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TESTIMONIALS We are surrounded by Seas on three sides in the South, a huge Ice -
covered Mountain range in the North—the Himalayas, World's large
Users Testimonials
Fertile Plains with abundant ground water resources, the Indus-
Gangestic Brahmaputra Plains and countless rivers flowing down to the
mighty seas, but still the dependency ratio is a meagre 34 percent.
We regained our Freedom from our colonial rulers in 1947 and the
planners under the able guidance of Jawaharlal Nehru had a
monumental job in hand. Nehru quoted "Dams are the Temples of
Modern India'' The country had to plan and formulate a policy of
managing the vas water resources, which was at its command.
Dam building grew to be equated with nation building The result is that
India now boasts of being the world's third-largest dam builder, with
3,600 dams big and small. One aspect, which our planners did not take
into consideration, was 'what are the benefits for the future generations
with these Mega Projects".
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parties and used as Election issues. Unfortunately, many disputes that
are more than decades old await solutions.
The direct victim of all these failures has been the common man. The
inability of the Dams of feed the targeted population has turned out to
be the bane and issue of controversy.
Many dams that were built as joint partnership between the States,
which share the Rivers, have used the water management as a tool to
settle their scores.
The Krishnaraja Sagar Dam built on the Cauvery at the exit point of
Karnataka into Tamil Nadu has always been an issue of controversy
fuelling the narrow and parochial sentiments of people on both the
sides.
Like this, our water management policy has also taken a beating with
the ever-rising demand for potable water.
In the background of all these maladies, a silent killer which has taken
its toll is the depleting water table in many parts of the country thanks
to excessive use of technology of drilling tube wells, in many parts of
the country where the benefits of dams could not be reached, people
resorted to a easy way out i.e. drilling tube wells and extracting the
underground water. In many areas the water table has gone to such a
low level that it may take ages to restore the level of the early 50s.
Incidentally India has the second largest irrigated area in the world,
but due to the rapid expansion of irrigation with its emphasis on new
construction, irrigation performance and the sector's increasing
management needs have not received adequate attention.
Here are some eye-openers, which will certainly make us give a hard
and serious look at water management and the crisis:
(1) Only 36 percent of average runoff in the river system in the country
has been utilised.
(2) Per capita availability of water has reduced from about 5277m3 in
the year 1955 to the present level of 1970m3.
(4) Out of4272 blocks in the country, ground water resources in nearly
500 blocks have been declared as "Over Exploited or Dark i.e. the state
of ground water exploitation exceeds the annual replenish able
recharge.
(5) Out of about 142 million hectares of net sown area in the country,
92.6 million hectares is rain-fed.
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(6) Every alternate town/city in our country faces acute shortage of
drinking water.
(7) 45 percent of Irrigation Potential area has been covered till date.
(10) Chherapunji, the place that gets the highest rainfall in the would
faces an acute shortage of potable water in summer.
(11) The only State which has passed legislation exclusively for farmer
participation in the management of irrigation systems is Andhra
Pradesh This shows the lack of Government initiative in actively
involving people (end users) in Water Management.
(14) In India, dams have displaced at least 33 million people fro their
homes.
With the picture not so promising, it is time for us to think and act.
What we need today is a radical change in our policy, a fresh look at the
present status and a will to contribute to the nation's cause.
(6) States in the rich Gangetic belt must adopt a systematic plan of
linking and networking of rivers. This will reduce the burden on
flooding rivers and ensure smooth flow in the lesser-stressed, water-
deprived rivers
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7/9/16 2129 words essay on water crisis in India
Though this plan appears to be challenging a systematic and planned
approach will certainly yield results.
(7) South India is often called a land of Tanks and Streams. They have
always been an issue of neglect and carelessness. Many tanks which are
lifeline to the areas in which they exist are on the verge of drying or
dying due to excessive siltation.
(11) In the regions where water resources are meagre, farmers must re
encouraged to grow crops that consume less water.
(13) The inter-State disputes must be given a fresh look and solved in
the best interests of the disputing parties. A Committee headed by
Prime minister and experts in Water Management should sincerely
tackle the reputes and decisions must be acceptable to the disputing
parties.
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Governments must adopt. But the end user 'the Common Man' has
certain essential duties which are expected of him in this new
Millennium, only then the well-laid policies of our Government will be
successful.
T HE COMMIT MENT
Our ancient history is the best tonic for our future deeds. The
excavations at Harappa, Mohenjodaro and the tanks built by
distinguished rulers of Mauryans, Pallavas, Chalukyas, Mughals are
monumental illustrations of the expertise and mastery of our past
generations in water management.
Today we are able to harvest 205 MT food grains, the unsung hero
which has made this possible, is Water.
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