India facing worst water shortage

'An imperative'

In her view, the "imperative for growing more food grains" to feed the country has exacerbated overextraction. "While unsustainable groundwater management has precipitated the crisis, poor handling of water is making things even worse," Mukherji said.

She noted the growing mismatch between extraction and recharge, adding that much of it can be ascribed to policy problems. "Farm inputs and electricity are subsidized. For a farmer, it is an incentive to use more groundwater than what is really sustainable."

Samrat Basak, director (urban water) of New Delhi-based research organization World Resources Institute India, or WRI India, also put the onus on the policymakers. "Unless they give emphasis on measurement and monitoring, it will be difficult to manage water resources better."

Sunita Narain, director general of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said "capturing every drop" is vital in a country "where each drop must bring more crops and more of everything".

Basak of WRI India favors popularizing a "catch when it pours" approach. This, he said, will maximize water resources.

"Currently, we capture less than 8 percent of total rainfall," Basak said, adding that a larger focus should be given to rainwater harvesting, artificial recharge of aquifers, and conserving water bodies.

"While India recycles and reuses less than 15 percent of used water, water-scarce countries like Israel recycle and reuse more than 90 percent of their water to support around 50 percent of their irrigation needs."

So, there is a huge scope to improve, Basak said.

Civil engineer and urban planner S. Vishwanath pitched for replicating Singapore's water management models. He recommended the NEWater model, which makes wastewater consumable for humans.

Mukherji of the International Water Management Institute cited China, which she said "faces severe problems of groundwater over-exploitation in some regions, especially its northern parts".

But, she added, China is more innovative in handling groundwater depletion. "In the areas where depletion is severe, the (Chinese) government has banned groundwater use," she said.

China regularly trains farmers to improve crop production with lower water use and invests heavily in farm R&D, she said. " (The country) has also developed a range of drought-resistant seeds," Mukherji said.

But in India such initiatives are few and far between. "Gray water" (water drained from showers and kitchens) could be easily reused, Mukherji said, but it is often found "mixed with fecal discharge" - rendering it unsuitable.

"We also see that all kind of effluents (including from industrial units) are discharged into rivers and streams. This polluted water often seeps through the soil and contaminates groundwater," she said.

With norms being lax and monitoring mechanisms virtually nonexistent, 70 percent of available water is contaminated.

Mukherji said climate change is a major reason for the crisis, because it "increases rainfall variability and incidences of extreme events" such as the "unusually heavy rainfall in Mumbai" in the recent past.

Venkataramana Pamarty, an international corporate lawyer and environmental activist, proposed a system to reward good acts.

" (This) will not only save water but will also improve the quality of it. The government's role is to educate the masses and incentivize," he said. "Strong legislation against wastage and mismanagement of water is an imperative."

The author is a freelance journalist for China Daily.