Water taps may go completely dry in India: Report

A recent study points to the possibility of water taps running completely dry in India. According to a report, countries like India, Morocco, Iraq and Spain are grappling with the problem of shrinking reservoirs due to which tap water in these nations may soon dry up completely.

The study is based on a new early-warning satellite system that has studied world's 500,000 dams and shrinking reservoirs. Experts believe that shrinking reservoirs in the four countries could spark the next "day zero" water crisis.

India

Tensions have been apparent in India over the water allocations for two reservoirs connected by the Narmada river, the study noted. Last month, the Gujarat state government halted irrigation and appealed to farmers not to sow crops.

Morocco
The starkest decline is that of Morocco's second-largest reservoir Al Massira which has shrunk by 60 per cent in three years due to recurring drought, expanding irrigation and the increasing thirst of neighbouring cities such as Casablanca.

Spain
The Latin American country has suffered a severe drought that has contributed to a 60 per cent shrinking of the surface area of the Buendia dam over the last five years.

Iraq

The Mosul Dam here has seen a more protracted decline but it is also now down 60 per cent from its peak in the 1990s as a result of low rainfall and competing for demand from Turkish hydropower projects upstream on the Tigris and Euphrates.

Global water crisis, especially in these four nations, suggests that many other countries across the globe may head the South African way.

Cape Town in South Africa recently grabbed global headlines by launching a countdown to the day when taps would be cut off to millions of residents as a result of a three-year drought.

The study was reported by TheGuardian.

(With inputs from PTI)