Urban Water Crisis

Urban Water Crisis

• Water crisis refers to a situation where there is insufficient access to clean and safe water for various needs due to factors such as pollution, overuse and poor management.
• Water resources are becoming scarce due to climate change leading to drought conditions, which is known as 'Day Zero'.
• Day Zero means that water levels in the dams supplying water to the city are critically low; This does not mean that there is no water in the dams.
• Cape Town in 2018 and Chennai in 2019 have experienced 'Day Zero'.

Nature of water crisis

• At present, the country is facing a serious water crisis. Due to this, the lives and livelihoods of millions of people are in danger.
• According to NITI Aayog, currently about 60 crore Indians are facing serious water crisis due to inadequate access to clean water and about 2 lakh people die every year due to this.
• By the year 2030, the demand for water in the country is likely to double the supply. Due to this, crores of people in the country will have to face a serious water crisis and there is a possibility of a loss of 6 percent in the country's gross domestic product.
• According to the report of the National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development of the Ministry of Water Resources, in the high use scenario, the water requirement is likely to be 1,180 billion cubic meters by the year 2050.
• The availability of water in the country is currently 1,137 billion cubic meters. By the year 2030, 40 percent of the country's population will not have access to clean drinking water. India ranks 120th among 122 countries in the Water Quality Index and about 70 percent of the country's water sources are polluted.

Major causes of Urban water crisis

Increasing population and urbanization-  

• Increasing population and urbanization is a major reason for the increasing water crisis in the country. In the year 2001, the availability of water per person was 1816 cubic meters, which decreased to 1545 cubic meters in the year 2011 and it is likely to decrease to 1367 cubic meters by the year 2031.

Inefficient management of water- 

• According to the World Health Organization, a person needs 135 liters of water per day for his needs, whereas in some big cities of India like Mumbai, Delhi etc., despite the guidelines of the Ministry of Urban Development, more than 150 liters of water is given to each person per day. India is among the top countries in the world in terms of per capita water consumption. Here the water consumption per person per day is about 250 liters. The main reason for this is water wastage and industrial consumption.

Pollution of water bodies: 

• For example, large water bodies like Bellandur Lake (Bengaluru) have become heavily polluted due to industrial effluents and untreated sewage flowing into them.

Over-extraction of groundwater: 

• In the most populated cities, groundwater levels have drastically decreased over the past two decades which further exacerbates the problem of water crisis.

Poor water supply infrastructure:

• Many urban areas lack proper water supply infrastructure, including distribution networks, treatment plants, and storage facilities.

Efforts to conserve water

Atal Bhu-Jal Yojana- 

• This scheme was started in the year 2019 in view of the falling groundwater level due to overexploitation, irregular extraction and inefficient management of water. This scheme has been started for a period of five years (2020-21 to 2024-25) with the aim of bringing behavioral change at the community level for groundwater resource management.

Catch-the-Rain Campaign- 

• On the occasion of World Water Day on 22 March 2021, 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch-the-Rain' was launched. This campaign will be run in both rural and urban areas from 22 March to 30 November 2021 (pre-monsoon and monsoon period). The objective of this campaign is to build water conservation and water harvesting structures and spread awareness, so that rainwater can be properly stored.

River Link Project –

• Along with rainwater harvesting, efforts are also being made for river water management in the country. The recently started Ken-Betwa Link Project is a part of this. This agreement will prove to be important in the direction of realizing such projects among other states as well.

Per Drop More Crop –

• 'Per Drop More Crop' scheme is being implemented as a component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. Under this, it will help in increasing the efficiency of water use and saving water through micro irrigation technologies and drip and sprinkler irrigation systems.

Conclusion

Along with the efforts made by the government to solve the water crisis in the country, cooperation of the public is also expected. For this, along with increasing public awareness, there is also a need to increase the rights of Gram Panchayats. Future water crisis can be reduced by adopting groundwater management, efficient irrigation management and rainwater harvesting measures.