— Rajesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Meinhardt India
Rajesh Srivastava has
more than 18 years of
experience in the
directorship and
management of leading
organisations in India,
ranging from multinational
infrastructure companies
to small-scale industries.
At Meinhardt, he was
responsible for securing
the contract to act as
'Global Technical Advisor
for the Modernisation of
the Delhi and Mumbai
Airports'. Rajesh
Srivastava, in an email
interaction with
Lalitha
Rao, discusses critical
issues pertaining to water
management in India.
What is your outlook on the
Indian water management
sector?
A large proportion of our infrastructure
is over 100 years old,
placing it at an increased risk for
leaks, blockages and malfunction
due to deterioration. There has
been years of neglected maintenance
to water storage, treatment
and distribution systems. Poorly
maintained water supply systems
can generally be traced to insufficient
financial resources and poor
management. This deterioration
threatens the quality and reliability
of all water services. Lack of
master plan for implementation of
water infrastructure, lack of single
point/window clearance for the
project, inadequate funding for
O&M of treatment and distribution
systems including efforts for
control of unaccounted for water
resulting in loss of revenue, poor
coordination among the various
departments like roads, railways,
land acquisition department, forest
department etc., and also poor
availability of competent engineering
staff, execution contractor
and skilled workmen.
Do es India have the technology
to meet the estimated 2.8
per cent growth in water demand
by 2030?
Water in India is still a political
subject; there are certain officials
who are looking forward to drive
change through technological
means, but execution is the
biggest constraint. Though, with
techniques like drip sprinkler irrigation
we can say we are well
versed with technology but we
lack behind in the overall water
distribution and management.
What are the factors responsible
for water scarcity?
Two types of scarcity, physical and
economic, are responsible for
water scarcity in India. Physical
scarcity is when available
resource is insufficient to meet the
demand; besides, availability of
uninterrupted power supply for
operation of water treatment
plants and tubewells. Economic
water scarcity occurs when investments
needed to keep up with
growing water demand are constrained
by financial, human, or
institutional capacities.
The other main factors are lack of
finance, lack of human capacity,
poor management, and a lack of
good governance, all of which
contribute to water scarcity, and
for assured availability of water
round the year construction of
dams and reservoirs is a necessity
to release water into rivers and
canals during summer. Presently,
lot of water goes to the sea for want
of storage and causing loss of
property and life due to floods.
Dams will also moderate floods.
Water shortage in urban
areas is due to mismanagement
of water distribution.
Urban water management is a
zone which needs some serious
concern. The estimates suggest
that by 2025, more than 50 per
cent of the country's population
will live in cities and towns. Insufficient
model for urban water
management, low awareness,
lack of training, ill-designed supply
system, unstructured distribution
system and low sensitivity
towards environmental safeguards
are the factors which need
to be considered to address this
issue. A decentralised approach is
what should be taken with a performance
measurement of urban
local bodies in order to coordinate,
develop and manage distribution.
Recent statistics label water
and sanitation crisis as one
of the human development challenges
of the early 21st century.
The Human Development Report
suggests that about 1.4 billion
people lack access to clean water
and more than double the number
lack basic sanitation. Holistic
engineering approach is the need
of the hour, such as, storm water
drainage, recycling and reuse
of treated effluents from the
sewage treatment plants, water
utility management plans, pumping
systems and energy saving
measures etc.
Do you think encouraging
private participation will
improve management practices?
Participatory PPPs are an effective
way of delivering infrastructure
projects and draw upon the
strengths of both the public and
private sectors. There are different
PPP models that can be utilised for
different types of infrastructure
required in the sector. Whether it
be dams, pipelines, water grids,
waste treatment plants, water
recycling plants, wastewater
treatment etc., sufficient planning
and investigation should be
undertaken to ensure the correct
model is implemented.
There is a strong precedent of
water infrastructure projects
being delivered via PPPs. In
Chennai, the operation and maintenance
of sewage pumping station
have been contracted out,
which enabled to achieve 45-65
per cent of cost savings.
What are the specific issues
pertaining to policies?
Water being state subject, with the
rise in urban population, preparation
of water infrastructure development
plan for cities is necessary.
Dams and reservoirs to
enable utilisation of available
water are to be constructed with
better cooperordination amongst
states. Rainwater harvesting will
ensure that underground water is
not only harnessed but also
replenished to maintain quantity
and quality of underground soil
water.
How can India reduce the
unaccounted-for water rate
estimated at 50 per cent of water
supply?
Through changes in holistic environmental
thinking; change in
managerial methodologies and
approach; capital investment and
financial planning to change the
water supply systems which are
over 100 years old; appointment
of competent agency for providing
technical, legal, social and
sustainable solutions; and latest
technology for maintenance of the
systems.
Can you tell us about your
partnership with Nanyang
Technological University?
Through our experience working
on international environmental
projects, we found that many of
the water problems that our
clients faced traced back to inadequate
forward planning, inappropriate
design, weak project execution,
and lack of trained people to
operate and maintain the water
infrastructure. To help clients
address these issues, the idea for a
water training centre was formed.
The courses will be conducted by
leading environmental practitioners
from Meinhardt, top faculty
from NTU's Nanyang Business
School and experts from PUB.
The training centre will help drive
professional competence in the
industry through hands-on training
and attachments. The curriculum
will consist of short courses
tailored for operators, middle
management and senior executives
who are keen to broaden
their knowledge and sharpen
their technical, commercial and
managerial skills in the areas of
environmental, water and wastewater
management.
Can you briefly talk about
Meinhardt's operations?
Over the years, Meinhardt has
been involved with various iconic
and innovative projects in the
water and environmental space
such as the Deep Tunnel Sewerage
System in Singapore and
the Greater Bangalore Water
Supply Distribution Network
in India.
Our multi-engineering capabilities
and global experience in overseeing
the entire project delivery
cycle from feasibility studies, master
planning, design to construction
supervision and asset management
will facilitate a more
holistic knowledge transfer to
clients, and impart the essential
skills of integrating water and
waste-water management for a
sustainable and long-term urban
infrastructure planning.