Water Issues Including Pollution and Management Strategies in India

Author: Anujit Dutta

Contact: anujit.dutta@gmail.com

Abstract: Water management has many components like sourcing, treatment, distribution network. It has certain issues at each stage i.e. planning, design, execution and Operation and Maintenance (O&M). The issues are about design philosophy as well as maintenance of the facilities. In India, main issue for water projects are not the regulations, but the enforcement of them. Development of alternate sources, mandatory reuse of treated effluents from waste water treatment plants, more use of smart metering and automation in the project components are some of the keys for water management. Setting up of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and incentives for the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) definitely helps the Government. Dholera SIR, which is planned as the green field industrial smart city, has all the components and targeting water losses to 7% with mandatory water reuse and redundancy in water sources., Planning of Dholera SIR for the water supply is discussed in this for reference for practicing Water & Environment professionals. Both the green field developments and brown field developments and the up-gradation in existing water supply system in Indian cities need to be developed in the same direction.

Preface

Dholera SIR was officially initiated with the enactment of the Gujrat Special Investment Region Act, 2009. This act came into effect on 06th January 2009. This act provides for a four-tier administrative mechanism for establishment, operation, regulation, and management of SIR:

1. A State-level Apex Authority for all SIRs within Gujrat

2. A Regional Development Authority (RDA) for each designated SIR within Gujrat

3. A Project Development Agency; and

4. Project specific Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)

Following this act, the Government of Gujrat declared the Dholera SIR on 22nd May, 2009. The Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) which was set up in 1999 via The Gujrat Infrastructure Development Act 1999 (amended in 2006) was designated as the Apex Body for Dholera SIR. The Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation Limited (GIIC) which was established in 1968, was designated as the Project Development Authority for Dholera SIR. Subsequently the Dholera Special Investment Regional Development Authority (DSIRDA) was constituted by the Gujrat Government on 16th February 2010 as the RDA for Dholera SIR. Finally, for the development of Dholera SIR, Government of Gujrat (GoJ) and Government of India (GoI) formed the SPV named Dholera Industrial City Development Limited (DIDCL) on 28Jan2016. And thus, whole administrative mechanism was concluded by 2009.

Dholera SIR is part of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project. Geographically, the site is situated about 100 km from Ahmedabad and about 130 km from Gandhinagar. Its location map is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Location Map of Dholera SIR (Courtesy: Wikipedia and DSIRDA)

The DSIR covers an area measuring 920 sq km. and encompasses 19 villages of Dhandhuka Taluka and 3 villages of Barwala Taluka. The DSIR is expected to generate 826,630 jobs in total over a 30-year time frame; this will support, in turn, about 2 million population. The average expected size of family in DSIR is 4 and the Final Development Plan – DSIRDA envisaged the construction of 500,000 dwellings.

The planning horizon of 30-years for DSIR is divided into three Phases. The capital cost for infrastructure provisions for DSIR is estimated to be about INR. 38,476 crores over the whole planning horizons. The cost of operating the developed infrastructure (INR. 1084.30 crores) is:

1. Phase-I (2010-2015 for Phase 1A and 2015-2020 for Phase-1B): INR. 304.60 Crores.

2. Phase-II (2020-2030): INR. 528.66 Crores.

3. Phase-III (2030-2040): INR. 251.04 Crores

Current Status of the DSIR Project

After browsing through the website of DSIRDA (las accessed on 08Jun25), following snapshots are obtained. See Table 1 and Table 2.

Table 1: Completed and Ongoing Projects in DSRI (Source: https://dholera.gujarat.gov.in/projects, as on 08Jun2025)

Table 2: Awarded and Ongoing Tender (Source: https://dholera.gujarat.gov.in/projects, as on 08Jun2025)

• Completed projects: Till date, 10 projects with cumulative contract value of INR. 350.13 Crore has been completed. This is about 1% of the total Capex as estimated in the Final Development Plan for DSIR.

