Andhra Pradesh’s water policy is a construction issue

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu presiding over a review meeting with State Water Resources Department officials on December 3, 2024. Photo: Special Arrangements

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently reviewed water resources development and called for a comprehensive water policy for Andhra Pradesh. Such a policy should be welcomed. The new state of Andhra Pradesh, at any rate, needs to regionally re-imagine its water future, especially given the multiple challenges it faces as a result of its bifurcation a decade ago.

Water policymaking at the state level is often undervalued, yet it is desirable and essential for subnational and national water security. This is for at least three basic reasons.

First, water governance in India is based on states and within states. Much-needed paradigm choices and changes—say, from demand management to supply augmentation—can be accomplished when leveraged at the state level.

Second, water resource development is deeply localized and regionalized for contextual reasons. For example, Maharashtra, which has advanced in water resource development, may need to focus on regulation, while Jharkhand on supply enhancement strategies.

Third, the current Anthropocene world warrants a re-vision of water resource management frameworks and practices. Renowned Professor Asit K. As Biswas says, the effects of climate change are most profoundly manifested in waterways, where large-scale risks are extreme and frequent. Confronting these risks sets a new agenda for policymaking at the national and subnational levels, for the latter.

Mr. Naidu’s contemplated comprehensive water policy rests on the traditional approach of increasing supply. Giving priority to the Polavaram project, he also stressed on the long-term river linking project. However, interconnection projects are expensive, distant and impossible for political reasons. This dependence on supply growth is not surprising for the downstream state. While these may remain part of the water policy portfolio, the state would do well to initiate in some key strategic directions.

Avoiding supply glut should be a top priority for the state. Many other states’ water policies express aspirations for such a change, but often fall short due to problems of institutional inertia. The deeply entrenched institutional cultures of water resources departments are based on increasing supply through engineering solutions. These demand management strategies are incapable of adaptation or promotion.

Reimagining these cultures must also include other elements of institutional reform. These include proven institutional models such as an independent water resources regulatory authority. This is important for Andhra Pradesh because of the acute and politically sensitive regional imbalances within the state. Such improvements can also provide another good starting point for improving water use efficiency.

An important direction is to deal with risk. While climate change presents a broad source of these risks, water security addresses other emerging risks such as groundwater depletion, river pollution and water quality, and dam safety. With more than 32 dams over 50 years old, and possibly the highest average storage per structure in the country, dam safety is an important concern.

As a downstream state with a long coastline, Andhra Pradesh is vulnerable to mixed climate change. A case in point is the Vijayawada floods in September. Heavy rainfall upstream and poor conditions of moderate to moderate flooding downstream resulted in large inundation. Even if the Chief Minister personally leads the response effort, institutionalization of a more capable and effective mechanism is needed. States should develop robust monitoring and response systems to address climate risks, including cyclones. This brings to the fore an important element of intergovernmental multi-sectoral coordination to deal with such extra-regional nature of risks. The state should be aware of these challenges of institutional restructuring in the direction of a more comprehensive water policy.

Srinivas Chokkakula President and Chief Executive, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi. Views are personal