Indian subcontinent is facing regional and local water crisis which is expected to surmount to acute national water crisis in upcoming years. What are the factors responsible for water crisis in northern and peninsular part of the country? Elaborate the role of Jal shakti Abhiyan and river interlinking project in futuristic plan to mitigate Indian water crisis

Model Answer

Answer should be phrased on following lines

1. What is water scarcity? (20- 25 Words)
2. Indian water scarcity facts and data (20- 25 words)
3. Reasons for water crisis in northern and peninsular parts (75-80 words)
4. Objectives and significance of Jal shakti Abhiyan (60 words)
5. Objectives and significance of River Interlinking project (60 words)

What is water scarcity

Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. Water scarcity is being driven by two converging phenomena: growing freshwater use and depletion of usable freshwater resources. Water scarcity involves the following concepts:

1. Water stress: It is relatively a new concept; it is the difficulty of obtaining sources of fresh water for use during a period of time and may result in further depletion and deterioration of available water
2. Water shortage or deficits: Water shortages may be caused by climate change, such as altered weather patterns including droughts or floods, increased pollution, and increased human demand and over use of water.
3. Water crisis: A water crisis is a situation where the available potable, unpolluted water within a region is less than that region's demand.

Water scarcity can be a result of two mechanisms: physical (absolute) water scarcity and economic water scarcity, where physical water scarcity is a result of inadequate natural water resources to supply a region's demand, and economic water scarcity is a result of poor management of the sufficient available water resources.

Water profile of India

The total available fresh water in the country is 4000 billion cubic meter per annum. Out of this, over 1047 billion cubic meter water is lost due to evaporation, transpiration and runoff, reducing the available water to 1953 billion cubic meter and the usable water to 1123 billion cubic meters. Only 18% of the rainwater is used effectively while 48% enters the river and most of which reaches the ocean.

Out of the total usable water, 728 billion cubic meter is contributed from surface water and 395 billion cubic meter is contributed by replenishable ground water.

Against the above supply, the water consumed during the year 2018 in India was 900 billion cubic meter which is likely to increase to 1093 billion cubic meter in 2025 and 1447 billion cubic meter in 2050, as estimated by the Government of India (2009). As the potential for increasing the volume of utilisation of water is hardly 5-10%, India is bound to face severe scarcity of water soon.

Water crisis in India

About 75% of Indian households do not have drinking water at their premise. As a result, 200,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to safe drinking water, 84% of rural households do not have piped water access and that 70% of our water is contaminated.

India is currently ranked 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index.

By 2030, demand will be double of the current supply and 40% of the population will not have access to drinking water.

As per NITI Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index (CWMI)report, a persistent water crisis will lead to an eventual 6% loss in the country’s GDP by

While more than 90% of the urban population has access to basic water, by 2020, 21 major cities are expected to run out of groundwater affecting 100 million people, including all the metro cities.

67% of Indian households do not treat their drinking water, even though it could be chemically or bacterially contaminated

Two recent studies—“Capturing Synergies Between Water Conservation and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Power Sector”and “A Clash of Competing Necessities” point out that India, along with China, France and the US, will have be no drinking water by 2040 if consumption of water continues at the current pace.

A recent UN report on water conservation reports that due to its unique geographical position, India will face the brunt of the crisis by 2025 and would be at the centre of this global conflict.

Reasons for water Deficit

Northern India

1. International water disputes have led to non- use of major norther river systems. (J&K, Assam etc)
2. Increasing population pressure is reducing per capita availability of water.
3. Agricultural productivity increase due to green revolution has increased dependency of irrigation on underground water, which has led to over exploitation of underground water in Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP and Chhattisgarh.
4. Cultivation of water intensive crops like sugarcane, rice etc have increased the burden of irrigation on water bodies, especially underground water in Punjab Haryana, UP and MP
5. Unmanaged Sprinkler based irrigation systems leads to loss of more water per unit area of land irrigated. Post green revolution, major irrigation tool is based on sprinkler irrigation
6. Loss, pollution or burden over the aquifers due to trickling of sewage, leachate, agricultural waste etc. The use of borewells have lead to over exploitation and loss of aquifer boundaries.
7. Northern India rainfed water efficiency is low, much amount of rain fed water is drained due to non-storage of rain fed water. (UP, MP and Bihar)
8. Heat wave tendencies are increasing, and rainfall frequencies are erratic

(Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP) as well as many area receive deficit rainfall (Rajasthan and Gujrat)

9. Northern component rivers and their tributaries have lost perennial flow. (Ganga, Yamuna and tributaries)
10. Climate enforced melting of glaciers is leading towards flooding and break down of glacial lakes, loss of mountainous springs and excess sedimentation of water bodies near Himalayan foothills
11. Sedimentation of water bodies as rivers, dams and lakes is higher leading to non-use of water body for drinking and other purpose (Himachal, Uttarakhand)
12. Increasing pollution of rivers and surficial water bodies due to Industrial and Municipal urban sewage.
13. Waste treatment efficiency is low, only 25% of sewage is recycled and reused.
14. Rate of migration from rural to urban pockets id higher which poses pressures on urban water management
15. Urban municipal water supply is not adequate, it increases pressures on underground reserves
16. Urban and rural infrastructure development has encroached surficial water reserves like wetlands and their natural channel of water flow, it leads towards flooding and loss of rainfed water.
17. Traditional water resources like ponds, wells, bawdries etc have either diminished or are supressed, polluted and damaged enough to be non-useful.
18. Rainwater harvesting is poor.

