People across West Asia are on high alert, extreme weather events are being witnessed across regions. From earthquakes, floods to droughts and wildfires, West Asian nations are now being battered by climate change and its consequences.

Report: Water crisis will impact Iraq's growth and jobs

Water is an extremely valuable natural resource that is essential to life on earth. In spite of the fact that nearly 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, only 2.5 per cent of it is fresh.&nbsp;

As a result of unsustainable population growth, freshwater is in short supply on the planet.

There are currently over 7 billion people on earth, and still, about one-third of the world's population lacks access to clean drinking water, what will happen when that number reaches 9 billion by 2050?

Freshwater demand will grow exponentially as society grows, and if precautions are not taken today to conserve water, its scarcity will without a doubt become one of the biggest threats in the future.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/why-education-and-empowerment-are-significant-to-population-stabilisation-422922">Why education and empowerment are significant to population stabilisation?</a>

Quite predictably, due to the human population's water requirements, our existing water resources are depleting.

United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) seeks to provide water and sanitation for all by 2030, however, the latest UN-Water 2021 report is alarming.

According to the report, 1.6 billion people face 'economic' water scarcity, which means that although water is physically available, it is inaccessible due to a lack of infrastructure.&nbsp;

Additionally, the report states that freshwater use has increased by a factor of six over the past 100 years and continues to grow at a rate of about 1 per cent per year since the 1980s.

Human activities that adversely affect water resources:

Globally, agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of freshwater withdrawals. It is also a major source of water pollution, since agrochemicals, drug residues, and organic matter are disposed of/drained into nearby bodies of water.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pressure-on-global-energy-crisis-deepens-with-population-growth-422913" hreflang="en">Pressure on global energy crisis deepens with population growth</a>

As the world's population grows, declining water quality has become a global issue. Besides agriculture, many factors contribute to water pollution, but the most significant is sewage and industrial waste discharged into rivers.

Additionally, concerns over the impact of personal care and pharmaceutical products on water quality are also emerging.

Drought - The next pandemic

Recently, the United Nations warned that drought is a hidden global crisis that could become the next pandemic. Droughts are often caused by human activities like large-scale deforestation, soil degradation, over-pumping, and unsustainable water use.

Some estimates say that up to 20 per cent of the world's groundwater wells may dry up, leaving billions without freshwater.&nbsp;

The water crisis in India

India has almost 16 per cent of the world's population, but only 4 per cent of the world's freshwater resources. Of that, fewer than half have access to safe drinking water.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/overpopulation-and-human-greed-the-two-enemies-of-biodiversity-388506" hreflang="en">Overpopulation and human greed, the two enemies of biodiversity</a>

Experts estimate that nearly 70 per cent of the country's water resources are contaminated and many major rivers are heavily polluted. Besides polluted rivers, India is also the world's largest consumer of groundwater; the depletion of this resource may lead to a reduction in farm output of up to 20 per cent by 2025.

Water recycling and reuse have been identified as the most practical solution to India's water crisis. Utilising water-saving techniques can go a long way toward helping the country prevent water shortages in the future.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;Billions are at risk of water scarcity, says UN

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/billions-are-at-risk-of-water-scarcity-says-un-418776/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The global water crisis can be alleviated in a number of ways, including reducing corporate water consumption, addressing increasing water pollution, battling climate change, developing new technologies for treating water resources, and stabilising the human population.

The world must awaken before it is too late. The need to adopt sustainable practices and stabilise the human population cannot be understated. These measures are vital to preserving our water resources and maintaining access to freshwater for generations to come.&nbsp;

Water is an extremely valuable natural resource that is essential to life on earth. In spite of the fact that nearly 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, only 2.

