40% people in India may not have water to drink by 2030

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. Forty per cent of India's population may not have drinking water by 2030, if the water crisis in country is not met seriously, a study has warned, “Armenpress” reports citing The Statesman website.

With the country facing a grave water crisis and lack of water conservation, the availability of potable water and ground water has decreased over the years which would result in severe situation in the country after a decade, said an activist for water conservation on the eve of World Water Day (March 22) observed to create awareness about water related issues and for action to deal with the global water crisis.

"By 2030, 40 per cent of the total population in the country will not have drinking water if situation remains same," Jal Jan Jodo Abhiyan's national convenor Sanjay Singh said, quoting a research published recently by the 2030 Water Resource Group (WRG).

"The ground water is depleting, the small tributaries have dried up to 90 per cent and the flow of rivers has reduced by 60-65 per cent. This will lead to a severe situation in the coming years reducing water availability to a great extent," he added.

He also said that the per capita demand has increased whereas the availability is very less. In fact, a report on ground water published by PRS Legislative Research --a non-governmental organisation -- says: "Due to increasing population, the national per capita annual availability of water has reduced by 15 per cent from 2001 to 2011."

It also said that India uses almost twice the amount of water to grow crops as compared to China and the US.

"The gap between the availability and demand is increasing at a greater pace. Cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and other metropolitan cities consume water in huge quantities due to changed lifestyle of people. This must be looked into," Singh said.

He also said that the efforts done by the government were not enough to meet the crisis.

South Asia Network on Dam, Rivers and People coordinator Himanshu Thakkar says water crisis in the country is multidimensional and is aggravating fast because of various factors including mismanagement of the resource.