India Stares At Severe Crisis As 21 Cities Will Run Out Of Groundwater By 2020

A water crisis of enormous magnitudes has engulfed Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, with taps running dry in rural and urban parts of the state.

India¡¯s sixth largest city, Chennai is reeling under severe water crisis as its four major water reservoirs have run dry this summer, leaving people with no water for days. Chembarambakkam and the three other reservoirs that have traditionally supplied Chennai are nearly all dry, leaving the city suffering from acute water crisis.

A report by NITI Aayog has sounded an alarm stating that 21 cities in India, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad - will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting close to 100 million people.

The report also adds that 40 per cent of Indians will have no access to clean drinking water by 2030.

The situation is alarming as 2020 is just six months away and the pre-effects can already be seen in megacities like Chennai.

Water trucks are brought in from neighbouring cities and residents have no choice but to stand in queues in scorching heat, waiting for their turn to fill dozens of cans and plastic containers.

AFP

Private information technology companies in Chennai have asked employees to work from home since they have run out of water.

Chennai: Water tokens are being issued to residents facing acute water crisis in Royapettah area, to avail water supply through water tankers. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/66Oh53NlGL

¡ª ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2019

Tamil Nadu: Locals in Chennai complain of water crisis in the city, alleging that water supply through tankers is not regular in their area. Say, "Water supply has become erratic now, earlier it was regular. We're suffering. This locality doesn't have piped water supply." (18.06) pic.twitter.com/VZMvQiIJII

¡ª ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2019

Water crisis in Chennai pic.twitter.com/ujRxQor5Yb

¡ª My only goal in life right now is to be happy (@kannan41108983) June 17, 2019

"The government is depending upon the desalination in Chennai which is very expensive also however they forget that the earth is a limited planet and oceans will dry. What will we leave for our children and grandchildren? We may have a lot of money but we cannot ask our children to drink money instead of water. Using ocean water and desalination is not the solution but water harvesting is" former director of National Water Academy professor Manohar Khushalani told ANI.

As major parts of India reel under acute water shortage, the government has dismissed the crisis as ¡°media hype.¡±

Water power minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while addressing a press conference on June 17, asserted that the reports of the water crisis are exaggerated.

¡°In Himachal and other areas, there is enough water in the dams and reservoirs. The water crisis is not as bad as the hype created by the media,¡± he said.

Incidents of violence over water have been reported from across the country. Earlier in June, a 33-year-old man was beaten to death as they were reportedly drawing large amounts of water from a public tap in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

Hundreds of Indian villagers are forced to flee their homes in search of water resulting in empty villages. The village of Hatkarwadi, about 20 miles from Beed in Maharashtra state, is almost completely deserted.

AFP

Not just people, but cattle and other stray animals stare are death due to lack of water. The agriculture-based livelihood is completely devastated, crops have withered and livestock is left to starve.

A report from WaterAid, titled 'Beneath the Surface: The State of the World¡¯s Water 2019', India has a population of 1 billion living without clean water supply during at least one part of the year, out of which 600 million live in moderate to extreme levels of water stress.

Presently, India ranks 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index, with 75 per cent of households in the country lacking a supply to drinking water where they live.

For a nation that prides itself a growing economic superpower, these numbers are shameful.