“Water supply in India may fall 50 percent below demand by 2030, the Asian Development Bank has forecasted”. Analyse the status of water sustainability in India with respect to 2030.
Answers
Water challenges in urban India
For urban India, the situation is critical. In 2015, about 377 million Indians lived in urban areas and by 2030, the urban population is expected to rise to 590 million. Already, according to the National Sample Survey, only 47% of urban households have individual water connections and about 40% to 50% of water is reportedly lost in distribution system due to various reasons. Further, as per the 2011 census, only 32.7% of urban Indian households are connected to a piped sewerage system.
Explanation:
Water supply in India may fall 50 percent below demand by 2030, the Asian Development Bank has forecast.
"Large parts of India have already been living with 'Day Zero' for a while now," said Mridula Ramesh, author of an upcoming book on climate change.
"Much of it is because of bad management. Most cities lose between a third and a fifth of their water from pilferage or leakage through antiquated pipes, and we don't treat and reuse wastewater enough," she said.
Bengaluru, Karachi and Kabul are among the 10 cities in the world that are "on the verge of an imminent water crisis", according to a report last month by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a research and advocacy group based in New Delhi.
Bengaluru, once known as the "city of lakes", now relies heavily on groundwater, which is not being naturally replenished and cannot sustain the growing population, said Sushmita Sengupta at CSE.
"'Day Zeros' are inevitable unless cities push for judicious use of water - including rainwater harvesting and reuse of waste water, as well as more efficient irrigation, and regulation of tube wells," she said.
Migration?
India is one of the largest consumers of groundwater in the world, with worsening shortages attributed in part to subsidies that help farmers run electric irrigation pumps cheaply for longer than needed, and to a lack of limits on extracting water or digging wells.
Some states are taking steps to manage water better. Karnataka and Maharashtra require industries to use treated urban wastewater, with Gujarat and other states also planning similar measures.
But regulating water use is a politically sensitive issue - one few policymakers are keen to address, Kugelman said. That's the case even as thousands of farmers migratw out of parched rural areas or commit suicide as their crops wilt, he said. .
Water scarcity is expected to force 50 to 70 million people in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China from their homes by 2050, according to research by the Strategic Foresight Group in Mumbai.
"With greater migration to the cities, there will be increased social disruptions and greater stress on water resources in urban areas," Kugelman predicted.
"These will, in turn, increase tensions
between states and countries over water.
Even treaties can't help then."