Unless the climate resilient mechanisms are adopted at the earliest in the country, creating a sustainable water future will remain a distant reality. Examine (200 Words)
Refer - Business Line
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· Much of the impact of climate change is being felt through changing patterns of water availability, with shrinking rivers and changing patterns of precipitation increasing the likelihood of drought and flood.
· The world's major freshwater supplies located in Antarctica, Arctic and mountainous regions are shrinking at a faster pace. Inland glaciers and many large lakes are also receding almost everywhere around the world.
· According to the ‘Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment Report: 2019’, the Himalayas could lose at least two-thirds of its glaciers by 2100 affecting the livelihood of about 250 million people who live in the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya region.
The road ahead
· It is time to go back and make rainwater harvesting mandatory across all States and incentivise those who implement rainwater harvesting structures.
· There is a huge potential in reusing and recycling wastewater at least for non-potable purposes, which would be cost effective.
· Extensive adoption of water-saving technologies such as micro-irrigation in crops cultivation, volumetric supply and appropriate pricing of water should be implemented strictly to check reckless exploitation of groundwater.
· Crops that consume less water but give more output should be promoted by incentive schemes.
· People should be sensitised on the judicious use of water and a new legislation needs to be urgently enacted to make encroachments on water bodies a cognisable offence.
· As urban flooding is becoming more common and more intense, India can very well emulate Japan’s efforts of building a massive underground tank beneath the city that stores floodwater and releases it later.
