India faces worst water crisis: NITI Aayog

India faces worst water crisis: NITI Aayog

News:

1. According to NITI Aayog report, India is facing its ‘worst’ water crisis in history

Important facts:

2. The study:

• Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) has been used to evaluate 28 states.
• The index is based on 9 broad sectors comprising of 28 different indicators
• Few indicators include:  restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance
• The states were divided into two groups: Non-Himalayan states and North-Eastern and Himalayan states

3. Key observations:

• Depletion of Critical groundwater resources is very high. Further 70% of the water supply is contaminated.
• If steps are not taken, the demand for potable water will exceed supply by 2030
• Each year about 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress
• About 2, 00,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water
• 21 cities are estimated to run out of groundwater by 2020. Among them are Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad
• 60% of total states were designated as low performers
• Top three performers among Non-Himalayan states: Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
• These states have performed well due to restoration of surface water bodies, watershed development activities and rural water supply provision.
• Bottom three performers among the Non-Himalayan States: Jharkhand, Bihar and Haryana
• The other poor performing states: Uttar Pradesh, Odhisa, and Chhattisgarh
• Worst performer among North-eastern and Himalayan states: Himachal Pradesh
• The report highlights that given the pace of groundwater depletion and limited policy action, India might face food security risk.
•