Why PM Modi’s I-Day speech focussed majorly on water crisis
The water crisis engulfing India can be gauged from the fact that it became the centre of PM Modi's I-Day speech. He used the word 'water' 28 times.
Dipu Rai
New Delhi
August 17, 2019UPDATED: August 17, 2019 22:30 IST
PM Modi, independence day, india water crisis
Affordability of drinking water is a primary challenge in India and PM Modi regrets that "today, we all are actually buying water from grocery shops." (Photo: Reuters)
If water starts disappearing, nature's processes get disrupted and this initiates total destruction," Prime Minister Narendra Modi had quoted Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar in his Independence Day address to the nation.
Almost half the houses in this country do not have access to drinking water. The World Resources Institute (WRI) had recently come out with its global water risk atlas, where India is placed among 17 extremely high water-stressed countries
The water crisis engulfing India can be gauged from the fact that it became the centre of PM Modi's I-Day speech. He used the word 'water' 28 times.
Growing population and rapid urbanisation have widened the gap between demand and supply of water in India. According to Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, if any citizen gets less than 1,700 cubic metres (m3) of water, it is counted as a water-stressed condition, while if per capita availability falls below 1,000 m3, it is termed as water scarcity.
India is about to move from water-stressed situation to water scarcity. According to the Working Group-II report of the Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, India has been designated as a 'water-stressed region' with current utilisable freshwater standing at 1,122 cubic meters (cu m) per year per capita.
Water resources are either polluted or depleted in India due to population explosion and climate change, especially in cities.
To fulfil water demands of the growing urban population, more and more groundwater is needed to be extracted, but options for replenishing it are minimal. Though 67 per cent groundwater used to get recharged during monsoon, concrete clusters have reduced this opportunity too. Heavy rains or floods are not as useful as earlier for groundwater replenishment.
Major river basins in the country, including Krishna, Cauvery, Subarnarekha, Pennar, Mahi, Sabarmati, Tapi, Luni, etc. come under the category of "water-scarce", with most of them having a per capita availability of water less than or around 500 m3.
Water security requires to safeguard water sources and forests, especially by way of protecting rivers from pollution and promoting reforestation, and improve agricultural practices.
Affordability of drinking water is a primary challenge in India and PM Modi regrets that "today, we all are actually buying water from grocery shops". He assured that water would be a human right.
On August 15, PM Modi had said, "I declare from the Red Fort today that in the days to come, we will take forward the 'Jal Jeevan Mission'. The central and state governments will work jointly on this mission. We have promised to spend more than Rs 3.5 lakh crore on this mission in the coming years."
The water crisis engulfing India can be gauged from the fact that it became the centre of PM Modi's I-Day speech. He used the word 'water' 28 times.
Dipu Rai
New Delhi
August 17, 2019UPDATED: August 17, 2019 22:30 IST
PM Modi, independence day, india water crisis
Affordability of drinking water is a primary challenge in India and PM Modi regrets that "today, we all are actually buying water from grocery shops." (Photo: Reuters)
If water starts disappearing, nature's processes get disrupted and this initiates total destruction," Prime Minister Narendra Modi had quoted Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar in his Independence Day address to the nation.
Almost half the houses in this country do not have access to drinking water. The World Resources Institute (WRI) had recently come out with its global water risk atlas, where India is placed among 17 extremely high water-stressed countries
The water crisis engulfing India can be gauged from the fact that it became the centre of PM Modi's I-Day speech. He used the word 'water' 28 times.
Growing population and rapid urbanisation have widened the gap between demand and supply of water in India. According to Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, if any citizen gets less than 1,700 cubic metres (m3) of water, it is counted as a water-stressed condition, while if per capita availability falls below 1,000 m3, it is termed as water scarcity.
India is about to move from water-stressed situation to water scarcity. According to the Working Group-II report of the Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, India has been designated as a 'water-stressed region' with current utilisable freshwater standing at 1,122 cubic meters (cu m) per year per capita.
Water resources are either polluted or depleted in India due to population explosion and climate change, especially in cities.
To fulfil water demands of the growing urban population, more and more groundwater is needed to be extracted, but options for replenishing it are minimal. Though 67 per cent groundwater used to get recharged during monsoon, concrete clusters have reduced this opportunity too. Heavy rains or floods are not as useful as earlier for groundwater replenishment.
Major river basins in the country, including Krishna, Cauvery, Subarnarekha, Pennar, Mahi, Sabarmati, Tapi, Luni, etc. come under the category of "water-scarce", with most of them having a per capita availability of water less than or around 500 m3.
Water security requires to safeguard water sources and forests, especially by way of protecting rivers from pollution and promoting reforestation, and improve agricultural practices.
Affordability of drinking water is a primary challenge in India and PM Modi regrets that "today, we all are actually buying water from grocery shops". He assured that water would be a human right.
On August 15, PM Modi had said, "I declare from the Red Fort today that in the days to come, we will take forward the 'Jal Jeevan Mission'. The central and state governments will work jointly on this mission. We have promised to spend more than Rs 3.5 lakh crore on this mission in the coming years."
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