India’s Quest for combating water crisis: Problems and
Prospects
By
Dr VK Bahuguna
(The
author is former Director-general of Indian Council of Forestry Research and
Education)
Water is fundamental for sustaining life on planet
Earth both for the plant as well as animal kingdoms. The animal bodies
constitute about 70% water and liquid and in case of plant the water constitute
up to about 90% depending upon the type of plant species. This year the theme of International water day
on 22nd March 2024 is “Leveraging water for peace” . It has aptly
come at a time when the world is facing wars between Russia and Ukraine as also
between Hamas and Israel. Word need peace and the water is one resource which
may lead to wars between communities and countries. Without
water there is no life but in today’s world of increasing population, climatic
vagaries humanity is facing severe water shortage all over the world. Due to mismanagement
of water resources we are reminded about a poem by Ancient Mariner, Samuel
Taylor Coleridge “water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink”. The earth is 70% covered
with water but fresh water is only 3 percent and that too drinking water is
only 1 % and rest is trapped in ice and glaciers. Of the world’s total water
supply of 332.5 million cubic miles, 97% is saline and unfit for human consumption.
India is having 18 % of the world population but only 4 % of the water
resources. Brazil has the highest freshwater resources in the world and
accounts for 12% of the world’s fresh water resources thanks to Amazon region.
On paper India is a water rich country though, as according to Central Water
Commission (CWC) it receives 4000 billion cubic meters (bcm) of precipitation (of
which 3000 bcm is received in June to September monsoon months) but our water
needs are limited to 3000 billion cubic meters. However, we could hold only 8 %
of this water due to lack of storage capabilities. India’s total utilizable
water resources are only around 1120 bcm. The CWC had assessed that the average annual per
capita availability of water in 2021 was only 1486 cubic meter which will
decline to 1367 cubic meter in the year 2031 which will further decline by another
32 % in 2050. On account of population growth, life style changes and indiscriminate
exploitation of ground water for agriculture, urbanization and industrial use,
India is becoming severe water stressed nation.
Thus, managing water efficiently for the rising
population of India is really going to be a big challenge in an era of
biodiversity loss and climate change. Apart from over exploitation of ground water
for irrigation the extremely poor lopsided land use policy and encroachments
the country had lost a large portion of its small wet lands. Similarly the
village ponds, wells and lakes as also the sub-surface water channels are also
vanishing slowly. In Punjab and Haryana the ground water exploitation for
agriculture has reached a situation that if crop diversification is not ensured
the food production will be net zero after a decade or so. The degradation of
forest cover is also disturbing the aquifer recharge and waters of rain fed
rivers like Narmada, Godavari and Cauvery. The flow of water in 12 major rivers
is either getting reduced or creating flash floods due to climatic changes,
erratic rainfall and anthropogenic reasons.
In order to tide over the water crisis Prime
Minister Modi in his second tenure in 2019 created the Jal Shakti Ministry by
merging three departments viz Water Resources, River Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation and Drinking Water and Sanitation so that focused attempts are
undertaken to manage water resources efficiently. For the past 6 years
spectacular success was achieved in many fronts in setting the distorted
management of water to right trajectory by implementing several flagship
schemes.
Large tracks of Centre and North–West Indian states
of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh
are severely water stressed due to depleting ground water resources and erratic
rainfall and its management. The Ministry of Jal Shakti had identified 8220
water stressed panchayats in 80 districts in these States with an outlay of Rs
6000 crore to implement the Atal Bhoo Jal Yojna in order to restore the ground
water. Now four more States Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
are also being included in this project. Ever since the Jal Shakti Ministry has
been created the focus of water management scheme of the government has been to
involve the communities in the demand driven manner in managing the water
resources and this is the high point of its success. The ground water recharge
however depends upon treating the forestlands specially the degraded forests
not merely by plantation activities but creating water bodies and contour and
staggered trenches over the 30 million ha of degraded forests as well as
adjacent private lands and the lands vested under the Forest Rights Act 2006
based on landscape approach and planting of grasses, herbs and shrubs and few
indigenous trees on the bunds along the trenches. This is imperative because
the 450 rivers and rivulets are the source of sustaining our food and water
security and forest and landscape based hydrology need to be treated for
climatic adaptation. The Ministry of Jal Shakti therefore, should sanction at
least Rs 2000 crore in the next five years for special treatment of degraded
forests if the project has to make a dent.
The Jal Jeevan Mission launched in 2019 is one of
the best administrative actions taken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi
during the last ten years as on 2019 out of 19.26 crore households 80 % were
not having access to tap water but after the effective implementation of community
based demand driven with superior management technology now as on January 2024,
14.11 crore household were having tap water thus covering more than 70 % of the
households in the last about five years. The hall mark of a civilized society
and good governance is measured if the citizens have access to clean drinking
water. India lost around 2 lakh infants and other citizens annually due to lack
of access to safe drinking water.
Recently now from 2024 the Ministry of Jal Shakti
has launched a scheme called ‘Catch the Rain 2024’ to promote rain water
harvesting and by assigning key roles to women in its management. So in nut
shell, schemes of Jal Shakti Abhiyan by the government are yielding results
mainly due to community involvement. However, in view of a close relation
between the water availability and climate change there should be now focus at
the district level to evolve a climate resilient development administration
which will bring all the departments at one platform and plan the developmental
activities in such a manner that development and climatic adaptations are
ensured in full for the society and water shortage is mitigated.
Comments
War in the world is most progressive one on the universe therefore water is not the God created, the nature is created the water therefore preservative of nature is responsibility of man. If this is done another 25 years earth will become normal like prior to 50 years now sun rays and temperature is increasing because of tilt on the movement of earth clubbing with sunrise on the earth is the most inconvenience to the earth. Therefore responsibility of human being and rules and regulations of government is not enough. The responsibility of human being on earth is most essential to preserve the water body.
Human being are studying on the rules water to be protected but it is not possible because money is more essential than the water. Nowadays rate of the water is more than a cup of beer. And water is costly milk is cheaper because out of the water commercial activities being increased resultant a climate change. Finally destruction of water body resulting to death of human being. Institutions and articles nowadays only on publication production of newspapers of cheap rate but destruction of forest is damaging. All the publications and procedure only on record practical is not happening. Such acts having drinking water shortage in the universe is the future assets to the man kind to challenge the drinking water. Hence acts of the mankind shall be prevented in accordance with progressive method, education must be by himself not by rules. Then only water body can be preserved