Madhya Pradesh To Give 55 Litres Of Water Each To Residents But The Crisis Is Deeper Than One Can Imagine

The water crisis is looming large across the country and the long queues of people waiting for water tankers in Chennai is just an anecdote in a problem which is destined to beyond imagination if adequate measures aren¡¯t taken in whatever time is left for us. The crisis is such that the Madhya Pradesh government is rationing water distribution for its people.

MP to give 55 litres of water to every person a day

Madhya Pradesh is also reeling under water crisis and the state government has now decided to address the situation by ensure that every resident gets access to water. A Right to Water Bill is being drafted and the proposed draft reportedly says 55 litres water per day and apart from this, stringent laws will also be made to restrict wastage of water, a report in IndiaToday said.

The government¡¯s apathy and sand mining in the state has seen several rivers dry up. As per a government report, out of the 52 districts, around 40 districts have been under acute water crisis and are depending on the water supply reservoirs including the state capital.

PTI

It¡¯s not about Chennai or MP, it¡¯s about India now

If Chennai and MP are making headlines for water scarcity, it doesn¡¯t mean everything is hunky-dory at other places in India because there is hardly any state in India which has water in abundance and the Niti Aayog's ¡®Composite Water Management Index¡¯ had pointed it out that most Indian states had scored less than 50 percent in terms of augmentation of ground water resources and if ground water isn¡¯t recharged by natural and man-made ways, the water crisis is bound to happen.

Agencies

The report had said that 54 per cent of India¡¯s groundwater wells are declining and 21 major cities are expected to run out of groundwater as soon as 2020.

Here are some scary facts:

1. Around 70 percent of all water available in India is contaminated.

2. Not only the people in Chennai or MP, nearly 600 million people across India face water scarcity which can be put into the magnitude of high to extreme water stress.

3. Around seventy-five per cent of all households across India don¡¯t have household access to water.

Access to clean water is one¡¯s constitutional right

The access to clean water comes under the fundamental right of Right to live under Article 21 of the constitution and several times the Supreme Court and High Courts have made such observation in various cases.

In Subhas Kumar v. State of Bihar case, the Apex Court had made its stand clear in 1991 that access to clean air and water fall in the preview of fundamental right of Right to live which is a fundamental right in Article-21 of the constitution.

AFP

¡°Right to live is a fundamental right under Art 21 of the Constitution and it includes the right of enjoyment of pollution free water and air for full enjoyment of life. If anything endangers or impairs that quality of life in derogation of laws, a citizen has right to have recourse to Art.32 of the Constitution for removing the pollution of water or air which may be detrimental to the quality of life.¡±

There have been other cases as well where similar observations have been made by the Apex Court and High Courts of the various states.