• Ongoing Projects: Till date, another 5 projects are ongoing for which total contract value is INR. 860.98 Crores. This is about 2.2% of the total Capex as estimated in the Final Development Plan for DSIR.

• Awarded Tenders: Till date, 26 tenders have been awarded.

• Invited tender: Till date, 4 tenders are floated and are in Expression of Interest Stage.

Infrastructure Related to Water and Environment

After reviewing the Final Development Plan – DSIRDA, following Infrastructure related to Water is to be developed within DSIR as shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Indicative Phasing of the Major Infrastructure Elements related to Water & Environment (Reproduced part of the Table 4-4 of Final Development Plan – DSIRDA)

A comparison of Table 1 and Table 3 reveals that works have been started and completed for most of the infrastructure related to water and environment that were planned for Phase-1 of DSIR. The main article by the author needs to be placed in this backdrop of the development at DSIR.

About the Main Article

Upon my request, this article was communicated to me by the Author on 30May25. It is based on Author’s own experience with the Water Infrastructure Projects within Dholera Special Improvement Region (SIR). The Author drafted this article around 2016 and it was not published anywhere, till date. I am publishing this article after writing the opening Section i.e. Preface to provide proper context to the main article. Also, I am hoping that this Preface will provide the reader the immense importance of DSIR in rebuilding the Indian nation.

~~The Editor and Publisher

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Water Issues Including Pollution and Management Strategies in India

Water is the most precious gift from nature to mankind and the most essential part of our lives. Water is also called as “JIWAN”- the life itself. Unfortunately, water is not unlimited and with rapid development and urbanization in India in last few decades, coupled with increasing population, India has reached the stage of threshold limit of water use. Now we need to wake up and put our best effort for effective management of water.

The biggest challenge we have today is the water withdrawal vs water recharge imbalance. Water withdrawal is much more than the recharge and this will reduce the fresh water quantity of earth as fresh water, unlike power, is non generable. Hence identification of alternate water sources and method of using them is becoming mandatory in present times.

Another challenge is the susceptibility of fresh water towards pollution. Both surface water and ground water are under continuous threat of getting polluted as water is a relatively open and unprotected source. Continuous measurement of the water quality at different points (starting from source to consumers) is essential for the purpose of safe water supply to the consumers.

This paper discusses the issues for water management and the key for effective management of water in India in 21st century. The example of Dholera Special Investment Region, Gujarat, the largest under construction green filed industrial township in India is presented as reference of development where every possible attempt is addressed in the planning stage to save the fresh water.

Saving of water today will save our children for future.

Issues

Proper planning is the key to success for any project, and this hold good for the water supply projects as well. Often, for green field projects, we plan for more population and more rapid development and hence over-design the infrastructure facilities. This results to high cost at the beginning, idle plant and equipment, and unnecessary replacement of the facilities when the actual time for the operation comes. Phase-wise/ Modular development to be planned for the water infrastructure facilities.

The issues for effective water management are multidimensional and applicable for different stages i.e. planning, design, execution, operation and maintenance stages and are described below.

Water Sources – Quality and Quantity Issues

Surface Water Source (River/ Canals)

• Continuous pollution of surface water sources due to discharge of partly treated / untreated sewage / industrial effluent from the industries and /or treatment plants.

• In urban areas, people under the below poverty line or slum dwellers leave adjacent to the surface water source like rivers / canals and use the water as bathing and toilet purposes.

• Garbage is being thrown to the rivers regularly including immersion of idols.

• Unauthorized tapping of surface water from canals / rivers reduces the water flow and makes the canals dry. This is a very common practice, especially in rural India when there is shortage of drinking water or water for irrigation.

Ground Water Source

• Diminishing of ground water level due to continuous withdrawal is the major cause for reducing the ground water source.

• Pollution of ground water due to underground construction activities and the contamination from the septic tanks/ soak pits.

• Intrusion of salty water into the ground water near the coastal areas and increasing the salinity level of the ground water. This intrusion also increases the ground water level and there is a threat that some of World’s most beautiful cities may be under sea water in future.

