{"id":49874,"date":"2019-07-16T13:59:25","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T08:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?page_id=49874"},"modified":"2019-07-16T13:59:25","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T08:29:25","slug":"answered-it-is-estimated-that-in-just-30-years-from-now-half-of-india-will-be-living-in-cities-in-the-context-of-threat-of-water-crisis-how-can-we-ensure-the-next-generations-wa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-it-is-estimated-that-in-just-30-years-from-now-half-of-india-will-be-living-in-cities-in-the-context-of-threat-of-water-crisis-how-can-we-ensure-the-next-generations-wa\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] \u201cIt is estimated that in just 30 years from now, half of India will be living in cities\u201d. In the context of threat of water crisis, how can we ensure the next generations water security to next generations? Suggest some best eco-management practices to ensure water security."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Demand of the question<\/strong>
Introduction.<\/strong>Contextual introduction.
Body.<\/strong>Developing water crisis. Some measures. Eco-management practices around the nation.
Conclusion.<\/strong>Way forward. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

The demand for water in India is steeply increasing. India\u2019s population which was 1.3 billion in 2005 is expected to rise to 1.66 billion in 2050. There is also going to be a major impact on development in the form of urbanisation.\u00a0 In 2007, 28.2% of the Indian population was living in urban areas and the urban population is expected to increase to 55.2% by 2050. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developing Water crisis\nsituation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Increased industrialisation will demand more water\nas its contribution to GDP will increase from 29.1% in 2000 to 40% by 2050.\nThus, the demand for water will increase from 30 billion cubic meter in 2000 to\n161 billion cubic meter in 2050.<\/li>
  2. While the consumption of water in India will\nincrease by over 50%, the supply will increase only by 5-10% during the next\n12-15 years.  This will lead to water\nscarcity situation and most of the people, particularly those who are dependent\non agriculture and living in poverty will suffer the most.  Water scarcity will affect the food\nproduction, biodiversity and the environment. \nEnvironmental degradation will accelerate global warming, which in turn\nwill accelerate water crisis.<\/li>
  3. In the absence of harnessing rainwater in the\nforests and denuded hilly terrains, inadequate soil and water conservation\nmeasures are leading to severe soil erosion, silting of rivers beds and\nreservoirs and frequent flooding across the country.  Presently, over 40 million ha are prone to floods\nin the country.  One of the major reasons\nfor soil erosion and silting of rivers is severe deforestation.  As a result of soil erosion, many of the\nrivers have been changing their courses almost every year damaging fertile\nagricultural lands.  <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Some steps to ensure water\nsecurity:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Protection of groundwater and fresh water resources<\/strong>– Groundwater, that which is stored in rocks\nbeneath the earth\u2019s surface, is far more abundant than fresh surface water,\nless susceptible to contamination and requires less treatment to make it\ndrinkable. Thus, it makes sense to utilise groundwater resources as much as\npossible. However, mapping of a country\u2019s groundwater resources is often only\npartially completed. Lack of accurate knowledge of where or how much water there\nis in an area often results in over extraction.<\/li>
    2. Augmentation of water resources<\/strong>-The solution is to tap all the possible water\nresources and make them available for sustainable use, while improving the\nwater use efficiency.  This can be done\nby addressing various concerns and initiating suitable actions for development\nof new water resources, augmentation of available resources, prevention of\nwater pollution and improving the efficiency of water use in all the\nsectors.  <\/li>
    3. Increasing water storage capacity<\/strong>– Activities such as farm ponds, percolation tanks,\nwater reservoirs and construction of small and medium size dams and rivers can\nretain more surface water, while increasing the ground water recharge.  Series of contour bounds particularly in\nundulating areas will facilitate percolation of water in the soil and improve\nthe ground water table, while reducing soil erosion.  Gully plugging, construction of series of\nsmall dams on rivulets will help in storing water in reservoirs.<\/li>
    4. Interlinking of rivers<\/strong>– It will help in preventing floods while improving\nwater distribution in the country. \nControl of water flow and floods will prevent soil erosion.  Presently, billions of tons of fertile soils\nalong with precious nutrients are washed out of our fertile agricultural lands\nand forests.  In fact, the amount of\nnutrients lost due to soil erosion is almost equivalent to the chemical\nfertilisers produced in the country. \nThis highlights the impact of soil erosion control on the food\nproduction.  Reforestation of degraded\nforests and development of wastelands through afforestation will help in soil\nand water conservation.<\/li>
    5. Judicious distribution of water for different uses<\/strong>-It can help in preventing water scarcity.  The water distribution for different purposes\nis influenced by powerful lobbies and vested interests. Many sectors receive\nmore water than what is needed at the cost of others.  To overcome such inefficiency and wastage of\nresources, a suitable investment mechanism should be developed based on the\nneeds and return on investments.  A\ntransparent programme implementation mechanism and regular monitoring for\nquality can improve the speed and quality of the projects. <\/li>
    6. Efficient irrigation practices<\/strong>– Efficiency in irrigation is most essential, if\nthe country wants to face the challenge of water crisis.  As most of the crops are watered through\nflood irrigation, over 70% of the water used for irrigation is wasted.  Furthermore, as the water supplied is not\nmeasured, farmers have a tendency to flood the field with excessive water\nwithout any additional cost.  The\nGovernment of India should consider enforcing a ban on flood irrigation in the\ncountry.  Simultaneously, metered supply\nof irrigation water, recovery of water cost, promotion of micro-irrigation\nsystems and involvement of water users\u2019 group for water distribution would\nsignificantly help in improving the water use efficiency and reducing the cost\nof agricultural production.<\/li>
    7. Watershed development<\/strong>– Development of watersheds is an important\nprogramme to make best use of the rainwater for agricultural production while\nimproving soil conservation and biodiversity. \nGovernment of India has given top priority for watershed development to\nprovide assured water supply of agriculture in rain fed areas.  It is estimated that over 63% of the\ncultivated lands in the rain fed areas need to be brought under watershed\ndevelopment to conserve soil and water, which in turn would improve the crop\nyields as well as ground water table. \nThe watershed development programme is presently focussing on contour\nbunding and gully plugging, as the budget provided by the Government of India\nis just adequate to carry out these activities. \nAdditional funds are required to support the farmers to adopt improved\nagricultural practices.<\/li>
    8. Control of water pollution<\/strong>– Excessive use of water for agriculture,\nindustries and domestic uses is leading to water pollution, because such excess\nwater is transformed into saline water, sewage or effluent.  Thus, rewards and punishments should be\nintroduced for persuading people to make optimum use of the precious\nwater.  Discharge of sewage and affluent\ninto water bodies and rivers must be banned and recycling of waste water must\nbe pursued and enforced. This will help in keeping the water sources clean and\nreducing the future demand for water. Treated sewage and effluent can be used\nfor agriculture and industrial production.<\/li>
    9. Desalination of sea water<\/strong>– Over 70% of the global water resources being saline,\neconomic desalination of sea water is an excellent option to meet the future\nshortage of sweet water particularly to meet the human consumption.  Presently, desalination of sea water is\nexpensive and non-popular.  However, with\nsolar power, desalination can be a viable alternative to meet the water needs\nin coastal areas.<\/li>
    10. Research and development<\/strong>– There is a need for investing in research related\nto ground water monitoring, weather forecasting, breeding water efficient and\ndrought resistant crops and varieties which can cope up with the changing\nclimatic conditions, arising due to global warming.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Some eco-management practices\nacross the nation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n