India stares at water scarcity, even as Telangana is water secure
Telangana is standing out as a water secure State, with enough examples of innovative schemes and water management techniques on how the nation can overcome water scarcity
Hyderabad: At a time when India is heading towards an unprecedented water crisis, Telangana is standing out as a water secure State, with enough examples of innovative schemes and water management techniques on how the nation can overcome water scarcity.
The NITI Aayog’s ‘Composite Water Management Index’, first published in June 2018, had said India was undergoing the worst water crisis in its history and nearly 600 million people were facing high to extreme water stress. The report also predicted that in 2030, the water demand would be 1498 Billion Cubic Metres, whereas the supply would be only 744 BCM.
The report said India was placed 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index, with nearly 70 percent of water being contaminated. The country had 16 percent of the world’s population but possessed only four percent of the world’s freshwater resources.
On the other hand, realising the importance of water availability and management, the Telangana government has been giving top priority to irrigation projects and improving the groundwater level. The construction of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and implementation of Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha have played a vital role in improving water availability, both for irrigation and drinking water in the State.
In the last seven years, the average groundwater level has increased over 4.26 metres due to various initiatives of the State government. Mission Kakatiya, launched in 2014, helped in restoring over 46,000 tanks across the State and brought over 20 lakh acres of land under cultivation. The initiative has helped boost the water storage capacity of water bodies and enhance on-farm moisture retention capacity in the region.
The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament during the Budget Session appreciated the Telangana government for supplying safe drinking water through taps to 100 percent households in rural areas.
Mission Bhagiratha also has been praised by the Centre, NITI Aayog, 15th Finance Commission, Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Odisha governments.
With three barrages, 1531 km of gravity canals, 203 km of tunnels, 20 lifts, 19 pump houses and 20 reservoirs with a total capacity of 147 TMC of water over 40 lakh acres were being irrigated in the State.
Apart from constructing irrigation projects, check dams, revitalising ponds and lakes, the State government has planted over 250 crore of saplings in the last eight years, which helped in improving ground water in the State.
A recent report from the Ministry of Jal Shakti indicates that Telangana, Haryana, Goa and few other union Territories have achieved 100 percent household tap-water connections. The Telangana government has taken initiative in solving the problem of water in Hyderabad for the next 50 years by drawing waters from Godavari and Krishna rivers.
The NITI Aayog’s report has enlisted 21 cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, that may exhaust their groundwater at any moment. On a per capita basis, water availability has been declining from 1,816 cubic metres in 2001 to 1,546 in 2011 and 1,367 in 2021. By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply.
India extracts most groundwater in the world, more than China and the United States together. However, only eight percent of the extracted groundwater in India is used for drinking and 80 percent goes to irrigation and the remaining 12 percent goes to industrial uses. As many as 256 of 700 districts in the country have reported critical or overexploited groundwater levels according to the most recent study of the Central Ground Water Board, indicating how crucial the Telangana model of water management is for the country.
