Water in India: Situation and Prospects

This 2013 report, funded by UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), involved several UN bodies, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), UN Habitat, UNESCO and the United Nations Resident Coordinator, along with SaciWATERs (South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies), a Secunderabad-based policy research institute. The report compiles data on a range of water issues, including availability and scarcity, use by households, sanitation, agriculture and industry, access for the urban poor, water pollution-related health problems, unequal access to water due to gender inequities, the impact of climate change on water resources, and water-related policy. It suggests measures to address India’s growing water scarcity and the lack of access for the poor and marginalised.  The report draws data from government records and census reports as well as the documentation of various water conservation efforts led by communities and the state. Additionally, UNICEF and FAO held five workshops across the country (in the north, south, east, west and north-east) to discuss water-related problems and possible solutions. Experts, government representatives, non-governmental organisations and citizens attended these workshops, and their outcome is included in the report as well. The authors say that the demand for water far outweighs its supply due to rapid development, a growing population and unequal distribution. Severe water shortages have led to conflicts in the agricultural, industrial and domestic spheres, which are worsened by the effects of climate change. Despite large-scale investments in water storage since Independence, India’s infrastructure for storing water is among the poorest in the world...