Water is an extremely valuable natural resource that is essential to life on earth. In spite of the fact that nearly 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, only 2.5 per cent of it is fresh. As a result of unsustainable population growth, freshwater is in short supply on the planet. There are currently over 7 billion people on earth, and still, about one-third of the world's population lacks access to clean drinking water, what will happen when that number reaches 9 billion by 2050? Freshwater demand will grow exponentially as society grows, and if precautions are not taken today to conserve water, its scarcity will without a doubt become one of the biggest threats in the future. Also read | Why education and empowerment are significant to population stabilisation? Quite predictably, due to the human population's water requirements, our existing water resources are depleting. United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) seeks to provide water and sanitation for all by 2030, however, the latest UN-Water 2021 report is alarming. According to the report, 1.6 billion people face 'economic' water scarcity, which means that although water is physically available, it is inaccessible due to a lack of infrastructure. Additionally, the report states that freshwater use has increased by a factor of six over the past 100 years and continues to grow at a rate of about 1 per cent per year since the 1980s. Human activities that adversely affect water resources: Globally, agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of freshwater withdrawals. It is also a major source of water pollution, since agrochemicals, drug residues, and organic matter are disposed of/drained into nearby bodies of water. Also read | Pressure on global energy crisis deepens with population growth As the world's population grows, declining water quality has become a global issue. Besides agriculture, many factors contribute to water pollution, but the most significant is sewage and industrial waste discharged into rivers. Additionally, concerns over the impact of personal care and pharmaceutical products on water quality are also emerging. Drought - The next pandemic Recently, the United Nations warned that drought is a hidden global crisis that could become the next pandemic. Droughts are often caused by human activities like large-scale deforestation, soil degradation, over-pumping, and unsustainable water use. Some estimates say that up to 20 per cent of the world's groundwater wells may dry up, leaving billions without freshwater. The water crisis in India India has almost 16 per cent of the world's population, but only 4 per cent of the world's freshwater resources. Of that, fewer than half have access to safe drinking water. Also read | Overpopulation and human greed, the two enemies of biodiversity Experts estimate that nearly 70 per cent of the country's water resources are contaminated and many major rivers are heavily polluted. Besides polluted rivers, India is also the world's largest consumer of groundwater; the depletion of this resource may lead to a reduction in farm output of up to 20 per cent by 2025. Water recycling and reuse have been identified as the most practical solution to India's water crisis. Utilising water-saving techniques can go a long way toward helping the country prevent water shortages in the future. Watch | Billions are at risk of water scarcity, says UN The global water crisis can be alleviated in a number of ways, including reducing corporate water consumption, addressing increasing water pollution, battling climate change, developing new technologies for treating water resources, and stabilising the human population. The world must awaken before it is too late. The need to adopt sustainable practices and stabilise the human population cannot be understated. These measures are vital to preserving our water resources and maintaining access to freshwater for generations to come.

'Water is life': Global water crisis threatens life on planet

Afghanistan has a relatively favourable water endowment and enjoys a prime upstream location on the rivers it shares with neighboring countries. Its crumbling water sector and severe shortcomings in water resources management leave the country in a horrible state of duress.

Accounting for 90 per cent of the country’s water use and 80 per cent of the population's employment, the agricultural sector is unable to provide sufficient food for Afghanistan's population, partly due to water shortages.

In Kabul's Khair Khana area, Jawad, a water tanker driver, complains that compared to the previous times, his business has taken a visible hit.

"I stand here everyday to sell drinkable water. I buy water from quite far and this is my usual spot to sell it to the people who take it to their homes. Compared to the previous government, my business has taken a visible hit,"&nbsp;Jawad said.&nbsp;"Just take the example of today, I am yet to get customers, no household has even called me to say they need water. Previously, I used to get my tanker five or six times refilled but now the same car has to be refilled once in two or three days."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/afghanistans-water-crisis-residents-struggle-to-get-potable-water-taliban-wion-427256">WATCH |</a>

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He claims that the downfall has been observed due to the crash in economy. "This is because people don't have money; there are no salaries. Banks have a problem and the fuel prices have gone up – 1 liter of petrol now costs 90 AFS. People from the area are forced to buy this water from me because the water they got is not drinkable."

Having access to safe drinking water is a daily struggle for many Afghans, with majority of the population reliant and forced to buy drinking water from these water supply vehicles. Throughout the day, residents can be seen brining in containers to take home the drinkable water. Even the elderly at times are seen carrying water containers and they too complain of the soaring water prices.

"The government allocated water supply comes after every seven or eight days and that too for ten or fifteen minutes. In this area, the water we get from boring or wells is salty and not drinkable. We are forced to buy this drinking water, for which I have to pay 20 AFS per can," said&nbsp;Abdul Samad,&nbsp;a resident of District 11, KhairKhana area of Kabul city. "The water prices have gone up slightly compared to the previous government because in the previous government we used to pay 15 AFS for the container and now we have to pay 20 AFS for one container. This is perhaps because the prices of oil have gone up, so the cost has to be borne by us."

Long-term humanitarian crisis owing to the country's water problems is likely imminent, especially if international donors and aid organisations stop their emergency relief and support due to political reasons or simply due to the dangerous conditions on the ground.

Years of war and instability have hit the Afghan water sector. This has happened&nbsp;despite efforts to rebuild the country, including the water sector over the past 20 years. More than 70 per cent of the population in Afghanistan do not have access to basic, clean and safe drinking water, and the water that is available is contaminated.

Afghanistan has a relatively favourable water endowment and enjoys a prime upstream location on the rivers it shares with neighboring countries. Its crumbling water sector and severe shortcomings in water resources management leave the country in a horrible state of duress.

