Water In India - Management, Resources, Shortage

Water in India

Per capita water availability in selected countries ('000 m 3 ) Water Availability (‘000 metres 3 )

Water in India: Overview

India is endowed with a rich and vast diversity of water resources.

India has seasonal rainfall with high temporal and spatial variability.

50% of precipitation falls in just 15 days and over 90% of river flows in just four months.

Pre twentieth century India had community level water resource management practices in place, across regions.

India has invested in building its water infrastructure (dams, reservoirs and canals) in arid areas.

The per capita water storage capacity in India is much below that of China and the US.

Indian rivers are in a state of decay.

India’s irrigation and water supply services are in poor shape.

Urban India heavily depends upon groundwater sources to meet the daily water requirements.

The total utilizable water resources of India are assessed as 1086 km 3 .

Utilizable Surface Water and Flows Basin wise average flow and utilizable water (in km 3 /year) River Basins Average annual flow Utilizable flow Indus 73.31 46

Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin

- Ganga

- Brahmaputra sub-basin

- Meghna (Barak) sub-basin

525.02 629.05 48.36 250 24 Subarnarekha 12.37 6.81 Brahmni-Baitarani 28.48 18.3 Mahanadi 66.88 49.99 Godaveri 110.54 76.3 Krishna 69.81 58 Pennar 6.32 6.86 Cauvery 21.36 19 Tapi 14.88 14.5 Narmada 45.64 34.5 Maha 11.02 3.1 Sabarmati 3.81 1.93 West flowing rivers of Kachchh and Saurashtra including Luni 15.1 14.98 West flowing rivers south of Tapi 200.94 36.21 East flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Godavari 17.08 East flowing rivers between Godavari and Krishna 1.81 13.11 East flowing rivers between Krishna and Pennar 3.63 East flowing rivers between Pennar and Cauvery 9.98 16.73 East flowing rivers south of Cauvery 6.48 Rivers draining into Bangladesh 8.57 NA Total (rounded) 1,953 690 Source: National Institute of Hydrology, India

Annual water requirement for different uses (in km 3 ) Year Year 1997-98 Year 2010 Year 2025 Year 2050 Low High % Low High % Low High % Surface Water Irrigation 318 330 339 48 325 366 43 375 463 39 Domestic 17 23 24 3 30 36 5 48 65 6 Industries 21 26 26 4 47 47 6 57 57 5 Power 7 14 15 2 25 26 3 50 56 5 Inland navigation 7 7 1 10 10 1 15 15 1 Environment - Ecology 5 5 1 10 10 1 20 20 2 Evaporation Losses 36 42 42 6 50 50 6 76 76 6 Total 399 447 458 65 497 545 65 641 752 64 Ground Water Irrigation 206 213 218 31 236 245 29 253 344 29 Domestic 13 19 19 2 25 26 3 42 46 4 Industries 9 11 11 1 20 20 2 24 24 2 Power 2 4 4 1 6 7 1 13 14 1 Total 230 247 252 35 287 298 35 332 428 36 Grand Total 629 694 710 100 784 843 100 973 1,180 100 Total Water Use Irrigation 524 543 557 78 561 611 72 628 807 68 Domestic 30 42 43 6 55 62 7 90 111 9 Industries 30 37 37 5 67 67 8 81 81 7 Power 9 18 19 3 31 33 4 63 70 6 Inland navigation 0 7 7 1 10 10 1 15 15 1 Environment - Ecology 0 5 5 1 10 10 1 20 20 2 Evaporation Losses 36 42 42 6 50 50 6 76 76 7 Total 629 694 710 100 784 843 100 973 1,180 100 Source: National Institute of Hydrology, India, 2005

Public water supply in metropolitan cities Ratio of Water Consumed to Population in Metropolitan Cities –1999 City (Municipal area only) Water supplied (mld) % consumed to total Metropolitan water supply Estimated total Population 1999 (‘000) % population to total metropolitan Population Coefficient of % water consumed to % Population Per capita supply to Total population (lpcd) Per capita supply to Served population (lpcd) Greater Mumbai 2,978 22.88 11,100 15.54 1.47 268 268 Delhi 2,620 20.13 12,000 16.80 1.20 218 218 Calcutta 1,035 7.95 6,000 8.40 0.95 173 173 Bangalore 705 5.42 5,000 7.00 0.77 141 141 Hyderabad 682 5.24 4,163 5.83 0.90 164 164 Pune 650 4.99 2,300 3.22 1.55 283 283 Ahmedabad 486 3.73 3,500 4.90 0.76 139 139 Chennai 461 3.54 4,363 6.11 0.58 106 106 Lucknow 410 3.15 2,500 3.50 0.90 164 164 Nagpur 370 2.84 2,100 2.94 0.97 176 176 Jaipur 340 2.61 2,000 2.80 0.93 170 170 Surat 320 2.46 2,300 3.22 0.76 139 139 Kanpur 310 2.38 2,500 3.50 0.68 124 248 Bhopal 270 2.07 1,500 2.10 0.99 180 180 Indore 238 1.83 1,600 2.24 0.82 149 149 Vadodara 237 1.82 1,400 1.96 0.93 169 169 Ludhiana 234 1.80 2,000 2.80 0.64 117 195 Varanasi 220 1.69 1,152 1.61 1.05 191 291 Visakhapatnam 168 1.29 1,280 1.79 0.72 131 131 Coimbatore 105 0.81 971 1.36 0.60 108 108 Madurai 90 0.69 1,020 1.43 0.49 88 88 Kochi 84 0.65 680 0.95 0.68 124 124 Total 13,014 100 71,429 100 1.0 182 189 Source: National Institute of Urban Affairs Survey mld - Millions of litres Per Day lpcd - Litres per Capita per Day

Issues with Water in India

River Pollution

Water Conflicts

Ground water Pollution

Poor management, crumbling infrastructure and depleting resources

Corruption

Inadequate storage capacity

Aquifer Depletion

Potential of rainwater harvesting

Rainwater harvesting could be one of the promising options to meet the growing water requirement.

Volume of Water Harvested and Recharge Potential (in million litres per year) Water Harvesting Volume of Water Harvested Estimated Annual Recharge Drainage Channels 1,07,770 29,670 Quarry reservoirs 8,870 - Historical Water Bodies 350 - Lakes and depressions 39,590 7,000 Check Dams 183 - Village ponds 7,659 4,510 Floodplain reservoirs 11,140 30,400 Rooftop harvesting 1,890 - Eco Parks recycling 8,03,000 - Grand Total 9,80,452 71,580 Source: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), 1999