Rainwater Harvesting

Lack of rainwater storage facilities deprives us from storing and using huge quantity of drinking water. Rainwater storage does not need much expenditure or technical supremacy…but lack of public awareness still does not allow this to be counted as the measurable source of water. In countries like Singapore or Malaysia, rainwater storage is the major source of water.

Desalination

High cost of treatment makes the lower capacity plants non-feasible.

Water Supply Issues

Inadequate / No Metering in the Distribution System

The main reason for the distribution losses is the lack of metering facilities. As per CPHEEO manual, for planning and design of water supply systems, 15% losses for network are accepted. However, practically the average losses for distribution system come to almost 30-40% even for best managed networks in Indian cities. Unfortunately, lack of adequate metering facilities disables us to get the actual locations / causes of this loss.

Unauthorized Tapping

Unauthorized tapping of water by the residents increases the difference between the water at the plant outlet and the water reaching the consumers. These illegal tapings also cause the damage to the pipelines and the repair / replacement works come much before the design life.

Maintenance of Quality

In a public water supply system (both Transmission and Distribution), the pipelines are vulnerable in getting wholes and contaminants intrude the water in the pipeline. This is a very common phenomenon in India as the distribution systems in almost all of the Indian cities are without the online quality monitoring systems.

Lack of Penalties / Public Awareness

Public awareness needs to be improved for the water supply system. Even today, residents feel that water comes on free and so people can fetch water from wherever he / she wants to. This needs to be changed to protect the water.

Treatment issues

Poor Maintenance of the Plants

• Under-performance by the plant operators to maximize the profits is a common factor for most of the plants in India. The operators often do not run all the units and hence in most of the treatment trains, some of the basic processes are getting skipped and the treatment is incomplete.

• Old plants do not produce the same treated water quality due to poor maintenance of the civil structures and electrical and mechanical equipment. Plant operators/ contractors do not change the equipment even after the design period is over and hence the plant efficiency is reduced.

Concept Regarding the Purpose of Treatment

• The basic concept regarding the purpose of treatment needs to be changed in people’s mind. Even today, the basic purpose of STPs/ ETPs in the municipal sector is the treatment up to the disposal standard and disposal of treated/ partly treated waste water (sewage / effluent) after the STP/ ETPs to the surface streams (and not treating up to the recycled water level to enable the reuse). However, gradually the concept is developing for recycling of treated effluent.

• In the design of plants, there are losses within the plant due to lack of recycling within the process units. Sludge is considered as the waste material for the treatment by most of the process designers and recycling of sludge supernatant is often overlooked by the plant designers. This recycling will save about 2-3% of water within the process itself.

We need to address the above-mentioned issues and these shall be our point of discussions in the next few chapters.

Present Strategies by the Government Organizations

Our nation (Central and State Governments) is enforcing regulations, providing guidelines to the Govt/ Semi-Govt/ private developments for maintain the water withdrawal vs recharge balance and to become self-sufficient for managing the required water on its own. Urban Local bodies are also giving opportunity to the developers with sustainable planning with incentives like approving additional Built-Up areas etc. Some of the present regulations / guidelines and special programs are mentioned hereunder.

Regulations

• CGWB regulations for ground water withdrawal and regulations for maintenance of ground water quality with periodic supervision

• MoEF & CC Acts and Regulations for water protection.

• CPCB and State PCBs regulations for end use of treated effluents

• Stricter norms by water authorities (e.g State Irrigation Departments) for providing surface water

Special Programs / Actions

• Govt. of India introduces “Jal Jeevan Mission” programme for rural water supply.

• Govt. of India introduces “Namami Gange” programme to clean up the Holi River Ganga

• Yamuna Action plan ongoing by Delhi Jal Board to clean up Yamuna

• Allocation of special budget by Govt of India in 2016-17 for ground water development.

Standards and Guidelines

Standards and Guidelines in CPHEEO manuals, National Building Codes, IS codes for the water supply schemes are to be followed by any projects in design, execution, operation and maintenance phases.

