India is facing an unprecedented water crisis. In bigger cities the crisis is clearly manmade and in other parts of the country it is a result of faulty planning. To make matters worse, India’s policy think tank NITI Ayog has predicted that by the next year 22 major cities in the country will run out of groundwater. India’s capital Delhi, IT capital Bangaluru, historic city Hyderabad is among the cities that figure prominently in that list. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has informed that nearly 250 districts of the country are facing water scarcity. Union minister Prakash Javrekar has suggested that people follow traditional practices to get rid of the situation. But experts feel that by merely making statements, the country will not reach the solution. To prevent the crisis from getting worse in the coming days, the country should take all possible measures on a war footing.
For a country like India where the annual requirement of water is 3000 billion cubic meters of water annually, water crisis should never occur as the country receives 4000 billion cubic meters of rain every year. But the fact remains that notwithstanding receiving rains more than its need, today India is thirsty. In some places, especially in the southern city of Chennai, commercial places have closed all wash rooms. People have been asked to work from home. The city’s water reservoirs are virtually empty. Thirsty people are praying for rains. But a relatively weak monsoon has virtually dashed hopes. According to experts, the crisis is manmade. Rampant urbanisation and misuse of groundwater are responsible for the present water crisis. Yet, the politicians and planners are blaming unequal distribution of Cauvery River for the crisis. Clearly, they are trying to hide facts to keep their political interests intact.
In other major cities of the country, situation may not be as severe as Chennai, but the scenario doesn’t look encouraging at all. In Delhi, since Independence, more than hundred water bodies have dried up. In most of these places, water bodies have been used to build new townships. In Hyderabad, nature has been virtually destroyed in the name of development. All these affected the storage of groundwater and it has started receding at an alarming rate. We all knew that unplanned urbanisation would lead us to such a situation, yet no meaningful efforts have been taken so far for water harvesting.
The situation is no different in the gangetic plains of the country. To produce more food grains and cash crops, unabated misuse of groundwater has been going on for years. But no efforts have been made to repair the damage. While we continue to claim proudly that our food production has increased by leaps and bounds, we fail to realise that once the groundwater is finished, this vast stretch of fertile land will simply become an unliveable place for human beings.
So, what should be done to get rid of the water crisis? Measures are very simple. No further damage should be done to nature. At the same time, pollution levels should be checked. Enough trees should be planted. Water bodies should not be destroyed in the name of urbanisation. Every drop of the water should be considered precious. Water storage facilities should be enhanced. The outcome of the battle will decide whether India will remain a liveable place or not.
