Water crisis in India: is there water in the well?
Each morning in many Indian cities, people line up at piped water stands with plastic jugs and tanks. (Photo: Rupert Taylor-Price)
As India’s population surged past 1.1 billion people in 2007, its water crisis has grown more severe.
Earth & Sky spoke with Casey Brown, a scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, part of Columbia University. Brown pointed out that – as is true everywhere on Earth – India’s fresh water is used mainly to grow food. In India, over 90% of available groundwater is used to support agriculture.
Casey Brown: It’s a constant challenge of ‘is there going to be water in the well?’ And as all the farmers are pumping water, the ground water levels drop and so there’s a lot of pressure to deepen your wells.
Water is at a premium in India’s cities. And by the way, the U.S. has 9 cities with populations of over 1 million; India has 32. Wealthier city dwellers in India have access to municipal water systems. They may get water for only a couple hours a day through the pipes, but they do get it. Less affluent city dwellers, Brown said, get their water from trucks and vending stands.
Casey Brown: You’ll see this in the morning in many Indian cities: people lining up with plastic tanks, plastic jugs at a piped water stand, and there’ll be a line of 10 or 20 people and that will be their water for the day.
More sustainable farming practices could help.
