Indians beware, water shortage ahead: UNICEF report

NEW DELHI, April 26: India is headed inexorably towards a water crisis, a new United Nations report warns. According to the report brought o...

NEW DELHI, April 26: India is headed inexorably towards a water crisis, a new United Nations report warns. According to the report brought out by the UN Childrens8217; Fund UNICEF, by the year 2017 there would not only be acute shortage of ground water but also drinking water particularly in the summer months.

Already 44 million people suffer the consequences of drinking contaminated water thereby seriously affecting the health of future generations who are growing up with bouts of debilitating diarrhoeal diseases. UNICEF officials here say one of the many reasons for high levels of undernourishment among Indian children is the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases which, in turn, is because of consumption of unsafe water and poor sanitation.

The problem of water scarcity is worsened because of sheer wastage and mismanagement. Too much water is lost either through seepage or diverted towards irrigation and urban settlements.

By 2017, per capita availability of water will decline to 1,600 cubic metres 8212; alevel defined by the UN as significantly 8220;water-stressed8221; and holding out the threat of serious water-borne diseases.

In conjunction with the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF, UNICEF has already surveyed sites in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to discover the causes of water shortage and come up with remedial measures.

Broadly, the UNICEF report lays blame on the principle that the water below an individual8217;s property is his which has resulted in uncontrolled extraction of water using borewells for irrigation and cash crops. The UNICEF-WWF report also blames subsidised electricity which allows farmers to pump water out of their property with impunity thereby dangerously lowering the water table. The report suggests a tax on ground water to prevent misuse. Indiscriminate sinking of borewells has already rendered ground water in states like Punjab unfit for agriculture and other uses because of high mineral content, according to government reports. Interestingly, thereport predicted that socio-economic aspects including caste and gender would have great bearing on the impending water crisis.

Women, who are usually burdened with the job of fetching water from remote sources, may walk up to 5 km a day to fetch about 150 litres of water. Their troubles are not bettered by the fact that two-thirds of handpumps on which almost 400 million Indians depend for their water supplies are in some stage of disrepair.

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Caste considerations prevent Dalits from accessing water in the Garhwal region and their women may have to walk several extra km to get it. One suggestion made by the report is for communities to be put in charge of their own water sources for ensuring awareness of the need for preservation and protection.