General Awareness topics on current affairs with analytically drawn conclusions are likely to benefit MBA Aspirants to achieve mission admission MBA!
Today, you will read General Awareness Topic: Time is ticking for monster of water scarcity in India
The falling ground water levels in India are an indication that the country is slowly but surely inching towards water scarcity. In addition, mercury levels are rising and many countries have been engulfed in droughts. Without proper supply of water, all our daily activities such as bathing and washing clothes and dishes get disrupted.
According to a number of city planners, ground water level in Delhi has already entered the danger zone. On top of that, unequal distribution, inefficient distribution and transmission, and unauthorized use of water have added to the water woes of the city.
Studies have shown that 80 percent of India’s water supply is used for farming whereas 10 percent is used by industries and factories. So, a decline in water levels not just affects household activities but it also halts the production of fruits, vegetables and grains. This affects the livelihood of farmers and ultimately, hurts the economy.
Beed, Nanded, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nashik and Satara are gripped by severe droughts, whereas Delhi and the state of Andhra Pradesh are gripped by drying wells. The current water crisis is not a result of disturbance in supply and demand, but it is a result of the mismanagement of water resources in cities where population densities are high and agricultural practices and industrialization are intensive.
According to a report published by the World Bank, major Indian cities will run dry by 2020 unless there is a significant change in water resource management. It is evident from the aforementioned data that Indians are using groundwater faster than nature can replenish it – a downtrend trend in the sustainability of water resources.
In spite of the onset of the monsoon season, forest areas in India have not received sufficient rainfall in the past few months. As a result, forests are slowly transforming into deserts. In addition, India does not have proper infrastructure in place such as dams and reservoirs to capture rainwater. This is once again hindering the utilization of rainwater.
At present, over 40 million hectares of land in India are prone to erosion, and 8-10 million hectares of land are affected by floods every year. And these lands are prone to soil erosion. Many rivers in India change their courses every year because of soil erosion, and this is damaging to fertile lands and agricultural farms.
In India, water carried by rivers is not utilized optimally. The width of the Brahmaputra River stands at 3-4 km during summers and increases to 10-12 km during the monsoons. Due to the poor management of the river, only 22 billion cubic meters of water is used and more than 607 billion cubic meters of water is wasted.
All this can be avoided if the government builds proper dams and infrastructure to capture the water and distribute it efficiently to agricultural lands and households. This way, pressure on ground water can be lifted.
Farmers in India practice flow irrigation, which results in the high consumption of water. This farming method causes soil erosion, leaching of fertilizers, spread of diseases, and the suppression of crop yields.
To ensure that water resources are used optimally, the Indian government should help farmers to shift from flow irrigation to micro irrigation, which can ease water scarcity to a large extent.
Time is ticking fast and if we do not act upon the pressures of water scarcity now, we are sure to face a huge crisis in the future. With proper infrastructure and management of water resources, we can avoid the impending water crisis.
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