As South Africa’s Cape Town begins its countdown to the fast approaching “day zero” water crisis when taps will completely run dry, a new satellite study warns four countries – India, Morocco, Iraq and Spain – of the same fate.
According to the US-based World Resources Institute, the developers of a new satellite which monitors the world’s 500,000 dams, as a result of fast depleting reservoirs, these four countries could be next in line to experience a “day zero” water crisis.
Ahead of the peak summer months, the country could face a severe water crisis, according to the latest data from the meteorological department. As many as 404 districts will face mild to extremely dry conditions due to poor rainfall since October 2017, the Times of India reported.
While most parts of the country experience water shortages during summers, what has worsened the situation this year is the poor winter rainfall. According to the meteorological department’s data, India faced a 63% rain deficit during January and February this year and 31% from March to April 11.
The standardized precipitation index (SPI) data, a measure to determine drought, revealed that from January to March, about 472 districts experienced mild to extremely dry conditions, with 153 districts in the severe to extremely dry category.
Most of these districts are in the north, central and west of India, including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan states. Few places in the east, particularly in Bihar and Jharkhand, have been classed in the same category. However, in the south the coastal state of Tamil Nadu has faced its worst drought in 140 years.
A report by the World Resources Institute said a conflict between the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had arisen over the release of water from the Narmada river and the Indira Sagar reservoir, where levels had fallen to 33% lower than average. Also, last month the Gujarat state government stopped the water supply for irrigation and urged farmers to not plant crops. The state government said the remaining water would be used only for drinking purposes.
India is also the world’s largest user of groundwater, accounting for about 25% of the world’s extracted water from below ground. Depleting groundwater levels is a major cause of water shortages in India. In some places the decline is more than one meter per year and Gujarat is a major exploiter, which uses aquifers for domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes. The state has already consumed 68% of its groundwater.
According to a Times of India report, there has been a 70% drop in the availability of water in the past 60 years. By 2050, the country will have 22% of its present daily per capita water.
Alternative source of purified sea water is the option!Population control is a thorney issue to some politicians! Unfortunately Indian political strategies is centered on bullyingher neighbours rather than solving her domestic developments!BeltRoad Initiatives could be her solution!
Water, water everywhere. Most of drinkable water ends up in sea anyway – 3/4 of earth surface, and desalination is no longer rocket science. Conservation is the answer. Why panic?
The water crisis is man-made: Wasteful Western lifestyle. 1950s childhood memories – in Pakistan water-carriers brought in a 10-gallon water-skin once a day for a family of 4, or 10 liters per capita.
Today’s domestic consumption in Pakistan/India is 150 liters, or 15 times. And sewerage or lack of it has severe health costs.
It is 100 gallons or 375 liters here in US. Do we really need that much water? Purifying 15 or 40 times less would cost how much? Similar waste must exist in agri or industrial use.
Villages in India were water rich and managed well, a sustainable system decimated under the English Raj. Why not return to the past – conserve and plan better?
In earlier (pastoral/agrarian) economies water was sacred. All religions with origins in the agrarian economy (Hinduism, Christianity et al) have ritual baptisms. The Gospel’s imagery is agrarian – the sower (Matthew 13:1-23), the wheat and the tares (M 24-30,36-43), the mustard seed (M 31-32), and the treasure hidden in the field (v.44). reaping and sowing (Gal. 6:7-10), waiting for the rain (James 5:7). God as a farmer (John 15:1-8); a perfect harvest (I Cor. 2:7,9), 12 different monthly crops (Rev. 22:2).
Water is less important in an exchange economy, but being called to account is. No amount of dipping in Panjnad by the sinful and the criminal will do the job, but public accountability that forces them to drown of shame in handful of water may do the trick.
It is not simply overpopulation, but pursuit of water consuming industrialized, profit-oriented "extractive" agriculture which both uses methods that require large amounts of water, and destroys the ability of land to absorb and store water. And creation of dense urban societies with high rates of water use.
Five countries with huge swathes of desert will run out of water. Who could have predicted that? Oh, and Southern California is another desert running out of water. Time to stop pretending, folks.
The real cause of this tragedy is the monster called " overpopulation" in the country. Imagine it was 330 million in 1947 and now it is 1300 millions. India is being run by idiotic politicians, . The current rulers of BJP party are interested in more in the welfare of cows than people in the country. Just imagine that the chief minister of a northern province is an ill read retard in charge of a 200 million people . He has no experience of any kind except he believes cows are important. So the country gets what it has sown in the past decades.