Introduction:

Recently, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has projected that more than 60 large and small cities in India are on the verge of water scarcity.

According to the NITI Aayog report published last year –

• Many Indian cities to face water supply crisis soon.
• Delhi and 20 other large cities are going to run out of water by 2020.

The reason for this imminent crisis is an over-reliance on groundwater extraction, for most Indian cities are simply unable to meet their water demand with existing supply.

This rampant extraction will likely lead to zero groundwater levels in Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad by 2020.

Major Concerns:

Excess groundwater extraction

• Excess groundwater extraction has already led to a 61% decline in groundwater level in wells in India between 2007 and 2017.
• The depth of this crisis will only grow severe, if we do not take immediate action.

Do you know?

• Today, nearly three-fourths of Indian households do not have access to drinking water supply at home.
• Nearly 70% of water is contaminated and, as a result, India is placed 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index.

Poor agriculture practices

• Poor agriculture practices can be blamed for the most part for depleting groundwater reserves.
• As of today, use of water for irrigation accounts for 80% of the total available water.
• Water-intensive crops like rice and sugar cane are widely grown in many northern states, often in blatant disregard to the available water supply.
• The dominance of paddy-wheat crop rotation in Punjab is a case in point—it led to a rapid decline of water table.

Free or cheap electricity

• As per a recent study, on average, a 10% reduction in electricity subsidy generated a 6.7% increase in groundwater extraction.
• In order to make this move go down well with farmers who are used to free electricity, governments can incentivise power saving per unit with cash compensation for farmers.

The way ahead:

To avert or postpone this crisis, we need to act.

• The government must disincentivise paddy and sugar cane cultivation in areas where soil and water supply conditions are not conducive for these crops.
• States with sinking groundwater need to appropriate those cropping patterns that suit their agro-climatic zones.
• Switching to less water-intensive crops will enhance their irrigation water efficiency.
• Policymakers at both the Centre and states must encourage adoption of precision farming technologies, such as laser-guided land levelling, which can cut water use by as much as 30%.
• At the same time, drip or micro irrigation ought to be incentivised amongst farmers in severely water-deficient states, like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
• Another key focus point can be command area development (CAD). Now a part of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, the CAD initiative centres on “more crop per drop” to increase water-use efficiency in irrigation.
• Promoting rainwater harvesting and conducting systematic analysis of groundwater conservation methods.