Witoubou Newmai
“Water apocalypse”, “water-stressed region” and “water war lurking” are some of the languages used by commentators and activists to emphasize the concerns that it is almost late to reverse the impending water crisis, particularly in India. Studies have confirmed that several Indian cities will face drinking water crisis in the next few years.
NITI Aayog sounded the biggest alarm yet in June 2019 stating that India is facing the worst water crisis in its history, and 21 Indian cities will run out of groundwater by 2020 and calling for “urgent and improved” management of water resources.
A report in the Asia Times filed by Saikat Datta blamed the “combination of climate change, bad policies and political apathy” for the water problem in South Asia.
The present grim situation is a revelation enough that concerned authorities did not pay any heed to warnings, given far ahead of time, from various studies about the issue.
Some 20 years ago, the premier magazine of India, Frontline carried a report filed by TK Rajalaksmi that “India is on the threshold of a water crisis.” The report was based on the presentation prepared by the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
In the May, 1998 edition the magazine reported that “the spectre of a freshwater crisis that can lead to millions of people being denied access to safe water supply looms over India”. The report then blamed the “human-induced and the result of poor water resource management, increased pollution of surface water and groundwater, environmental degradation and the population explosion”. That report further blamed the successive governments’ failure to implement the National Water Policy, which recognises that the "drinking water needs of human beings and animals should be the first charge on available resources." The report then said, “…a lack of political will and the use of water as a ‘political tool’ have meant that the policy remains unimplemented”.
Some 20 years down the line, the warning has proven to be prophetic as even as the warnings from various study quarters, including the aforesaid government think tank, have grown shriller with every passing time. The required “political will,” however, is still missing.
Coming to our region, the people depend heavily on surface water sources such as ponds, streams, rivulets and springs. But today, these sources are also dying. One important note that is defiantly to be considered is about the rivers, streams or other surface water sources which are insufficiently studied. This fact needs to be dilated.
In the meantime, as “political will” would not show up, the people can consider “community will” seriously.
Once the “community will” prevails the subsequent job is to identify factors, contributing to drying up of water reservoir, and make them to reverse it as much as the “will” can exert. For instance, afforestation is one widely considered mitigation measure on the dying surface water sources.
