Water Resources in India

Lakes

Rivers

The major rivers of India are:

Wetlands

India is a signatory of the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands

Water supply and sanitation

Water supply and sanitation in India continue to be inadequate, despite long-standing efforts by the various levels of government and communities at improving coverage. The level of investment in water and sanitation, albeit low by international standards, has increased during the 2000s. Access has also increased significantly. For example, in 1980 rural sanitation coverage was estimated at 1% and reached 21% in 2008.[1][2] Also, the share of Indians with access to improved sources of water has increased significantly from 72% in 1990 to 88% in 2008.[1] At the same time, local government institutions in charge of operating and maintaining the infrastructure are seen as weak and lack the financial resources to carry out their functions. In addition, no major city in India is known to have a continuous water supply[3] and an estimated 72% of Indians still lack access to improved sanitation facilities.

In spite of adequate average rainfall in India, there is large area under the less water conditions/drought prone. There are lot of places, where the quality of groundwater is not good. Another issue lies in interstate distribution of rivers. Water supply of the 90% of India’s territory is served by inter-state rivers. It has created growing number of conflicts across the states and to the whole country on water sharing issues.[4]

A number of innovative approaches to improve water supply and sanitation have been tested in India, in particular in the early 2000s. These include demand-driven approaches in rural water supply since 1999, community-led total sanitation, a public-private partnerships to improve the continuity of urban water supply in Karnataka, and the use of micro-credit to women in order to improve access to water.

Water pollution

Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, just 209 have partial treatment facilities, and only 8 have full wastewater treatment facilities (WHO 1992).[5] 114 cities dump untreated sewage and partially cremated bodies directly into the Ganges River.[6] Downstream, the untreated water is used for drinking, bathing, and washing. This situation is typical of many rivers in India as well as other developing countries.

Open defecation is widespread even in urban areas of India.[7][8]

Ganges

The Ganges River has been considered one of the dirtiest rivers in the world.[9] The extreme pollution of the Ganges affects 400 million people who live close to the river.[10] The river waters start getting polluted right at the source. The commercial exploitation of the river has risen in proportion to the rise of population. Gangotri[11] and Uttarkashi are good examples too. Gangotri had only a few huts of Sadhus until the 1970s[12] and the population of Uttrakashi has swelled in recent years.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation estimate for 2008 based on the 2006 Demographic and Health Survey, the 2001 census, other data and the extrapolation of previous trends to 2010. See JMP tables
  2. ↑ Planning Commission of India. "Health and Family Welfare and AYUSH : 11th Five Year Plan" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-09-19., p. 78
  3. ↑ "Development Policy Review". World Bank. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  4. ↑ http://greencleanguide.com/2011/07/19/water-scarcity-and-india/
  5. ↑ Russell Hopfenberg and David Pimentel HUMAN POPULATION NUMBERS AS A FUNCTION OF FOOD SUPPLY oilcrash.com Retrieved on- February 2008
  6. ↑ National Geographic Society. 1995. Water: A Story of Hope. Washington (DC): National Geographic Society
  7. ↑ The Politics of Toilets, Boloji
  8. ↑ Mumbai Slum: Dharavi, National Geographic, May 2007
  9. ↑ Salemme, Elisabeth (22 January 2007). "The World's Dirty Rivers". Time. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  10. ↑ "June 2003 Newsletter". Clean Ganga. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  11. ↑ Swami Sundaranand Himalaya: Through the Lens of a Sudu Published August 2001 ISBN 81-901326-0-1
  12. ↑ Swami Sundaranand,Himalaya: Through the Lens of a Sudu Published August 2001 ISBN 81-901326-0-1 Page 252

External links

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