Water scarcity in Indian cities

Why in news?

According to a recent official estimate, 22 of the country’s 32 major cities are plagued with acute water shortage.

What are the inference of the estimates?

• There is a rising water crisis in a large part of the national capital region and most of the Indian cities are perpetually water starved.
• Recent studies also ranked Chennai and Delhi at the top of the 27 most vulnerable Asian cities in terms of low per-day water availability Mumbai and Kolkata follow close.
• Apart from mega cities, many fast-growing small and medium cities such as Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Dhanbad, Meerut, Faridabad, Visakhapatnam, Madurai and Hyderabad also figure in this list.
• The demand-supply gap in most of these cities ranges from 30 per cent to as much as 70 per cent.

What are the reasons of water scarcity?

• The water mismanagement had plagued water supply systems in most Indian cities.
• Administration gaps, and huge distribution losses also results in water shortage.
• Traditional sources of water, such as rivers and ponds have turned fully or partly dysfunctional due to neglect.
• Rivers in the vicinity of cities are degrading due to silting and unchecked inflow of untreated waste, and have been devoured by ever-expanding human habitations.
• Groundwaterwhich meets over 45 per cent of the total water demand of most cities, is also turning scarce.
• The quality of underground waterhas been vitiated by the leaching of toxic pollutants from landfill sites.
• Neither private builders nor civic authorities appear serious about implementing rain water harvesting.

What needs to be done?

• Water scarcity can be averted with advance planning and better coordination among different agencies.
• Rainwater harvesting and recycling of used water are among the leading options to alleviate water scarcity in cities.
• It is vital also to strictly regulate groundwater use by restricting its withdrawal and putting a price on it.
• Every city with large building and official establishments need to mandate rainwater harvesting systems in place.
• The compliance of the rain water harvesting mandate must also be checked.

Source: Business Standard