Every drop matters

India's highest ever temperature was recorded in May 2016 in Phalodi, Rajasthan, with mercury touching 51 degree Celsius. A severe water crisis was reported at that time. As the thermometer hit 50.6 degree Celsius last weekend in Churu in the same state, a more severe water crisis is being reported. The situation has been worsening every year in almost the entire country. The new name for the water ministry, Jal Shakti, cannot alone solve the ever-rising problem unless supported by an effective plan of action and timely implementation.

Every year during summer, reports of severe water crisis emerge from almost all areas of the country, mentioning drying up of wells, lakes and rivers along with depletion of underground water. The Union and state governments announce several measures to tackle the crisis, but then comes the monsoon, and most announced measures are quickly forgotten. Only a handful of measures are implemented, most of them betraying the ad-hocism of governments. In the last five years, we have been listening about intentions, ideas, plans and action plans. But only this year, a new Ministry of Jal Shakti has been created under a full-fledged cabinet minister by merging the Ministry of Water Resources and Drinking Water and Sanitation. The departments of River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation will also be under the new ministry. It goes without saying that successive governments have been slow with faulty planning, and the ever-rising crisis is living proof.

Miseries that the wildlife encounters due to drying up of rivers and rivulets are yet to find a voice. We can just imagine the dimension. Even reports on the implications of water crisis and Climate Change on domesticated livestock and human beings have been finding little space compared to the prominent publicity of petty politics and other trivial issues. This is despite the fact that India is likely to lose 16.5 per cent of its GDP on account of Climate Change, and 6 per cent on account of water crisis alone. 'More crop per drop' has, by and large, remained a slogan.

How much people and livestock are suffering can be imagined by studying the cases reported in the past few weeks. One of the reports from Beed in Maharashtra said that the situation has been dramatically worsening for the last five years. There is no drinking water available for days, and a tanker comes every three days for the entire village. People are scared for their lives and livelihoods. A report coming from the Thar desert area of Rajasthan said that villagers are compelled to purchase water from private suppliers for themselves and their cattle to the tune of Rs 2,500 for 2,500 litres. If the supply of water is possible by private parties, what prevents the government from supplying the same?

How hopeless and helpless people are can be assessed by a report from Tamil Nadu which said that the government has ordered all government-funded temples to hold 'yagyas' to appease the rain God and appoint musicians to play Carnatic ragas welcoming the rains. People are simply being misled. That governments cannot make rains is true, but it is also true that only governments can lessen people's dependence on rain and effectively reduce water shortage. In Karnataka also, temples under Muzrai have been asked to perform 'parjanya japa' in the Brahma Muhurta. Reports like these are pouring in from every part of the country, and people are performing yagyas. Why should common people sing Raga Malhar and perform yagyas, etc., for solving their water crisis caused by a failure of policy?

The water crisis at the doorstep of our country is not new. In the last decade, our water storage has registered a fall of 21 per cent. Groundwater is depleting faster than ever before, and there is no effective mechanism to replenish it. About 54 per cent of areas are suffering from such depletion. About half of the population of the country has been adversely affected by such a crisis. If conditions worsen further, India is most likely to be categorised as a 'water stressed' country by the next year, which would be worst in the history of India. Twenty-one cities of the country including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad are at the risk of running out of groundwater by 2020, which will affect 100 million people. Since 40 per cent of India's water supply depends on groundwater, the government urgently needs to take proper action; otherwise, people will be in great trouble. We were using 761 billion cubic metres (BMC) of water in 2014 which included 688 BMC for agriculture against 1,121 BMC of utilisable water clearly indicating poor water management.

Such a situation can be prevented only if the Union Government takes this matter seriously, on a priority basis, and doesn't take refuge in the logic that water is a state subject. It is already known that our perennially fund-starved state governments cannot successfully prevent worsening of the crisis on their own. Performance of states has been very bad and the government's flagship programme to supply piped water to every household by 2024 is still not complete. Water management needs much more than restructuring a ministry, especially given the dismal record of states as shown in the Composite Water Management Index prepared by NITI Aayog.

(The views expressed are strictly personal)