What a water-wise city would look like – and how India can get there
Urban India’s water emergency will not be fixed by better crisis management alone. Over the coming decades, hundreds of millions more people will live and
Urban India’s water emergency will not be fixed by better crisis management alone. Over the coming decades, hundreds of millions more people will live and work in Indian cities, driving a sharp increase in the urban water demand. And unless we change how we design, finance, and govern water systems, we will simply scale up today’s shortages, floods and contamination problems. The challenge now is to imagine a different future — one in which cities become more water-secure — and identify clear strategies to get there. A useful way to think about that future is to imagine cities that are water-wise by design, built around their rivers, lakes and aquifers; cities that capture rainwater, reuse treated wastewater; minimise losses through smart networks and are backed by institutions that can sustain these gains across political cycles. Many elements of this vision already exist. Melbourne has expanded stormwater capture and introduced ‘third-pipe’ systems for non-potable water, while Singapore now meets 40% of its national waste demand through recycled water. Indian cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru have begun incorporating water-sensitive approaches into their climate action plans. Planning around water First, city planning needs to start with water, not end with it. Currently, master plans and major transport or housing projects often pay limited attention to where water will come from, how much can be used sustainably, and where floods and polluted flows will go. Instead, every master plan and major corridor should be built around a water structure plan that maps rivers, lakes, tanks, drains, recharge zones and floodplains. This makes better use of local resources and reduces the cost of managing water.
Cities like Wuhan and Philadelphia have used blue-green grids to guide zoning and infrastructure, combining parks, wetlands, and detention basins with conventional drains to manage both storms and droughts. In India, emerging work on water-sensitive neighbourhoods and sponge-city pilots in Chennai and Bengaluru shows how similar ideas can be embedded in local plans. Second, cities should move towards local water security rather than complete self-sufficiency by reducing their dependence on distant, fragile, and energy-intensive sources. It does not mean every city can be self-sufficient. Each will need a different mix of water sources depending on its geography and climate. The goal is to maximise local resources while maintaining a diverse water supply that can withstand droughts and other disruptions. Singapore’s ‘Four Taps’ strategy of combining local catchment water, imported water, desalination, and high-grade recycled water shows how diversified sources can reduce long-term vulnerability. For Indian cities, a realistic long-term strategy would emphasise three pillars: capturing and recharging more rainwater; reusing treated wastewater for all suitable non-drinking purposes; and managing groundwater within sustainable limits. guidance already asks cities to recycle and reuse at least 20% of the water they use. These percentages need to become time-bound targets, backed by dedicated reuse networks to industrial clusters, incentives and mandates for large campuses and housing societies, and systematic recharge works linked to drains and open spaces. Beyond big infra Third, long-term water security demands a different approach to investment decisions. Large projects often win because they look impressive and offer quick, visible gains, while less visible options, such as reducing losses, protecting wetlands or decentralised treatment and reuse struggle to attract finance, even when they deliver greater long-term benefits.
The BriefWire