Incentives to Developers

Govt / Semi Govt / private developers are encouraged by the Urban Local Bodies (Corporations, Municipalities etc.) to go for Green Building / LEEDS certification which allows the developers to construct additional Built-Up areas without paying additional jantri rates to the ULBs. The requirement of the green building norms includes the sustainable steps for water supply like grey water reuse, rainwater harvesting, low water urinals etc.

Increase in Awareness

Increasing awareness and the stricter norms for getting the fresh water supply are compelling the Govt / private developers to manage the water requirement by maximizing the reuse of treated sewage / effluent to cater to the non-potable demands like flushing, landscape irrigation, street washing, fire-fighting etc.

Keys to Effective Water Management

The effective management of water including preventing water from pollution is a national concern. This is not a milestone, but a continuous journey and this mission is possible only with the support of all of us …the citizens of India. Regulations, guidelines, design modifications, advanced technology, public involvement all are required together to make this as successful mission and help us maintain the Water withdrawal vs recharge imbalance.

Development of Alternate Water Sources

Reuse of Treated Waste Water

Reuse of treated waste water for non-potable purposes to be made mandatory …not only for private / Govt developments but also for the Urban Local bodies (Municipalities/ Corporations/others). This step will reduce the load on the fresh water source. All STPs and CETPs need to be planned with treatment standards up to the recycled water level to achieve the water circle as below.

Figure 2: Water Reuse Cycle

Desalination Plant

Desalination plant is required for treatment of both sea water and brackish ground water. India has a very long coastal boundary and we need to use the sea water for long term solutions. Cities like Chennai have already started depending on this source for the water supply solutions….and this needs to be followed by other cities. Capital and O&M cost is high but this needs to be afforded ...even with increasing the water tariff.

Use of Natural Water Sources

In India, rural hilly areas have lot of water sources like natural springs etc., We need to collect the water and transmit to the consumers for usage …at least for non-drinking purposes. These small projects can be taken in hand by Govt of India / State Govts under programmes like Small Grant projects, rural water supply projects under “Jal Jeevan Mission” etc.

Enforcement of Regulations

• Regulations and guidelines only are not enough, the enforcement with stricter and periodic supervision by the Govt authorities are required. Govt authorities (CGWB, CPCB, state PCBs) need to introduce its own supervision team or appoint the agencies for enforcing the regulations like ground water recharge.

• Regular audits are essential to assess the condition of the ongoing projects which has already got the approval. Presently it is mandatory for projects to submit MoEF & CC the compliance report at 6 months interval. Similar steps to be introduced by other agencies.

• Periodic water audits by the ULBs are essential to track and control the unauthorized water connections. Water meters are to be installed at strategic locations and at each consumer.

Improved Data Collection and Regular Up Gradation

• Better data collection and regular updation by the Govt is required regarding the water connections to prevent unauthorized connections.

• Water supply network maps need to be digitized in GIS or other platforms and maintained.

Design and Planning Modifications

• Increased automation and Smart metering at all stages i.e. withdrawal, transmission, treatment, distribution, connection etc. This is possible by controlling and monitoring by SCADA and will help the water supply authorities for better management.

• Design of all STPs and CETPs up to the tertiary treatment standards with the help of international standards like USEPA, WHO etc.

• Improvisations during the design stages like recycling of sludge in the treatment plants, catching the overflow from overhead reservoirs in the distribution system etc. will reduce the NRW losses in the treatment and network stages.

• Usage of alternate materials like HDPE pipes to reduce the losses in the pipelines.

Increase in Water Budgets

Increase in the budget of water management will help the authorities to implement all the above and maintain the water systems better. Govt needs to provide support in this matter.

Public Awareness

The above strategies are only successful when they are well supported and participated by all of us …the people of India. Govt needs to reach the people through campaign, media, just like the “Swachh Bharat Abhijan” programme, “Jal Jeevan Mission” for rural water programme.

