India faces the “worst water crisis” in history, Groundwater Scarcity, Pollution threatens India’s overall economy. A harrowing report in June warned that Delhi, along with 20 other Indian cities, could reach “zero groundwater levels” by 2020. A new report from the NITI Aayog – a government think tank – said the need for “urgent and improved” management of water resources.With nearly 600 million Indians facing high-to-extreme water stress – where more than 40 percent of the annually available surface water is used every year – and about 200,000 people dying every year due to inadequate access to safe water, the situation is likely to worsen as the demand for water will exceed the supply by 2050, said the ‘Composite Water Management Index’ (CWMI) report.
Our country pumps more groundwater than the water is added back to its sources in the ground, but who cares! only some half minded activists or environmentalists make a buzz in their reports, but tell them that, live their life smoothly why are you people going mad behind water its not an issue in India; Ram Mandir, Pakistan, cricket & Hindu-Muslim these are the issues of our Nation...
A shocking percentage of India’s water is filthy. According to the latest assessment by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI), nearly 70 percent of all of the country’s fresh water — in the ground or on the surface — is contaminated. India’s rivers, lakes, and aquifers are more polluted than the waters of any other major nation. India is currently ranked 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index. Drained and contaminated aquifers contribute to India’s “worst water crisis.” Dirty aquifers and water scarcity are destabilizing the world’s second-largest country and sixth-largest economy. As its water reserves get dirtier and smaller, India is losing the capacity to safeguard public health, ensure farm productivity, grow the economy, and secure social stability.
The basic data points collected by the Indian government, and no longer veiled from public view, illustrate the widening emergency. India uses or consumes more than 600 billion cubic meters (158 trillion gallons) of water annually. Of that amount, 245 billion cubic meters are drawn from aquifers.
India is more dependent on water pumped from aquifers than any other nation — it accounts for about a quarter of global demand for groundwater, according to the World Bank. More than 90 percent of groundwater in India is used for irrigated agriculture. The remainder — 24 billion cubic meters — supplies 85 percent of the country’s drinking water. Roughly 80 percent of India’s 1.35 billion residents depend on groundwater for both drinking and irrigation.
The “worst water crisis” doesn’t stop here. Drought and wasteful pumping are drying up aquifers that supply more than 30 million water wells across India, many of them used for irrigation. Government studies show at least a third of India’s groundwater reserves are being pumped at much faster rates than they are being recharged by rainfall. Moreover, said a World Bank study, “aquifers are depleting in the most populated and economically productive areas. Climate change will further strain groundwater resources.”
As many as one billion people in India live in areas of physical water scarcity, of which 600 million are in areas of high to extreme water stress, according to a new report.Globally, close to four billion people live in water-scarce areas, where, for at least part of the year, demand exceeds supply.
This number is expected to go up to five billion by 2050, said the report titled 'Beneath the Surface: The State of the World's Water 2019,' which was released on World Water Day.
By 2040, it is predicted that 33 countries are likely to face extremely high water stress - including 15 in the Middle East, most of Northern Africa, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan and Spain. Many - including India, China, Southern Africa, USA and Australia - will face high water stress.
The report also highlighted that India uses the largest amount of groundwater -- 24 percent of the global total, more than that of China and the US combined - and is the third largest exporter of groundwater -- 12 percent of the global total.
As said, 21 Indian cities – including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad – will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people; 40 percent of India’s population will have no access to drinking water by 2030, the report said. Currently, many Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu, face water shortages, exacerbated by changing rainfall patterns. The Economic Survey 2017-18 acknowledged India’s water crisis and explained the triggers, including rapid groundwater depletion, the decline in average rainfall and increasing dry monsoon days, The Times Of India reported on 21 June. If mitigation measures are not implemented, India faces a six percent loss in its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050, the NITI Aayog report said.
In the end, I know that Indian government alone can't do it because massive support is required from the public but its the government who can impose a strict rules & better water management system as well as distribution throughout the public domain to improve unchecked water wastage & their should be complete ban on handpumps as well as borewells to stop further decrease in groundwater level. Besides this India has to cut down its population growth rate which is the most important factor for the water crisis. To replenish the level of groundwater we have to plant a billion of trees which consume less water but they retain much more so that rainwater must be added into groundwater at a much faster rate. Otherwise very soon Water will Move from Providing Life to Taking Lives....
Serious topic
ReplyDeleteGovt.should take action on it as soon as possible..
ReplyDeleteHope so otherwise blue gold will create a worse situation in India
DeleteYes sir....
ReplyDelete