• 20
  Aug 2019

• Water Scarcity in India

  
  

  Vivaan Tasker | International School

India suffers from water shortage for irrigation and drinking despite the fact that many big rivers, some of them perennial rivers, flow through some parts of India. In the south there is the Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery and other rivers. In the north there are the mighty Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus, Mahanadi and other rivers. Much of the water goes to the sea unused. Though we have abundant natural resources like water, minerals, abundantly growing crops and so on, we still suffer, because our knowledge of utilising these natural resources to the maximum advantage is insufficient.

The two States that suffer acute water scarcity in the year are Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The water reservoirs in many towns and cities were meant for a small population. Even the drains for carrying sewage water were planned and built for a small population. With the increasing population the water available is insufficient to meet the needs of the people. This conflict results from two agreements in 1892 and 1924 between the Madras presidency (Tamil Nadu) and kingdom of Mysore ( Karnataka ). Tamil Nadu received 252 TMCft of water while Karnataka received 425TMCft of water.

However after independence of India (1947), these treaties were removed and Karnataka built 4 dams (1960-1980) and claimed that water should be divided equally (47% per state and the rest to Kerala and Pondicherry) as per international laws.

When summer is quite harsh sometimes what was once a large reservoir of water shrinks to a tiny pool. Human beings as well as animals suffer for want of water.

They say, next World War will be for water and we really think, something must be done now to avoid that dreadful situation. Taking vigilant, meaningful steps in the direction of water conservation is urgently needed to prevent adverse situations that we may have to face due to water scarcity.