Setting up KPI and Incentives

Setting up Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and awards for Urban Local bodies can be introduced and the best 5 or best 10 municipalities / corporations can be given awards for effective water management with steps like citywide water meters, automatic controlling and monitoring with SCADA and GIS etc.

Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR)- Nation Building

The Dholera SIR Development

The Government of India has envisaged the development of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) along the alignment of proposed Multi-modal High Axle Load Dedicated Freight Corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, covering an overall length of 1,483 km. The Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) will be a major Greenfield Industrial Hub planned and located approximately 100km south of Ahmedabad and 130km from the State Capital Gandhinagar. The project as envisaged will be the first initiative from Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (DMICDC) to create a linear zone of industrial clusters and nodes to be developed in the influence area of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). For the DSIR, DMICDC and GICC have appointed a multinational design consultancy firm as the Programme Manager for New Cities (PMNC) and I was part of the team.

Figure-3: DFC and Location of DSIR Development

DSIR has been planned over an extensive area of land measuring approximately 900km2 and encompassing 22 villages of Dhandhuka and Barwala Taluka in the Ahmedabad District. This will be by far the largest of investment nodes planned along the influence of DFC in the DMIC region. DMICDC, with support of DSIRDA, plan to create an economically and socially balanced new-age City with world class infrastructure and highest quality-of-life standards and sustainability in the urban form.

This development will require huge quantity of water for potable and non-potable uses.

Water Demand

Dholera SIR is planned to be developed in 3 phases and the phase-wise water demand is as below.

Table 4: Water Demand for Dholera SIR Development

The demand is huge due to both potable and non-potable applications like industrial, irrigation purposes etc. as Dholera SIR will also have large industrial and green areas.

The Challenge: Source of Water

Dholera SIR is located in Saurashtra region which is suffering from scarcity of fresh surface water. The preference of the Narmada Nigam and Gujarat water supply authorities is to provide the fresh water firstly for irrigation and drinking water and then for other uses.

The groundwater in Dholera SIR is located only 2-4 m below the existing ground level. However, due to proximity of sea, the salinity level in Dholear SIR is very high (15000-70000 ppm) in the shallow aquifer level.

Planning for Water

As the potable water source is limited, the total water demand of 898 MLD is broken down in potable and non-potable parts as below.

Table 5: Break up of Potable and Non-potable Water Demand

Now, fresh water sources like Narmada canal /branch canals sources are explored for potable water and recycled water after treatment from Sewage Treatment plant (STP), Common effluent treatment plants (CETP) and Tertiary Treatment Plants (TTP) are planned for non-potable use.

A water balance for Phase-I development were prepared and reached at the demand and supply scenario for the water in DSIR.

Figure 4: Water Balance at the Start and End of Phase-I Development

Source of Potable Water

The Saurashtra Branch canal (SBC) is planned as the raw water source as suggested by SSNNL. The intake site is at a distance of approximately 100 km away from the WTP location.

Deep groundwater is explored for an alternate source for potable water. Preliminary reconnaissance surveys and vertical sounding tests were made to ascertain the suitability of water. The water quality becomes better at the deep aquifer level i.e after 200 m below ground level and reduces to 5000-7000 ppm. Deep borewells are planned as alternate water source with the post treatment of this brackish ground water through desalination plant.

Source of Non-potable Water

Waste water generated in DSIR will be treated through the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) for domestic sewage and Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) for industrial effluent. PMNC proposes tertiary treatment for all the STPs and CETPs proposed within DSIR. The desired treatment standard will enable the treated effluent to be reused for the purposes of industrial water non-potable use, irrigation water, flushing and other non-potable purposes. This will reduce the pressure on the potable water demand.

As a supplementary water source for the non-potable water usage, it was conceived by the project development authorities (GIDB and DSIRDA) to approach the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for supplying of secondary treated sewage from the existing / proposed Sewage treatment plants at Ahmedabad. This secondary treated sewage will be conveyed for an approximate distance of 85 km to the proposed Tertiary Treatment plant (TTP) within Dholera area to bring the secondary treated sewage up to the recycled water standards.

