5.1 Water Scenario in India
India, with its high population and high-dependence on monsoon, creates great
susceptibility to hydrological shocks by any global standards. 22 out of 32 major
cities in the country face acute shortage of water supply every day (India Water
Portal). About 90% of rivers in India flow during four months and over 50% of rain
pour in just 15 days, resulting in floods in many parts of the country. India, with its
huge potential for rainwater harvesting, could enhance its water storage, which is
currently 209 m
3 per capita (AQUASTAT Data). The surface water in India
consists of twenty-two major river basins (CWC 2011). Of these twenty-two river
basins, there are thirteen major river basins that are spread over 81% of the geographical area comprising a catchment area of 2.6 million km
2 (Table 1) (Water
Resource Information System).
The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development
(NCIWRD) has projected the demand for water for the years 2025 and 2050. By the
year 2050, the total demand for water is expected to be 973 billion cubic meter
(BCM) according to the low demand scenario and 1180 BCM according to the high
demand scenario (NCIWRD). Due to the rainfall pattern and low surface storage,
about 63% of India’s irrigated agriculture and 85% of drinking water supplies are
dependent on groundwater. In the last few decades, India has witnessed an intense
groundwater withdrawal and exploitation for agriculture, industrialization and
city-development. One of the underlying reasons for excessive use of groundwater
is the legal framework governing access to the groundwater resource, which gave
the landowners the right to access groundwater from below their land without
regard to the migrating nature of the resource.
According to a report published by NITI Aayog, India is facing the worst water
crisis in its history, and 21 Indian cities will run out of groundwater by 2020. It also
highlighted the need for urgent and improved management of water resources. With
nearly 600 million Indians facing high-to-extreme water stress—where more than
40% of the annually available surface water is used every year—and about 200,000
people dying every year due to inadequate access to safe water, the situation is
likely to worsen as the demand for water will exceed the supply by 2050
(Composite Water Management Index CWMI Report 2018).
In the context of the water sector, NITI Aayog has come out with a Composite
Water Management Index (CWMI), as a major step toward creating a culture of
data-based decision-making for policy makers in India. This index is an attempt to
nudge the States toward more efficient utilization and better management of water
with a primary focus on reuse and recycling. This also gives an insight on how
several States have progressed in the water sector over 2015/16 and 2016/17.
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K. Singh and S. Mahanta
India, with its high population and high-dependence on monsoon, creates great
susceptibility to hydrological shocks by any global standards. 22 out of 32 major
cities in the country face acute shortage of water supply every day (India Water
Portal). About 90% of rivers in India flow during four months and over 50% of rain
pour in just 15 days, resulting in floods in many parts of the country. India, with its
huge potential for rainwater harvesting, could enhance its water storage, which is
currently 209 m
3 per capita (AQUASTAT Data). The surface water in India
consists of twenty-two major river basins (CWC 2011). Of these twenty-two river
basins, there are thirteen major river basins that are spread over 81% of the geographical area comprising a catchment area of 2.6 million km
2 (Table 1) (Water
Resource Information System).
The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development
(NCIWRD) has projected the demand for water for the years 2025 and 2050. By the
year 2050, the total demand for water is expected to be 973 billion cubic meter
(BCM) according to the low demand scenario and 1180 BCM according to the high
demand scenario (NCIWRD). Due to the rainfall pattern and low surface storage,
about 63% of India’s irrigated agriculture and 85% of drinking water supplies are
dependent on groundwater. In the last few decades, India has witnessed an intense
groundwater withdrawal and exploitation for agriculture, industrialization and
city-development. One of the underlying reasons for excessive use of groundwater
is the legal framework governing access to the groundwater resource, which gave
the landowners the right to access groundwater from below their land without
regard to the migrating nature of the resource.
According to a report published by NITI Aayog, India is facing the worst water
crisis in its history, and 21 Indian cities will run out of groundwater by 2020. It also
highlighted the need for urgent and improved management of water resources. With
nearly 600 million Indians facing high-to-extreme water stress—where more than
40% of the annually available surface water is used every year—and about 200,000
people dying every year due to inadequate access to safe water, the situation is
likely to worsen as the demand for water will exceed the supply by 2050
(Composite Water Management Index CWMI Report 2018).
In the context of the water sector, NITI Aayog has come out with a Composite
Water Management Index (CWMI), as a major step toward creating a culture of
data-based decision-making for policy makers in India. This index is an attempt to
nudge the States toward more efficient utilization and better management of water
with a primary focus on reuse and recycling. This also gives an insight on how
several States have progressed in the water sector over 2015/16 and 2016/17.
32
K. Singh and S. Mahanta