Tackling Water Crisis in India

While there are no doubts that Indi stands at a significant crossroad where either the Indian cities (like Chennai) are grappling with lack of sources of water, the others (like Mumbai) are stuck with deluges and under a wall of water due to the incessant rains. This brings the focus on the government on the need for efficient and sustainable management of water.

?However, the role of media and other information agencies in providing data and reporting on the news of water must also change and there need to be specific regulations about water reporting to prevent mass panic and hysteria.

What the government can do?

• There is a need in India to revamp the institutional processes (For example the NITI Ayog) which provide for the dissemination of all knowledge about water resource management.
• There is a need to understand and appreciate the scale of the water crisis.
• The water crisis is equally due to water scarcity and the lack of potable water delivery. delivery.
• One challenge for the government is to ensure adequate access to drinking-quality water. This requirement is even more important in urban areas where there are certain issues related to landmasses.
• The role of state governments in tackling the water crisis needs to be relooked. The challenge before the state governments is to reorient them towards adopting new strategies of water demand management, water conservation and usage regulation.

For this, the central government will have to work with the States to institute this change.