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Photo credit: Niti Aayog[/caption]
Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, June 30: Chennai is reeling under severe water crisis this year, drawing global attention, including Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, but the situation is not going to get any better as most part of the country is expected to face acute water shortage in the next couple of decades due to rapid urbanisation and climate change.
According to the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) developed by the Indian government’s think tank National Institute for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog for effective water management, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water. It said the crisis is only going to get worse with the country’s water demand projected to be twice the available supply by 2030, which will affect hundreds of millions of people.
Nagaland scored very poorly in water index, indicating that the state could significantly improve its water resource management practices. In fact, it is the second poorest performing state in terms of water index.
CWMI, the first comprehensive collection of countrywide water data in India, was carried out in 24 Indian states and the data was collected for two years— the base year of FY 2015-16, and FY 2016-17— thus exposing the current water performance of the states. Water index score for various states was allotted based on several indicator themes like groundwater restoration, irrigation management, on-farm water use, rural and urban drinking water supply, and water policy frameworks.
According to the report, Gujarat has highest water index from among the non-Himalayan states with a score of 76, followed by Madhya Pradesh (69), Andhra Pradesh (68), Karnataka (56) and Maharashtra (55). The average score for these states is 49.
From among the north-eastern and Himalayan states, Tripura scored highest in water index with a score 59, followed by Himachal Pradesh (53), Sikkim (49), Assam (31), and Nagaland (28). Uttarakhand and Meghalaya scored the least with 26.
According to Niti Aayog’s forecast on demand and supply of water in India:
- 40% of Indians will have no access to drink water by 2030
- By 2020, 21 major cities, including Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, are expected to reach zero groundwater levels, affecting access for 100 million people
- 6% of GDP will be lost by 2050 due to water crisis.
The report has suggested that utmost importance should be given to sustainable management of water resources owing to limitations on availability of water resources and rising demand for water.
Overview of Nagaland’s CWMI performance
The state has restored 85% of the irrigation potential of identified bodies— the third highest achievement across all states.
Nagaland has constructed 60% of its targeted water harvesting structures and has geo-tagged half of these.
Only 46% of rural habitations have been fully covered
Only 23% of the urban population is covered by drinking water supply
The state has not enacted legislation for the conservation of water bodies and has not set up an integrated data centre.