Peninsular Part

1. Majority regions have erratic rainfall or deficit rainfall through south west or north east monsoon (Maharashtra, Andhra and Tamil Nadu)
2. Major river systems have lost perennial flow or are polluted
3. Surficial Lakes and wetland are polluted or encroached due to unplanned urban development
4. Rainfed efficiency in agriculture is poor due little flood water storage
5. Inter state disputes for water is severe and governmental and community participation for dispute redressal and water management is poor (Krishna- Cauvery- Godavari disputes)
6. Mining has led to disturbance of aquifer systems
7. Subsidies on borewell and electricity has led to overexploitation of water
8. Water intense cropping of rice and sugarcane
9. Lack of technology enabled initiatives which can bring saline water back as fresh water in coastal areas
10. Coastal fresh water is getting polluted from saline water due to thermal expansion of sea and oceans, owing to increased heat and increased glacial meltdown.
11. Coastal wetlands are lost due to submergence, formation of swamps and marshes or excessive accumulation of pollutants near coastal ecosystems.
12. Water bodies are not desilted regularly.
13. Water storage and harvesting is poor.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan

It is a collaborative effort of various Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. It aims at making water conservation a Jan Andolan through asset creation and extensive communication.

 It will help to ensure five important water conservation interventions such as

1. Water conservation and rainwater harvesting
2. Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks
3. Reuse and recharge structures
4. Watershed development
5. Intensive afforestation

It will also help in

1. Development of Block and District Water Conservation Plans
2. Krishi Vigyan Kendra Melas to promote efficient water use for irrigation (Per Drop More Crop), and better choice of crops for water conservation.
3. In urban areas, plans/approvals with timebound targets to be developed for waste water reuse for industrial and agriculture purposes. Municipalities to pass by-laws for the separation of grey water and blackwater.
4. Scientists and IITs to be mobilised at the national level to support the teams.
5. 3D Village Contour Maps may be created and made accessible for efficient planning of interventions.

River Interlink Project

Under the National Perspective Plan (NPP)-1980 of Ministry of Water Resources, National Water Development Agency has identified Inter linking of rivers project for inter basin transfer of surplus water to water deficit areas. Under the plan, project are identified as

1. Himalayan Rivers Component (14 link projects): Link of Ganga, Brahmaputra and their principal tributaries. Links will transfer surplus flows of the Kosi, Gandak and Ghagra to the west. It will help to conserve monsoon flows for irrigation, hydro-power generation, flood moderation in the Ganga-Brahmaputra system etc. It will also augment dry-weather flow of the Ganga. Surplus of the Ganga and the Yamuna link can be transferred to the drought prone areas of Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat to bring additional water in nearly 22 M-ha land.  
2. Peninsular Rivers Component (16 link projects): It would link Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar, and Cauvery rivers. It would provide additional irrigation benefits of over 13 million ha.
3. Interstate link component (47 Link projects)

Significance of the River Inter linking

1. The project claims to provide additional irrigation to 35 million hectares (m ha) in the water-scarce western and peninsular regions, which includes 25 m ha through surface irrigation and 10 m ha through groundwater.
2. It will lead to Ground water Recharging.
3. It will help to increase rainfed irrigation efficiency
4. It will help in mitigation of drought and flood conditions
5. It will help in development of nearly 34 GW hydroelectric.
6. It will help to develop inland waterways.

Additions:

Other GoI Initiatives

Mission Kakatiya (Telangana): The mission entails the comprehensive revival of over 40,000 tanks in the State which has led to visible improvements in groundwater levels. It has become a major success despite lack of central funds and becomes a global attention.

Jalanidhi (Kerala) provided a dependable supply of piped water to 192,000 rural homes in 13 districts

Swajal (Uttarakhand): Over 8,000 habitations built their own water supply systems. Thus, strong community involvement reduced the cost of systems, rural homes received 24/7 water supply through gravity-based piped systems

Jal Swarajya (Maharashtra) has brought clean drinking water into 1.2 million homes, more than half of whom were below the poverty line.

Jal Nirmal (Karnataka): By decentralizing services to rural communities, the Karnataka Jal Nirmal project(2002-2013) improved water supply for about 7 million rural inhabitants in 11 districts of Northern Karnataka

Practices such as Rain water harvesting, Micro irrigation methods such as drip and sprinklers need to be easily accessible at a subsidized rate for the farmers to ease the burden on drinking water sources.