Water Problem

Half of global food production at risk due to water crisis, shows report

The water crisis could jeopardize more than half of the world's food production and cause an average global GDP loss of 8 per cent by 2050, with lower-income countries facing up to a 15 per cent loss, according to a new report. The report by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, an international group of leaders and experts, said that weak economic systems, destructive land use, and the persistent mismanagement of water resources, combined with the worsening climate crisis, have placed the global water cycle under unprecedented stress. "The water crisis threatens more than half of the world's food production by 2050 and could cause an 8 per cent loss of GDP in countries globally, with losses as high as 15 per cent in lower-income nations, alongside even larger economic consequences," the commission said. Nearly three billion people and over half of the world's food production are located in areas experiencing drying or unstable trends in water availability. Several cities

Bangladesh economic growth threatened by rapidly depleting water resources

Groundwater in the climate-vulnerable country is depleting faster than ever before, according to new research from WaterAid

Rains replenish reservoirs, water levels rise for first time since Sep '23

Amid heavy rains across India, the water level of the country's main reservoirs has risen for the first time since September last year, the Central Water Commission (CWC) said. Despite the marginal rise of 2 per cent from the previous week, this marks a departure from the consistent week-on-week decline reported since the bulletin issued on September 29, 2023, when the storage capacity stood at 73 per cent, according to the analysis of the data. This improvement comes amid widespread rainfall across the country. The CWC, which monitors the live storage status of 150 reservoirs across India, released its latest bulletin detailing these developments on July 4. The CWC issues a weekly bulletin every Thursday, providing updates on the status of these reservoirs. According to the bulletin, out of the 150 reservoirs, 20 are dedicated to hydroelectric projects, with a total live storage capacity of 35.30 billion cubic meters (BCM). The CWC bulletin on July 4 said the live storage availa

Growing & sustaining a liquid asset

Rainwater conservation needs planning on a geographically wider scale, keeping in view the entire watersheds, which can span administrative blocks, districts, or states

AAP accuses Haryana's govt of negative politics, stopping its water supply

AAP on Monday again accused the BJP government in Haryana of negative politics and stopping water supply in the Yamuna, leading to a severe shortage in the national capital. Priyanka Kakkar, the AAP's chief national spokesperson, claimed during a press conference that 137 cusecs released by Himachal Pradesh following a Supreme Court order had yet to reach Delhi. The BJP government in Haryana has not only stopped Delhi's water from Himachal Pradesh but also reduced the national capital's share of 1,050 cusecs, according to an agreement between the two states, by 200 cusecs, she claimed. Kakkar said the Delhi government will put all these issues before the Supreme Court, which will hear the matter on Monday. The apex court on June 6 directed the Himachal Pradesh government to release 137 cusecs of surplus water available with it for Delhi and asked Haryana to facilitate the flow of this water so that it reaches the national capital. The Delhi government has during the past fortnight

Major crisis in Delhi imminent if adequate water not released, says Atishi

Delhi Water Minister Atishi Sunday wrote to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, requesting him to ensure 1,050 cusecs water is released from the Munak Canal for the national capital, otherwise "Delhi will have a major crisis in next 1-2 days". In the communication, she said seven Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) in Delhi are dependent on supply from Yamuna and "due to the deficit of raw water, our water treatment plants are unable to run at their optimum capacity." Delhi is supposed to receive around 1,050 cusec water at Munak, but the supply has reduced, she said. "With the water from Munak Canal reducing to 840 cusecs, Delhi will be unable to produce adequate water from our seven WTPs." "If Haryana doesn't release the adequate amount of water by today, Delhi will have a major crisis in next 1-2 days. Therefore, I humbly request you to ensure that 1,050 cusecs water is released from Munak Canal for Delhi," she added. According to the agreement in the the 53rd meeting of the Upp

Bengaluru's story today; your city's tomorrow

Every drop can be used for the coming period of scarcity. Then it can do its sewage differently

