India Suffering From Worst Water Crisis In Its History

Niti Aayog published a report titled ‘Composite Water Management Index’ CWMI released by the minister for water resources, Nitin Gadkari, claiming that India is suffering from ‘the worst water crisis’ in its history. with about 60 crore people facing high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water

• The port city of Chennai needs 800 million litres of water a day to meet demand for water, according to official data. At the moment, the government can provide only 675 million litres, according to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
• Like many Indian cities, Chennai and its suburbs plug that gap by buying water, encouraging residents to dig backyard borewells, or using private wells.
• In particular, Chennai depends on more than 4,000 private water tankers for its everyday water needs. The government also runs a “dial a tanker” service to meet demand.
• Altogether, the tankers deliver 200 million litres of water a day to Chennai, according to the association.
• The report, titled ‘Composite Water Management Index’ released by Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari, further said the crisis is only going to get worse.
• “By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and an eventual 6 percent loss in the country’s GDP,” the report noted.
• Water scarce states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh are high performers in the composite water management. Seven states have scores between 50-65 (including two North-Eastern and Himalayan states) and have been classified as medium performers.
• Alarmingly, 60% of states (14 out of 24) have achieved scores below 50 and have been classified as Low performers as mentioned in the report. The low performers on the Water Index  UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, and others are home to 50% of the country’s population and 20-30% of India’s agricultural output based on the Niti Ayog report.