Water Deficit in India

Reasons

  • Agriculture
    • Excessive use of groundwater for agriculture has also caused a strain in the resource. Eg:- ineffective techniques used for irrigation aligned with mismanagement
    • Between 85 and 90 per cent of all water consumed in India is used by the agricultural sector
    • Subsidized energy and water pumps because farmers form a large portion of voting population. Using subsidized electricity, farmers pump groundwater at will, drawing up more annually than China and America combined.
    • Maharashtra is a good example of this as its sugar belt takes up only four per cent of farmland but consumes overs 70 per cent of the state’s irrigation water.
  • Pollution
    • increased amount of solid wastes in water systems such as lakes, canals and rivers also heavily pollute the water
    • Up to 80 per cent of all surface water in India is polluted.
    • Poor sewage treatment facilities, little public sanitation, poverty, industrial runoff and a lack of government regulation.
  • demand for freshwater is increasing with the growing population
  • Lack of strict state regulation on ground water development has caused a strain on the amount of freshwater available.
  • Indifference from bureaucratic powers and constant neglect has caused the problem to intensify
  • Deforestation, land conversion and degradation, as well as urban encroachment due to illegal construction, pose major threats to the water bearing capacity

Impacts and remedies

Impacts
  • Falling water levels will adversely affect the agricultural industry, which is almost entirely cereal based and therefore extremely water intensive.
  • A struggling agricultural industry means the threat of unemployment for approximately 50 per cent of India’s workforce, as well as implications for food security and human security
  • Incidents of fever, infection, dehydration, vomiting and kidney ailments
Remedies
  • National River Linking Project
    • The concept of linking rivers is not uncommon, China introduced a similar project over a decade ago
    • Interlinking of rivers will help water scarce areas to have water throughout the year.
  • Implementing Israel’s water management systems and technologies
  • Long term investment in educational programs, social awareness campaigns, improved infrastructure and facilities, and water diplomacy
  • Rainwater harvesting can provide the country with reliable water supplies throughout the year.
  • Building check dams on riverbeds will improve groundwater levels.
  • Sustainable agricultural practices: Farmers should be trained and encouraged to switch to drip irrigation.
  • The World Bank’s Water Scarce Cities Initiative seeks to promote an integrated approach. It aims at managing water resources and service delivery in water-scarce cities as the basis for building climate change resilience.
  • Indigenous water harvesting systems need to be revived and protected at the local level.
  • The implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has a significant role in the sustainable availability of clean, adequate and safe water. Eg:- Inner Mangolia (kubuqi) model of combating desertification can be implemented

Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

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