Authorities have ignored the issue for too long
Should the grounds be watered for cricket matches at a time when thousands have no water to drinkIJ This is the question that's hogged the headlines in recent days, with the Bombay High Court now hearing a Public Interest litigation on whether Maharashtra should host IPl matches when large parts of the State are going through a water crisis. It's difficult to talk about this issue without framing it within a black-and-white narrative or becoming sentimental. Yet, it is important to go beyond the court case and the cricket match, and view the larger picture. Two consecutive droughts and a dry winter this past season — the result of the El Nino phenomenon have meant that across the country, rivers are drying up, fields are parched, and there is no water in the taps. At the end of March, water levels in 91 major reservoirs was at just 25 per cent capacity. In Maharashtra and Gujarat, water reservoirs were at 21 per cent (compared to the decadal average of 44 per cent) while in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, they were at 17 per cent (compared to the decadal average of 29 per cent). And the situation can only get worse in the scorching summer months of May and June. In Maharashtra’s latur town, the epicentre of the water crisis, where residents depend on tankers for water supply, Section 144 has been in place for a month now to prevent rioting at water distribution points. Recently, the ban was extended to Parbhani as well. The Government of Maharashtra has requested Indian Railways for water supply; this will begin on April 8. Indian Railways is already supplying water to the parched areas of Ajmer in Rajasthan since January. Rajasthan and Maharashtra are among the nine States that have declared a drought. In West Bengal, even the mighty Ganga is running low. In March, the Farakka power station, which generates a quarter of the country's electricity and is located on the banks of the Ganga, had to be shut down for 10 days because there wasn't enough water to generate the steam necessary to fire up the plant. In Odisha, farmers have broken lake embankments to save their crops, while in Jharkhand the water-level at Sitarampur dam has gone so low that Adityapur town is facing a water shortage. In some regions, armed men guard water bodies against theft!
India has a major water crisis on its hands, and it is not going away soon, even if the weather gods are merciful this year. At the heart of the crisis is a basic demand and supply problem. A multi-pronged approach to water conservation, starting with individuals and households and extending to water usage in farms, factories and even power plants, is needed. Water bodies must be given priority attention too many of our rivers and lakes are polluted and dying. Also, to meet the growing demand, we need to leverage new technology such as desalination of sea water and recycling of waste water.