Water issues in India
Introduction
Global
problems are not just important problems, or problems that affect many people.
Rather they are those problems that affect the whole of the planet, and
potentially all of the people who live on it. Albeit in different ways
according to region, affect everyone on the planet. In other words, the
consequences are universal. Moreover, unless we profoundly change our
collective behavior, May lead to the occurrence of negative things in our life
– a measure of the deep vulnerability of human society in the face of this
issue. And it is easy to see that there will be no easy solution to the
problem: the causes of the present situation are clearly related to our
economic system, our attitudes to nature, our political organization, our
technological capacities and preferences, and our uses of resources. Solutions
will involve not just all communities and every country, but solutions will
necessarily involve cooperation between all, rather than individual approaches.
Manifestations
1. There
are several principal manifestations of the water crisis.
2. Inadequate
access to safe drinking water for about 884 million people.
3. Inadequate
access to water for sanitation and waste disposal for 2.5 billion people.
4. Groundwater
over drafting (excessive use) leading to diminished agricultural yields.
5. Overuse
and pollution of water resources harming biodiversity.
6. Regional
conflicts over scarce water resources sometimes resulting in warfare.
Vision
for the future
Construction of wastewater treatment plants and reduction
of groundwater over drafting appear to be obvious solutions to the worldwide
problem; however, a deeper look reveals more fundamental issues in play.
Wastewater treatment is highly capital intensive, restricting access to this
technology in some regions; furthermore the rapid increase in population of
many countries makes this a race that is difficult to win. As if those factors
are not daunting enough, one must consider the enormous costs and skill sets
involved to maintain wastewater treatment plants even if they are successfully
developed.
Reduction in groundwater over drafting is usually
politically very unpopular and has major economic impacts to farmers; moreover,
this strategy will necessarily reduce crop output, which is something the world
can ill-afford, given the population level at present.
BODY
In the list of 196 countries, India ranks at
120 though India has 4% of the world’s water, studies show average availability
is shrinking. It is estimated that by 2020, India will become a water-stressed
nation. Nearly 50% of villages still don’t have any source of protected
drinking water.
According to the 2001 census 68% households
have access to safe drinking water .The department of drinking water supply
estimates that 94% of rural habitations and 91% urban households have access to
drinking water but according to experts these figures are misinterpreted simply
because it refers to installed capacity and not actual supply.
The reality is that of the 1.42 million
villages in India 1, 95,813 are affected by chemical contamination of water.
The quality of ground water which accounts of more than 85% of domestic supply
is a major problem in many areas as none of the rivers have water fit to drink.
37.7 million People over 75% of whom are
children are affected by waterborne diseases every year. Nearly 66 million
people in 20 cities are at risk because of the excessive fluoride in water.
While the permitted limit of fluoride in water is 1 mg per liter in states like
Haryana it is as high as 48 mg in some places. Delhi water too has 32 mg, but
the worst hits are Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Nearly 6 million
children below 14 suffer from dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis.
Conclusion
The government of India engages in educating
the public on the importance of water conservation as a measure to curb water
shortage through avoiding running taps and the importance of fetching water
rather than using running water continuously (Pelusey & Pelusey, 2006). For
example, washing utensils using tap water is wasteful as opposed to washing
using a basin.
The water shortage menace is also solvable
through ensuring that worn out water system are always maintained and kept in
proper working conditions, hence avoiding leakages and easy evaporation of
collected water (Loucks, 2005). Such measures can help save water, such that,
in case of shortages, enough reserves are available to sustain the country.
Building water reservoirs at both household and community levels is also
significant in collecting water from rain and rivers for future use. Collected
water should be used to drip irrigation rather than clean tap water.
In conclusion, the government can engage more
resources in the development of water catchment areas such as forest through
afforestation, since this minimizes the likelihood of rivers getting dry, thus
ensuring continuous water availability. Water shortage is a manageable global
problem, but it calls for collective effort from all stakeholders in the
society.
