Water scarcity: A major threat to the nation

Rajbir Saha

(rajbirsaha1995@gmail.com)

Access to fresh water is one of the biggest environmental challenges of the 21st Century. According to World Health Organization, 1.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. Nearby 2.7 billion people experience water scarcity at least one month out of the year. By 2025 it is expected that two-thirds of the world's population will be living in water-stressed areas. The non-accessibility to clean drinking water exposes these vulnerable populations to deadly water-borne illnesses such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid and every year it kills thousands of people in a developing country like India and affects its human resource. The world population is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 the increase in the demand for agricultural land and its produce will further put stress on the use of freshwater resources.

India being the second-most populous country in the world is about to face the brunt of this water crisis. With time, the problem of water scarcity becomes the problem of existence of human beings. Currently, water scarcity is witnessed both in terms of quantity and quality and this problem is well knitted with all the problems related to human existence. Water scarcity poses threat to the availability of water for drinking, cultivation, land use, construction, management of reservoirs etc. There are millions of people on the entire earth who are facing the problem of water scarcity, even if they have access to water the quality of water is very poor and it is unable to be used. Although 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water ironically only 3% of it is fresh water available for human consumption. Out of this 3% fresh water, two-thirds is hidden in glaciers and is not available for consumption. The reports of the world water forum state that 1.1 billion people on earth lack access to water and 2.7 billion people face the challenge of water scarcity at least for a month in a year. Availability of clean drinking water is a dream for millions and millions of population across the globe. Despite this all those who have an access to safe drinking water are not utilising it wisely by 2040 there will be no drinking water in almost all of India.

What are we saving for our future generations to come? Can we accept this reality for our children to stand in the queue for drinking water? AUN report on water conservation in March 2017 mentions that due to the unique geographical position in South Asia, India will be the epicentre of water crisis and conflict. In India, the situation is even worse with the rapid rise in population and severe depletion of resources. The Indian population is expected to rise to 1.7 billion by 2050 and will struggle for more safe drinking water for its population. Water is essential for human existence and now getting scarce too. It is even going to be more pricey than the life-saving drugs on the market as it plays a pivotal role in not only quenching the thirst but in ensuring the food supply for an individual. This commodity is going to bring in a huge demarcation in the category of have and have not's in the economy. An item that is important and scarce will be available at very high prices if there is a threat to its availability. Indian economy is already going through a major change in its economic setup. There are various climatic changes that we are witnessing in the form of flood, drought, shifts in season, souring temperature etc. These changes have already posed threat to the availability of food supply. With nearly half of India's population which is near about 600 million population is facing extreme water stress and out of the total availability, 70% is contaminated. This is a serious threat to India's GDP as India owns 17% of the total world's population but India has only 4% of freshwater resources. We are a water-starved nation. The requirement for water is doubling the availability of water resources in the country. This is the need for time to realize and make the use of water sustainable to save it for our future generations. This is also going to cost India a loss of 6% in its GDP. The scarcity of water resources is posing a severe threat to food safety and long term public health.

According to India's Ministry of Water Resources, India only has 4% of the total water resource for supporting 18% of the world's population. The World Bank's latest statistics reveal that India's 163 million population lacks access to safe drinking water and 210 million population don't have the access to better sanitation facilities, 21% of communicable diseases are due to unsafe water and approximately 500 children die due to diarrhoea each day in India. The decline in groundwater is one of the major key challenges and it is further becoming severe with very fast-growing suburbs and increasing stress on a single aquifer, India is losing the ability and capacity to safeguard the public health of the country, also failing in ensuring the farm productivity of the country and posing threat to food security and its further letting lose the fabric of social stability. With incidences of severe drought and weak monsoons, 60% of farmland and one-fourth of India's population are facing the problem of irrigation and extending drought and this is further bringing devastation to food security by the incidences of dying crops and dead wells. This is forcing the rural families to migrate towards cities for livelihood, increasing water stress in cities too. Some farmers are even carrying out production works on farms with untreated wastewater that contains harmful sewage-borne microorganisms and metals. This is leading to generating crops with a toxic substance in them posing a threat to public health. To date, there is no particular regulatory framework for testing vegetables, fruits and crops grown with the help of untreated wastewater. The discovery of a reservoir underground comes as good news for all of us, giving a ray of hope that other major reservoirs of fresh water are lying beneath the ocean and could be considered a vital resource for people living in regions of water scarcity.