33% Deficit Monsoon, Acute Water Shortage Already. What Else Needed To Declare A Climate And Water Emergency?

It is already July and Monsoon, the lifeline of India is yet to reach parts of North India. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwestern Monsoon is likely to hit Delhi this week and advance further northwards.

IMD¡¯s additional director-general Mrutyunjay Mahapatra said the formation of low pressure in the Bay of Bengal will bring good rainfall to central India, including Odisha and parts of Rajasthan.

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Parts of North India like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana may not benefit due to this low-pressure area and it is unlikely that these states will get rainfall because of it, Mahapatra said.

Private weather forecaster Skymet¡¯s managing director Jatin Singh said monsoon surge is expected from June 30 to July 15 with a short break in between.

This spell would be a result of a low-pressure area which is likely to form in the Bay of Bengal. Odisha, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, southern Chhattisgarh, northern parts of Telangana, southern Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha region, parts of central Maharashtra, southwestern Madhya Pradesh, southern Rajasthan, and Gujarat would benefit the maximum from this spell, he said.

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While the arrival of the delayed monsoon is definitely good news, there is still a looming concern - the rains so far have been way less than the average. This is even true for states like Kerala, from where the monsoon starts its journey to the rest of the country. According to the IMD June saw a monsoon deficit of 33% the highest since 2014. A deficit monsoon will have devastating and far-reaching consequences to the Indian economy, with the agriculture sector being the worst hit.

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Another threat is the ever-growing water crisis across major cities in India. Chennai has been in the news recently for an acute water shortage, which almost shut down the city. The situation is so bad that water is being rationed, and it may continue to be the same way for some time. Chennai is not alone when it comes to facing a water crisis.

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Bengaluru too could be facing a similar situation soo. India's Silicon Valley could be the first city to run out of water, and that could happen as early as 2020. Depletion of groundwater levels is a problem that other cities including the national capital Delhi is experiencing and is only going to get worse in the coming days.

Only some serious policy change and result-driven actions can prevent the situation from getting out of hand and become irreversible.

To do that the first thing the government should do is to declare a climate and water emergency in the country.

Aman Sharma, a Class X student from Delhi has started an online campaign to create awareness around it. In his petition to Prakash Javadekar, the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Aman has demanded that India should declare a National Climate emergency and recognize it's shortcomings in providing to us a safe environment.

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He also demanded that India should commit to the Paris Agreement which seeks to limit the Earth¡¯s warming to below 2 degrees Celsius and work towards meeting the goal of a green cover of 33% in the country as proposed and accepted in it's National Forest Policy.

Another concerned youth, 19-year-old, Garvita Gulhati is campaigning to get the government to declare a water emergency in the country in the wake of the recent water crisis. According to her, the current water crisis is a problem we have all created together through our actions and negligence. Instead of blaming, let¡¯s start changing. Instead of figuring out who caused the problem, let¡¯s get together and do our bit to solve this issue.

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She also argues that the government should change its policy to provide subsidies and incentives for water conservation efforts at the local level like rainwater harvesting, lake and water body regeneration, groundwater recharging, the formation of urban forests and setting up a water conservation body in each constituency can create the necessary path to regain this resource.