Elections are over and now we are waiting for the results but the issue that is very important but did not receive attention in the election campaigns of all major parties is the country’s growing water crisis.

According to a report by NITI Aayog, our country is “suffering from the worst water crisis in its history”. It has warned that 21 cities, including Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, were likely to run out of groundwater by 2020 which is next year.

The report also estimates that by 2030, 40% of people in India could be without supplies of fresh drinking water.

India’s ruling party (BJP) promised that it will provide piped water to every household within the next five years and the opposition party (Congress) has committed to provide universal access to drinking water. Is it possible where, 42% of the land is currently affected by drought?

India has over 18% of the world’s population but only 4% of its freshwater resources.

Large parts of the western state of Maharashtra, are water deficient and every year, at the onset of the summer season, the state makes the news for “water wars” between districts – farmers, villagers, city residents, slum dwellers, the hospitality industry and businesses all screaming for their share of water.

Even Patna is developing and its population is growing so fast that there’s no infrastructure that can deliver water.

However, the long-term concern is the overuse of groundwater. About 80% of water in India is used on agriculture and most of it is taken from groundwater stored in rocks and soil. It becomes a problem when extraction is more than the recharge.

There was central scheme for safe drinking water but in the past five years the funding was cut, as the government didn’t prioritize it but emphasized on Swatch Bharat.

As of May this year, just over 18% of rural households had a piped water supply, which is only 6% more than five years earlier.

Some interesting solutions can be seen in Pune as many restaurants there have begun serving only half glasses of water to guests. They do not refill unless asked and the leftover water is recycled and used for watering plants and cleaning the floor.

People have also put in new toilets which use less water, car garages are allowed to do only dry servicing,  clubs and water resorts are barred from holding popular rain dance events and swimming pools were ordered shut. Now it’s high time that not only Pune but the entire India needs to follow these steps and many others to control water crisis.

  elections, India, Maharashtra, Pune, water