Current Indian Water Scenario

India with 2.4% of the world's total area has 16% of the world's population; but has only 4% of the total available fresh water. This clearly indicates the need for water resources development, conservation and their optimum use.  

Per capita water availability of less than 1700 cubic meters (m3) is termed a water stressed condition while if it falls below 1000 cubic meters, it is termed as water scarcity condition. On an average we may be nearing the water stressed condition, on an individual river basin wise situation, 9 out of our 20 river basins with 200 million populations are already facing a water scarcity condition.

Inadequate storage capacity: Even after constructing 4525 large and small dams, the per capita storage in the country is 213 m3 as against 6103 m3 in Russia, 4733 m3 in Australia, 1964 m3 in USA and 1111 m3 of China, 5000 cubic meters of water storage per capita of US. India may achieve the storage capacity of 400 m3 only after the completion of all the ongoing and proposed dams. India can store only about 30 days of rainfall, as compared to 900 days in major river basins in arid areas of developed countries.

India's aggregate water demand is expected to double from the current level of about 700 billion cubic meters to 1498 billion cubic meters by 2030 (according to International Water Resource Group - IWRG) With an estimated supply of about 744 billion cubic meters, the water demand & supply gap is estimated to be 50 per cent. While the total water resources availability in the country remains constant, the per capita availability of water has been steadily declining since 1951 due to the steep population growth of more than .

This shortfall requires integrated water resource development & management by adopting basic conservation measures, especially in industry, agriculture and daily utility consumption pattern. It is estimated that it would cost $6 billion (Rs 27,900 crore) to implement enough water conservation strategies to meet the projected demand.

Not only India faces major challenges in developing and maintaining an appropriate stock of water infrastructure, it also faces challenges in developing the laws, regulations and institutions required for managing water resources. There is a realisation among water leaders that the only way in which we can guarantee our water future is by thinking radically. The challenge of managing our water resources in a rational and sustainable manner will require action on many fronts and coordination across different sectors of the economy. It is imperative that the country adopt an integrated water resources management approach to ensure sustained availability of water. Government should create an enabling policy framework for PPP in water sector with particular emphasis on the rationalization of water tariffs. This would go a long way in boosting the attractiveness of water projects and create solutions much necessary to avert the impending water crisis.