Time Is Running Out, If We Don't Conserve And Reuse, India Will Lose All Its Groundwater

India¡¯s sixth biggest, Chennai, has run out of water and authorities have now rushed in to help residents. The scenario could become a regular one in every major Indian city and groundwater is depleting rapidly and rains have become unpredictable.

Launching a conservation campaign to tackle the crisis for present and future, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, stressed on conservation of water.

The Jal Shakti Abhiyaan will be centred around on five aspects - water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies, reuse of water and recharging of structures, watershed development, and intensive afforestation.

The campaign commenced July 1 and will go on till September 15 through citizen participation. An additional phase II will run from October 1 to November 30 for states receiving the northeast retreating monsoons.

Prime minister Narendra Modi announced that every household will have tap water by the year 2024.

Reuters

In his second-term maiden Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi urged the people of the country to come together and start a mass movement in the country on water conservation. The government and people should together start a campaign and create a database of people involved in the conservation of water, he said.

Jal Shakti, a new ministry formed recently, has promised to provide safe and clean drinking water to everyone.

In the radio programme, Modi further said that there was no one fixed way to conserve water because in different parts of the country, different methods have been adopted but the aim is the same, to conserve every drop of water.

¡°A meeting was held in many gram sabhas and panchayats to discuss water conservation. Over the last few months, so many people have written about water-related issues. I am happy to see so much awareness on water conservation," Modi said.

BCCL

Close to 100 million people are on the front lines of a nationwide water crisis. A total of 21 major cities are poised to run out of groundwater next year, according to a 2018 report by government-run think tank NITI Aayog.

Monsoon is running late by a week and is wreaking havoc where it has arrived. Much-needed monsoon rains have only just arrived in some places, running weeks late, amid a heatwave that has killed at least 137 people this summer.

India¡¯s Central Water Commission said almost two-thirds of India's reservoirs are running below normal water levels.