India, which is already facing serious water crisis and going to face much challenge in the future, needs serious thoughts of making the best use of the technologies and methods to conserve the remaining water resources and making its efficient use for various purposes like agriculture and industry.
Mismanagement of water resources and over exploitation of ground water are going to be the major challenges that the country was going to face in the near future, according to the Reassessment of Water Availability in India using Space Inputs, a report by the Central Water Commission.
Pointing out that India, which has numerous rivers and two monsoons, was not a water deficient nation, the report states that several regions was facing water crisis or stress because of lack of proper monitoring system of the water resources. As such, the report stresses the importance of conserving the water resources by the proper utilisation methods.
The report calls to impose regulatory measures for preventing the misuse of water. Apart from this, the report also calls for introducing punishment so as to encourage judicious and reasonable use of water. It also makes an appeal for water awareness so that the people know the importance of water conservation.
With regard to water usage in India, the report says that various issues are related to water wastage. They note that the poor development of catchment area had resulted in heavy soil erosion and siltation of the dams. It also notes that 70 per cent of the water for irrigation channelled through canals is wasted. The report says that the flow irrigation practised in India had resulted in much wastage. It calls for practising micro – irrigation that is said to bring down water wastage.
The report also notes that over exploitation of ground water should be stopped and people should be made aware of the judicious use of water. It also says that the water table of the country is dipping 0.4 m every year.
