Water Scarcity in India

India faces “worst water crisis” in history Groundwater Scarcity, Pollution Threaten India’s Health, Economy, Environment, and Food Supply

• India is currently facing the biggest crisis in its history. And no, it’s not COVID-19. India is suffering from one of the world’s worst national water crises. In fact, it is considered the center of the global water and sanitation crisis. The problem is so big, our lives, livelihoods, and futures hang in the balance. And no, it’s not a problem that can be easily resolved by water pumps, a purifier, and retail bottled water.
• In this special report, building on years of on-the-ground coverage, Circle of Blue reveals how a nation of 1.3 billion people, by failing to protect its water, is courting disease and economic hardship as well as social upheaval.
• Hand in hand with the groundwater depletion and contamination, is a food supply “toxic time bomb” of global implications. When irrigation wells go dry, farmers turn to untreated wastewater that is laced with industrial chemicals and human sewage.
• More than 2,500 years ago, when the Indus Valley Civilization had reached its zenith, it mysteriously lost its effulgence and disappeared suddenly. Many archaeologi¬sts believe it was due to a catastrophic water scarcity caused either by shifting rivers or by drastic climate change that forced people to abandon city settlements. The civilization all but vanished except for the ruins it left behind, which were discovered only in the 20th century.
• Ominously for India, history seems to be repeating itself. A NITI Aayog report in 2018 stated bluntly that 600 million people, or nearly half of India’s population, face extreme water stress.
• That three-fourths of India’s rural households do not have piped, potable water and rely on sources that pose a serious health risk. That India has become the world’s largest extractor of groundwater, accounting for 25 per cent of the total. That 70 per cent of our sources are contaminated and our major rivers are dying because of pollution. Its conclusion: ‘India is suffering from its worst water crisis in its history.’
• It is evident that we must all work together to save ourselves from ruin. But what do we do? First, we need to understand both the availability and the patterns of our consumption. India has 18 per cent of the world’s population but has only 4 per cent of the global water resources. So, the water balance is severely adverse. Contrary to popular belief, it is neither domestic use nor industry that guzzles India’s water supply but agriculture which consumes over 85 per cent of our water. With only 40 per cent assured irrigation, our farmers depend heavily either on rains or on groundwater for their needs. Though the monsoon season in India extends over four months, we get barely 30 days of heavy rainfall in all. And our efforts to conserve rainwater remain woefully inadequate.