World Water Day is celebrated every year on March 22. This year’s theme is aptly titled ‘Valuing water.’
In this context, here is an overview of India’s water scenario, the challenges and the ways to deal with it.
What is the extent of water crisis in India?
The NITI Aayog report on ‘Composite Water Management Index (2018)’ underlines that over 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress.
Also, about 2 lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.
According to a World Bank report, the amount of water currently available to an individual will fall below half of the 1,588 cubic meters per year by 2030.
This will create unimaginable disaster for the majority people in India.
Another World Bank report warns that the countries facing severe water scarcity are likely to face a 6% fall in their GDP by 2050s.
What are the other indications of water stress?
Dams - The average water levels in dams in June, just before the onset of monsoon, has been declining year after year.
This is evident from the report of the Central Water Commission on the storage level of 91 major dams.
There have been shocking reports that perennial rivers like the Ganga, Godavari and Krishna have dried up in many places in recent years.
There is the problem of accumulation of sediments in the water storage area of major and medium irrigation dams that are currently in use.
Resultantly, the total storage capacity has fallen significantly.
Many unprecedented changes are continuously reducing the total water available for future use.
Ground water - The groundwater table in most part of the country has been declining every year because of over-exploitation.
If the groundwater continues to decline unabated, meeting the country’s agricultural and drinking water requirements will be a big challenge.
85% of rural water supply, 45% of urban water supply and over 64% of irrigation now rely on groundwater.
What are the challenges ahead and the possible measures?
According to an estimate released by the Water Resources Ministry, a big demand-supply gap for water is going to happen by 2050.
There is a compelling need to save water and increase its storage capacity.
Despite this, farmers are increasingly allocating more area for cultivating water-intensive crops.
As India’s economy relies heavily on agriculture, the country needs to set right the issue of water scarcity before it inflicts irreparable damage.
Climate change is already causing major changes in rainfall levels
The quantum received in a day is rising substantially in recent years.
Such a pattern is responsible for the unprecedented floods in Mumbai in 2005, Chennai in 2015, and Hyderabad in 2020.
This being the case, the dams that can store more water needs to be constructed.
Due to the lack of proper maintenance, the water storage capacity of small water bodies has fallen steeply.
These waterbodies have been heavily encroached upon and even destroyed in many places.
Immediate action must be taken to remove such encroachments.
Also, steps should be taken to remove silt deposited in the water storage areas of the dams.
