and quantity of water resources, the Indian government launched several schemes, namely, Namami Ganges, the National Rural Drinking Water Program, the national adaptation fund (for climate change threats), the National Water Mission, etc.
1.9 Managing Water Resources Under Climate Change
India has the potential to transform the increasing number of challenges in water security into opportunities. Based on the available potential of the water sector, it can be concluded that India is not a water‐deficit country. In India, 90% of water resources are suitable for growing crops. Some of the reasons against water security in the Indian context are water resource mismanagement, inadequate use of water potential, lack of required government attention, and lack of the willingness to adopt the latest technologies. Hence, fulfilling these lacunae can combat current and future water security problems. India has the opportunity to establish, as a nation, water security for a vast population. Some of the efforts required are as follows:
Government priories: The success of any project or mission is largely dependent on government policies and attention. Hence, water security should be the primary agenda of the government.
Strict actions as well as rules and regulations: Stringent regulation is needed and strict action should be taken against those causing water pollution and wastage.
Potential to use surface water: The surface water used is 690 BCM (55.6%) out of a potential of 1869 BCM (Central Water Commission 2014). The use of the rest of the water is restricted due to a high level of pollution. The Ganges‐Brahmaputra‐Meghna (GBM) and Indus river systems have an average annual potential of water of 1110.62 BCM and 207.7 BCM, respectively (Central Water Commission: Indus Water Commission). These two river systems have two‐thirds of the water potential of India. The need of the hour is to use the potential of surface water.
Investments in worthwhile water projects: The current need is to accelerate and extend successful water projects to the entire country and make success stories like rainwater harvesting, watershed management, groundwater mapping, and other government initiatives. To accelerate government projects, monitoring should be carried out by officials from civil societies, NGOs, and others. Specialized grievance cells should be established.
Management of water: It is estimated that 40–50% of the supplied water is lost due to leakage of pipes and connections. Hence, technology is required to instantly detect leakage. Recently, Danish technology was used in some municipalities, which is capable of detecting even minor leakages that are invisible to the eye. This type of technology is needed to be spread to the entire country.
Use of the potential of seawater: India has 7516.6 km of coastal area and a huge potential for fulfilling the growing water demand. The use of desalination of seawater would be another excellent approach for fulfilling the demand for future needs.
Management of rainfall: Only 18% of rainwater is used effectively, whereas 48% enters into rivers and the rest percolates in the ocean (Hegde 2012). Thus, enormous potential exists to use rainwater to fulfill future demand.
Use of wastewater in agriculture and other sectors: These practices are ongoing but more is needed from sewage treatment, desalination, and other innovative technologies due to the huge amount of water released from domestic and industrial activities.
Flood management: In every monsoon, certain parts of India are affected by floods and a huge amount of water flows is wasted. Therefore, there is a need to turn this into an opportunity by managing this huge amount of water.
Hydro‐diplomacy: Many river water conflicts are ongoing between India and its adjacent countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, China, and Bangladesh. There is a need for extreme hydro‐diplomacy to solve conflicts with these countries.
Deficit irrigation: In this strategy, less water is supplied to crops. No significant reduction of growth yield is estimated by the systematic use of this method. A study carried out on a North China plain on winter wheat saved 25% water with no significant loss of yield (UN WWDR 2015). In India, a study carried out using this strategy in the vegetative phase for groundnut gave positive results. More research is required regarding deficit irrigation on Indian crops for water conservation strategies.
Good groundwater governance: A Netherlands funded APFAMGS (Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems) project is an excellent example of the governance of groundwater resources. This project has been applied in 638 groundwater overexploited villages of Andhra Pradesh. The officials of this project adapted appropriate cropping systems based on available groundwater resources. The governance acted as pressure to adapt suitable water saving and harvesting projects. Low investment organic agriculture was promoted, and the rules were formulated to ensure the sustainability of groundwater resources.
India is becoming a water‐deficient country and climate change is making the situation more critical. The use of the maximum potential of river water, seawater, precipitation, wastewater, and good water governance can minimize the impact of climate change on water resources.
1.10 Conclusion and Recommendations
Water security has been a grave issue in India due to a lack of proper management, the slow rate of establishing water projects, inadequate water monitoring, and a lack of appropriate preventive measures. The degradation of water quality results in increased water‐borne and vector‐borne diseases. Apart from this, contaminants such as arsenic, fluoride, uranium, nitrate, cadmium, and lead found in water are also responsible for various serious diseases like cancer, cardiovascular, mental disorders, and others. The effects of climate change, including the increase of temperature, changes in regional precipitation patterns, floods, droughts events, etc., make the situation more critical in respect of water quantity, water quality, and water‐related diseases. India has the potential to resolve future challenges by the use of surface water to accelerate the establishment of water projects, adopting new technologies, hydro‐diplomacy with adjacent countries, and making stringent rules and regulations.
Some recommendations are given as follows:
Use of the maximum potential of surface water, seawater, and rainfall
Turning flooding incidents to opportunities by managing huge amounts of water
Promotion of water‐efficient irrigation systems like drip irrigation, sprinkler systems, etc.
Hydro‐diplomacy and solving conflicts with neighboring countries
Applying strict regulations and taking action against those causing water pollution and wastage
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