What steps would you suggest for the development of water resources in india?
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Increasing water storage capacity: Activities such as farm ponds, percolation tanks, water reservoirs and construction of small and medium size dams and rivers can retain more surface water, while increasing the ground water recharge. Series of contour bounds particularly in undulating areas will facilitate percolation of water in the soil and improve the ground water table, while reducing soil erosion. Gully plugging, construction of series of small dams on rivulets will help in storing water in reservoirs.
In the absence of harnessing rainwater in the forests and denuded hilly terrains, inadequate soil and water conservation measures are leading to severe soil erosion, silting of rivers beds and reservoirs and frequent flooding across the country. Presently, over 40 million ha are prone to floods in the country. Invariably, 8-10 million ha are affected by floods over year. During the year 2007-08, floods in India have caused 3689 deaths, loss of 1.14 lakh livestock and damaged 3.5 million houses, causing huge losses to the people, society and the Government. One of the major reasons for soil erosion and silting of rivers is severe deforestation. As a result of soil erosion, many of the rivers have been changing their courses almost every year damaging fertile agricultural lands. Brahmaputra is a good example where the width of the river during summer is 3-4 km which increases to 10-12 km during the rainy season. This highlights the extent of flooding of the river and harassment to the people living along the river. Due to poor management of this river, only 22 billion m3 of water is utilisable while over 607 billion m3 water is wasted. Similar situation is prevailing with respect to other rivers such as Ganga, Godavari, Mahanadi, Narmada, etc.
In the absence of harnessing rainwater in the forests and denuded hilly terrains, inadequate soil and water conservation measures are leading to severe soil erosion, silting of rivers beds and reservoirs and frequent flooding across the country. Presently, over 40 million ha are prone to floods in the country. Invariably, 8-10 million ha are affected by floods over year. During the year 2007-08, floods in India have caused 3689 deaths, loss of 1.14 lakh livestock and damaged 3.5 million houses, causing huge losses to the people, society and the Government. One of the major reasons for soil erosion and silting of rivers is severe deforestation. As a result of soil erosion, many of the rivers have been changing their courses almost every year damaging fertile agricultural lands. Brahmaputra is a good example where the width of the river during summer is 3-4 km which increases to 10-12 km during the rainy season. This highlights the extent of flooding of the river and harassment to the people living along the river. Due to poor management of this river, only 22 billion m3 of water is utilisable while over 607 billion m3 water is wasted. Similar situation is prevailing with respect to other rivers such as Ganga, Godavari, Mahanadi, Narmada, etc.
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