It is heartening to see that the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi has emphasised the need for pursuing “per drop, more crop”. Agriculture is the largest user of water in this country as in several other parts of the world, but, of course, urban use is growing rapidly too on account of growth of our urban population and higher incomes. What is perhaps even more serious as a growing problem is the decline in water quality on account of runoff from agricultural activities in some parts of the country over and above pollution from urban and industrial use. With the growing use of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals, which often is in excess, groundwater reservoirs are being polluted at a rapid rate and in several areas have reached alarming levels. It need hardly be emphasized that the rivers, lakes and wetlands all across India are now being polluted at a rate which not only endangers marine species that have been able to thrive in these water bodies over the years, but the entire human population of India which in some form or the other is dependent on surface water from these sources for normal sustenance.

Added to this growing problem of water pollution are the impacts of climate change, which are altering availability of water resources in several parts of the country. An important factor in assessing future availability of water, against a growing population and increase in incomes, is the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has in a Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) brought out the increase that is being observed on extreme precipitation events along with projections for the future which indicate a growing reason for concern and an increase in these events in several parts of the world. Sea water intrusion as a result of sea level rise is also bringing about higher salinity in groundwater further onshore in several parts of the world. India with a long coastline is particularly vulnerable to this impact.

The management of water resources, therefore, requires that with a sense of urgency we ensure an improvement in water quality, far more efficient use of water in every single economic activity as well as for direct use by human beings, and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Unless we revise our approach in this direction, we would find water stress becoming a serious threat to human wellbeing and economic growth in the country. It is time that we devise policies and reform our institutions to ensure that we bring about changes in direction with a sense of urgency, not only in the interest of the present generation, but more so for the benefit of coming generations. Also, perhaps we need to move towards water management policies for South Asia as a whole, since we share a number of our river systems and a common set of challenges.