Treated water to be filled in Bengaluru lakes to replenish groundwater

Civic authorities in Bengaluru have decided to fill the drying lakes with 1,300 million litres per day of treated water to replenish groundwater sources in the city, where about 50 per cent of the borewells have dried up. Aimed at managing the water crisis in Bengaluru, the civic body Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will also install filter borewells and construct water plants using an innovative technology near the restored lake beds to supply water after testing, BWSSB officials said. This initiative has been taken up in association with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasath Manohar said, adding that this is expected to add about 2030 MLD of water into the system. The Irrigation Department is supplying water in Devanahalli, where the Kempegowda International Airport is located, by treating the water from the Kote lake with a similar initiative. As part of the plan, lakes in Bellandur, Varthur, Nayandahalli, Herohalli, Attur and Jakkur wi

BJP trying to stop 'one time settlement' scheme for water bills, says AAP

The AAP accused the BJP of being "happy" about the woes of people over its members giving a miss to an all-party meeting on the proposed 'one time settlement' scheme, which is aimed at correcting inflated water bills. Interacting with reporters here, the party's national spokesperson and Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP "boycotted" the meeting that was called by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to address this "pressing issue". He alleged that the BJP was making a "lot of efforts through officers" to stop the scheme. Earlier in the day, the Delhi BJP in a statement said, the party "will not attend the all-party meeting", adding it will "surely attend" the meeting if Kejriwal is ready to discuss all the alleged irregularities, including those linked with the Delhi Jal Board. During the all-party meeting, Kejriwal said the BJP's absence from the meeting "indicates their opposition to the 'one time settlement' scheme, which aims to provide relief to lakhs

Govt should boost Green Revolution 2.0 for less water-intensive crops: GTRI

India needs to usher in Green Revolution 2.0 with a view to promote farming of less water-intensive crops such as pulses and oil seeds and discourage free power for the agri sector, economic think tank GTRI said on Thursday. There is a need to "promote less water-intensive crops like pulses, oil seeds, and vegetables that can significantly reduce water demand and the government can guarantee MSP (minimum support price) on these crops," the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) report said. It said that awareness among farmers should be increased about adopting water-saving technologies such as drip irrigation, laser land levelling, training on water-efficient techniques and precision agriculture to improve water use efficiency. It also suggested ending free electricity for agriculture and introducing water pricing mechanisms that can discourage overuse and encourage conservation, besides educating farmers about the long-term consequences of unsustainable practices. These ...

Reservoir levels have seldom been this low in September, shows data

Nearly 40 per cent of storage capacity is unutilised

Statsguru: Adequate groundwater buffers can help reduce pain of drought

India had 398 billion cubic metres of extractable groundwater resources in 2022, recharged largely by the monsoons. The usage continued to go up even after 2011, but moderated after 2013

In a first, Kerala adopts water budget to tackle summer water shortage

The Public Water Budget was released by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, along with the launch of the third phase of 'Ini Njan Ozhukatte' (Let me flow now) project

Mizoram govt working to provide piped water to all rural households by Dec

The Mizoram government is working to provide piped water connections to all rural households in the state by December, Deputy Chief Minister Tawnluia told the assembly on Thursday. Replying to a query by MNF MLA Ramthanmawia, Tawnluia who also holds the Public Health Engineering portfolio said every household in 263 villages has so far been provided with potable water connections under the Centre's Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). He said that 465 more villages are yet to get the connections. "Although the deadline for JJM is 2024, the Centre asked the Mizoram government to complete the implementation by December this year. We are making massive efforts to fully implement the scheme by December. However, it is difficult to make it clear whether we will be able to complete it within the timeframe," Tawnluia said. A total of 728 villages in Mizoram will get water connections under the scheme. Tawnluia said 11 villages have so far been provided connections using solar water pumps under the

Skilling rural workforce for water management could provide jobs, security

Central government programmes on water emphasise ground water management but, by and large, these schemes are silent on the availability, training and deployment of a skilled workforce

History keeper of Beni Ka Purwa

Small farmers aren't able to till their land anymore because of water scarcity.

Rivers too have rights

We must understand that the issue of river flow is really about the politics of power

Water crisis in Shimla eases, but no let up in rationing for now

Shimla residents have been facing severe water shortage for more than two weeks now