WATER RESOURCES
CAUSES OF WATER SCARCITY
Water varies from time and place: Water availability varies by
location and time of year, as it is unevenly distributed and
changes with the seasons and region.
Industrialization: Industries require large amount of water to
function, and industrialization can empty the ground water
table.
Irrigation: Irrigated agriculture is the largest consumer of
water
Urbanization and growing population: as the population grows
and leads to more urbanization, it puts a lot of strain on the
ground water table
CAUSES OF WATER DEGRADATION
Chemical fertilizers and pesticides: The agriculture industry
uses excessive chemical fertilizers and pesticides which seep
into the ground water and near by sources of fresh water
making it harmful to drink.
Industries: Many industries release their chemical waste into
water streams and rives, polluting them and making them unfit
for drinking purpose.
WATER CONSERVATION THROUGH MULTI-PURPOSE
PROJECTS
Hydraulic Structures in Ancient India:
In the first century B.C., Sringaverapura near Allahabad had
sophisticated water harvesting system channelling the flood water of
the river Ganga.
During the time of Chandragupta Maurya, dams, lakes and irrigation
systems were extensively built.
Evidences of sophisticated irrigation works have also been found in
Kalinga, (Odisha), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bennur
(Karnataka), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), etc.
In the 11th Century, Bhopal Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes of
its time was built.
In the 14th Century, the tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi was constructed by
Iltutmish for supplying water to Siri Fort area.
WATER RESOURCES
Dams:
A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or
retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment.
Dams were traditionally built to impound rivers and rainwater that
could be used later to irrigate agricultural fields.
Today, dams are built not just for irrigation but for electricity
generation, water supply for domestic and industrial uses, flood
control, recreation, inland navigation and fish breeding.
Hence, dams are now referred to as multi-purpose projects where the
many uses of the impounded water are integrated with one another.
Multi-purpose projects, launched after Independence with their
integrated water resources management approach, were thought of as
the vehicle that would lead the nation to development and progress,
overcoming the handicap of its colonial past.
Jawaharlal Nehru proudly proclaimed the dams as the ‘temples of
modern India’; the reason being that it would integrate development of
agriculture and the village economy with rapid industrialization and
growth of the urban economy.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DAMNS
Advantages:
Water supply: Dams provide water for drinking, irrigation, and
industrial use.
Flood control: Dams store excess water in reservoirs and release it
when water levels are low.
Hydroelectric power: Dams generate renewable electricity.
Recreation: Dams provide areas for fishing and boating.
Increased food production: Dams can increase the production of crops
and fish.
River navigation: Dams facilitate river traffic.
Tourism: Dams can generate income through tourism
Disadvantages:
Displacement of people: The construction of dams often requires the
displacement of people and communities from their lands and
livelihoods. This can be an ethical concern and can also cause
economic problems for the displaced.
Environmental impact: Dams can disrupt the natural ecosystem,
spawning of aquatic life, and the lives of plants and animals. Dams can
also cause soil erosion, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss.
Sedimentation: Dams can cause excessive sedimentation at the bottom
of the reservoir, which can harm aquatic life and their migration.
Groundwater: Dams can disrupt the groundwater table.
Water flow: Dams can block the flow of water to other countries,
states, or regions.
Earthquakes: Dams can induce earthquakes, and the collapse of a dam
can cause flash floods and economic losses
WATER RESOURCES
CHANGE IN CROPPING PATTERN
The introduction of multi-purpose projects like dams have made
it so that places which initially had low amounts of fresh have
proper irrigation facilities.
Irrigation has changed the cropping pattern of many regions
with farmers shifting to water intensive and commercial crops.
This has great ecological consequences like salinization of the
soil.
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchaee Yojana has been started which
ensures access to some means to protective irrigation for all
agricultural farms in the country, thus bringing much desired
rural prosperity.
This has led to farmers only growing crops which are water
intensive and commercial crops which led to many forgetting
how to grow prior crops
INTER-STATE DISPUTES
An inter-state dispute is a disagreement between two or more
states over the use, distribution, or control of rivers, seas, or
groundwater basins that flow through multiple states. These
disputes can be complex and difficult to resolve, but there are
laws and agreements that can help.
Cauvery Water Dispute: This dispute involves Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Kerala, and Puducherry. It arose due to unresolved
issues over sharing the costs and benefits of multi-purpose
projects on the Cauvery river.
Krishna-Godavari Water Dispute: This dispute involves
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.
Ravi and Beas Water Dispute: This dispute involves Punjab,
Haryana, and Rajasthan.
Narmada Water Dispute: This dispute involves Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
Yamuna Water Dispute: This dispute involves Haryana, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan.
Godavari Water Dispute: This dispute involves Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Karnataka.
WATER RESOURCES
RAINWATER HARVESTING
Many thought that given the disadvantages and rising resistance
against the multipurpose projects, water harvesting system was
a viable alternative, both socioeconomically and
environmentally.
In ancient India, along with the sophisticated hydraulic
structures, there existed an extraordinary tradition of water-
harvesting system.
In hill and mountainous regions, people built diversion channels
like the ‘guls’ or ‘kuls’ of the Western Himalayas for agriculture.
Rooftop rainwater harvesting’ was commonly practised to store
drinking water, particularly in Rajasthan.
In the flood plains of Bengal, people developed inundation
channels to irrigate their fields.
In arid and semi-arid regions, agricultural fields were
converted into rain fed storage structures that allowed the water
to stand and moisten the soil like the ‘khadins’ in Jaisalmer and
‘Johads’ in other parts of Rajasthan.
In the semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan, particularly in
Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer, almost all the houses traditionally
had underground tanks or tankas for storing drinking water.
Rain falling on the rooftops would travel down the pipe and was
stored in these underground ‘tankas’. The first spell of rain was
usually not collected as this would clean the roofs and the pipes.
The rainwater from the subsequent showers was then collected.
As these tankas were below the houses, during summer, it would
cool the houses down.
Today, in western Rajasthan, sadly the practice of rooftop
rainwater harvesting is on the decline as plenty of water is
available due to the perennial Indira Gandhi Canal.
Fortunately, in many parts of rural and urban India, rooftop
rainwater harvesting is being successfully adapted to store and
conserve water. In Gendathur, a remote backward village in
Mysuru, Karnataka, villagers have installed, in their household’s
rooftop, rainwater harvesting system to meet their water needs.
Nearly 200 households have installed this system.
Tamil Nadu is the first state in India which has made rooftop
rainwater harvesting structure compulsory to all the houses
across the state.
