Water Scarcity In India A Grim Reality

World Water Day, on March 22 every year, is about focussing attention on the importance of water. The theme for World Water Day 2018 is ‘Nature for Water’—exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century. In this article, Viraj Desai highlights the distressing scenario of water scarcity in India as rapid urbanization and industrialization is expected to take a toll on the water availability in India in the future. He also discusses initiatives by the government and corporate companies for water conservation.

The world’s population is increasing exponentially with more than 2 billion people expected to be added in the next three decades. This will put tremendous pressure on the already depleting resources including water. It is difficult to decipher that for a planet, which comprises 70 per cent water by volume, over 600 million people lack access to basic drinking water services and a total of 2.1 billion people around the world lack access to safe, readily available clean water at home.

The problem of climate change is already disrupting many parts of the world, submerging some areas while resulting in droughts or floods in many others. The vitality of water can be understood in totality by the fact that food, energy, and agriculture depend heavily on it, putting in jeopardy our very survival on the planet Earth.

Some of the important emerging countries that are facing the brunt of water scarcity include South Africa, Brazil, Cambodia, Iran, China, and UAE among others. South Africa’s major city, Cape Town, a haven of natural water, is facing acute water crisis while Brazil, having a fifth of the global water reserves, may see a dry run due to swift rate of deforestation and changes in rainfall patterns. The situation is alarming for Cambodia, a popular tourist country, where over 4 million people lack access to safe drinking water and the nationals spend a huge percentage of their income to buy water. China, the most populous country in the world, is witnessing an industrialization like never seen before resulting in water pollution, making large swathes undrinkable.