There’s want for a large shift in the direction of community-based water administration
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RITURAJ KONWAR
Water is the lifeblood of civilisation, but the dispatches from the water entrance each globally and domestically are more and more fraught with peril. Unlike many commodities, water is totally irreplaceable and possesses no substitutes. Even as we noticed World Water Day on March 22, below the theme ‘Water and Gender’, we should confront a daunting actuality: the hole between our finite provide and our exploding demand is closing at a terrifying velocity. The price of groundwater extraction on the international stage is rising by one to 2 per cent per 12 months and practically one-fifth of the world’s aquifers have already moved in the direction of exhaustion. In India, conventional water our bodies (tanks and ponds) and groundwater are depleting at a tempo that ought to alarm each policymaker, notably as girls bear the first burden of navigating this scarcity. How can we sort out this impending disaster?
The international warning
The international warning indicators are now not a distant concern. An UNICEF examine says that 4 billion individuals — nearly two-thirds of the world’s inhabitants — expertise extreme water scarcity for at the least one month annually. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s inhabitants, together with India, will face extreme water shortages. This is not only a useful resource disaster however a profound social inequity, as water scarcity disproportionately impacts the well being and academic alternatives of ladies and women.
The UNICEF additionally warned that by 2040, roughly one in 4 kids worldwide might be residing in areas of extraordinarily excessive water stress. The elementary query stays: Is the disaster about having too little water or is it a disaster of managing our current water so poorly?
Researchers at NASA revealed that 13 of the planet’s 37 largest aquifers have nearly depleted. The UN World Water Development Report warns that international water sources might quickly meet solely 60 per cent of demand. Evidently, the world is heading in the direction of a catastrophic scarcity that may intensify the home ‘labour trap’ for tens of millions of ladies globally.
India’s water deficit
In India, the arithmetic of water safety merely doesn’t add up. Data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) signifies our complete annual utilisable water stands at 1,137 billion cubic meters (bcm). However, it initiatives that complete water requirement will leap from 634 bcm in 2000 to 1,447 bcm by 2050. We are on a trajectory the place demand will exceed reserves, making a deficit that might destabilise meals safety and deepen rural gender disparities.
While we glance in the direction of the 2025 horizon, the disaster is already rampant. According to the Falkenmark index accepted worldwide, any availability lower than 1,700 cubic meters (cum) per capita per 12 months is termed water stress. By this normal, about 86 per cent of individuals in India already face water scarcity in India. Out of 21 main river basins, solely seven are presently free from severe scarcity (see Table). The relaxation are struggling below over-extraction, leaving girls in water-stressed areas to stroll additional and work longer to safe fundamental wants.
The annual per capita availability of water fell from 5,177 cum in 1951 to about 1,573 in 2021 and is projected to drop additional to 1,446 by 2031. NITI Aayog underlined that 600 million individuals face excessive to excessive water stress now. Every 12 months, about two lakh individuals die because of insufficient entry to protected water — a tragedy that hits maternal and little one well being hardest. Furthermore, three-fourths of Indian households wouldn’t have ingesting water on their premises and practically 70 per cent of our accessible water is contaminated.
Some estimates counsel India’s water desk is declining by 0.3 meters per 12 months. By 2050, India might have solely 22 per cent of current day by day per capita water. Beyond the environmental affect, the financial prices are staggering: 150 million women-labour days and ₹10 billion are misplaced yearly simply to the bodily labour of fetching water. This ‘water poverty’ retains girls out of the workforce and women out of college.
Strategic interventions
Increased water scarcity can have catastrophic impacts on each entrance of life. Therefore, policymakers should concentrate on each provide and demand administration methods. Since agriculture accounts for 85 per cent of water use the place effectivity is notoriously low, options should start within the farm fields.
The MS Swaminathan Committee (2006) emphasised drip and sprinkler irrigation for alleviating water scarcity. While the potential is about 70 million hectares (mha), solely 16.74 mha had been lined by 2024. Drip irrigation can save 50 per cent of water in most crops, together with sugarcane and banana. Integrating girls farmers into the technical coaching for these techniques is important for rising the adoption. Furthermore, efforts ought to be made to carry at the least half of India’s complete paddy space (about 44 mha) below the System of Rice Intensification, which saves over 50 per cent of water and will increase yield considerably in comparison with standard flooding methodology.
We should additionally think about the Vaidyanathan Committee Report (1992), which advocated for the volumetric pricing of water provide in all sectors. Treating water as a free good results in reckless exploitation and inefficient use. Aggressive promotion of photo voltaic irrigation pumps will assist scale back groundwater exploitation. We want a large shift in the direction of community-based water administration; the success of Water Users’ Associations (WUAs) ought to be replicated nationwide.
While making rainwater harvesting obligatory for all households, the federal government should prioritise the restoration of conventional water our bodies to extend storage and recharge aquifers. The value of any additional delay in tackling water scarcity is not only financial or environmental; it’s a direct menace to the survival and dignity of our future generations.
The author is an Economist and former full-time Member (Official), Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, New Delhi. The views are private
Published on March 24, 2026