,000 saplings in one village on the periphery of Bangalore. It has taken us over two months to get the village council to see that we have little to gain financially from the effort. We had to get their commitment to protect these saplings from grazing and secure their permission to plant in land areas that belong to the Council.

Good communication is key. There are many dynamics that need to be handled with sensitivity. But communicating in a way that people understand helps ease many of these dynamics.

Another challenge, unfortunately, is that water as a resource is too cheap. If it is priced right, then people will begin to prize this precious liquid.

What 3 messages from your water-related experiences can you highlight?

One, sermonizing doesn't help. People don't have the time to listen. They need hard benefits. Talk to them about the financial savings they can make, and they will buy your line.

Two, look for localized or federalized solutions. The more you centralize, the greater the network of downstream problems you create, and so need to solve.

Three, look for every avenue that can help you save on the drawing of freshwater. Reusing, putting gray water back into a loop, using appliances that save, enhancing storage of water from the skies, and just about anything to reduce use of fresh water.

Related Link

• Biodiversity Conservation (India) Limited