Strategies for Water Management

Different International standards and benchmarks regarding the water and waste water treatment and network standards to set up the Standards for Dholera SIR. An example regarding the comparison for recycled water parameters is as below.

Table 6: Recycled Water Standards Set in Comparison with International Standards/ Benchmarks

As above, stringent standards for the water supply (potable and non-potable water) are set up and incorporated in the tender documents for Design Build Operate assignments. The treatment plants will be 100% automated with flow measuring devices and SCADA/ Distributed Control Systems so that quality can be monitored at each point of the treatment plants.

The water supply system, starting from raw water withdrawal to supply to consumers are planned with 100% automation with the help of SCADA, Distributed Control Systems, Remote terminal units, Fibre cables, motorized control valves, pressure transmitters, magnetic flow meters etc. The water supply will be monitored at each point through these devices and any losses will be monitored through leak detection system, pressure transmitters etc. All the ancillary equipment like valves, ESRs, flow meters etc. will be marked in GIS maps so that the locations can be easily marked in the distribution network. All these will help for the uninterrupted 24 x 7 water supply with flow controlling systems.

There will be online water quality monitoring systems for turbidity, pH and chlorine so that water quality can be measured at strategically important locations of the network.

Stringent norms are set up in Development control regulations and bylaws for the city development. All the plot owners need to maintain automated control valves and smart meters for the inlet water quantity measurement. The industrial plot owners need to measure the industrial effluent within its plot before discharging to the city effluent collection network and if the parameters exceed the maximum permissible value, the plot owner needs to put his own treatment system and get the effluent treated upto the permissible level before discharging.

Rainwater harvesting is planned with earthen channels and plot level storage.

The above strategies will target to minimize the water losses to 5%-7%. This will also help the city development authorities to serve acceptable quality of potable and non-potable water to the city residents.

Dholera SIR is not only a city, it is Nation Building …and supplying the best quality of water is one of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the development. This development will be the pioneer for the sustainable water management in India. DSIR is the largest green field industrial development today in India …and the target is to make this the best as well.

Recommendations

1. Reduction of potable water usage and maximum reuse of the recycled water is the requirement today. Sustainable planning and design philosophy are essential for the water supply schemes for the green field developments. Policies like groundwater recharge, usage of recycled water only for non-potable applications are to be made mandatory in the regulations and also in the enforcement also.

2. For brown field projects and for existing cities, the networks and treatment plants to be upgraded with automation and other facilities like smart metering, SCADA, automatic flow meters etc.

3. Regulations to be enforced by the Govt authorities for both implementation and maintenance of the cities as per the norms.

4. Regular audits by the Govt authorities for the water components are required.

5. Data collection and up-gradation to be improved in city development authorities.

6. Public awareness to be increased.

7. Allocations for water projects need to be increased in the budgets.

References

1. CPHEEO Manual for Water Supply & Treatment, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, 2024;

2. CPHEEO Manual on Sewerage and Sewage Treatment Systems, 2013

3. Final Development Plan for Dholera SIR;

4. USEPA Guidelines for Water Reuse;

5. Guidelines/Criteria for Evaluation of Proposals/ Requests for Ground Water Abstraction; Central Ground Water Authority;

6. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, amended in 1988.

7. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977, amended in 1992

8. WHO Guidelines for drinking water quality.

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Author's Profile

Er. Anujit Dutta was graduated in Civil Engineering from the Jadavpur University in 1997 and then he has obtained Master of Engineering (Public Health Engineering) in 2000 from the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health. Mr. Dutta has over 27 years of experience in the industry specializing in the several facets of Public Health Engineering. He has mainly worked in the Consulting Sector of the Industry. Currently he is working as Deputy Team Leader for a Rural Water Supply Project in West Bengal. Er. Dutta may be reached at: anujit.dutta@gmail.com.

Editor and Publisher: Kunal Konar, Consultant (Business Development & Analytic Hydrology)

08Jun2025, Bengaluru