Afghanistan has a relatively favourable water endowment and enjoys a prime upstream location on the rivers it shares with neighboring countries. Its crumbling water sector and severe shortcomings in water resources management leave the country in a horrible state of duress. Accounting for 90 per cent of the country’s water use and 80 per cent of the population's employment, the agricultural sector is unable to provide sufficient food for Afghanistan's population, partly due to water shortages. In Kabul's Khair Khana area, Jawad, a water tanker driver, complains that compared to the previous times, his business has taken a visible hit. "I stand here everyday to sell drinkable water. I buy water from quite far and this is my usual spot to sell it to the people who take it to their homes. Compared to the previous government, my business has taken a visible hit," Jawad said. "Just take the example of today, I am yet to get customers, no household has even called me to say they need water. Previously, I used to get my tanker five or six times refilled but now the same car has to be refilled once in two or three days." WATCH | He claims that the downfall has been observed due to the crash in economy. "This is because people don't have money; there are no salaries. Banks have a problem and the fuel prices have gone up – 1 liter of petrol now costs 90 AFS. People from the area are forced to buy this water from me because the water they got is not drinkable." Having access to safe drinking water is a daily struggle for many Afghans, with majority of the population reliant and forced to buy drinking water from these water supply vehicles. Throughout the day, residents can be seen brining in containers to take home the drinkable water. Even the elderly at times are seen carrying water containers and they too complain of the soaring water prices. "The government allocated water supply comes after every seven or eight days and that too for ten or fifteen minutes. In this area, the water we get from boring or wells is salty and not drinkable. We are forced to buy this drinking water, for which I have to pay 20 AFS per can," said Abdul Samad, a resident of District 11, KhairKhana area of Kabul city. "The water prices have gone up slightly compared to the previous government because in the previous government we used to pay 15 AFS for the container and now we have to pay 20 AFS for one container. This is perhaps because the prices of oil have gone up, so the cost has to be borne by us." Long-term humanitarian crisis owing to the country's water problems is likely imminent, especially if international donors and aid organisations stop their emergency relief and support due to political reasons or simply due to the dangerous conditions on the ground. Years of war and instability have hit the Afghan water sector. This has happened despite efforts to rebuild the country, including the water sector over the past 20 years. More than 70 per cent of the population in Afghanistan do not have access to basic, clean and safe drinking water, and the water that is available is contaminated.

Afghan crisis: Amid internal conflict and terrorism, locals struggle to get drinking water

Besides war, internal conflict and terrorism in Afghanistan, what we don't quite hear enough about is the state of its water resources. A safe and reliable supply of water is one of Afghanistan’s most critical national needs, leaving the country in a horrible state of duress.

Ground Report: Afghanistan’s Water Crisis |  Residents struggle to get potable water

A local municipality in South Africa’s Port Elizabeth city, which experiences one of the worst droughts in its recorded history, has embarked on a plan to remove massive alien vegetation, which is believed to be responsible for the frequent water crisis in the city.

The project, which will cost the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality more than 20 million Rand (approximately 13.6 million US dollars), has been introduced as part of the municipality’s water-saving measures.

The officials have identified alien vegetation trees as a major cause of loss of water that is supposed to be flowing into the catchment dams.

According to local officials, a fully grown alien vegetation tree consumes about 100 litres of water per day.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/protests-erupt-in-iran-over-water-crisis-at-least-three-killed-399565">Protests erupt in Iran over water crisis; at least three killed</a>

With this project, a total of 60 hectares have been covered already, with 20 hectares each for the Churchill, Impofu and Loerie dams. There are approximately 100 trees per hectare.

Nelson Mandela Bay MMC for infrastructure and engineering, Thsonono Buyeye, said that a multipronged approach was the best solution to avoid dry taps.

Watch

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“We need to also look at the water crisis and drought from an environmental management perspective. As we continue to save the city against drought, we get an opportunity to explore different options and areas where we can save the little that we have in an integral approach. Removing these alien trees that have a high consumption of water contributes to the bigger picture,” Buyeye told News24.

This project is one of many that the metro is implementing to save as much water as possible and to augment the existing water resources.

(With inputs from agencies)

A local municipality in South Africa’s Port Elizabeth city, which experiences one of the worst droughts in its recorded history, has embarked on a plan to remove massive alien vegetation, which is believed to be responsible for the frequent water crisis in the city.

A local municipality in South Africa’s Port Elizabeth city, which experiences one of the worst droughts in its recorded history, has embarked on a plan to remove massive alien vegetation, which is believed to be responsible for the frequent water crisis in the city. The project, which will cost the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality more than 20 million Rand (approximately 13.6 million US dollars), has been introduced as part of the municipality’s water-saving measures. The officials have identified alien vegetation trees as a major cause of loss of water that is supposed to be flowing into the catchment dams. According to local officials, a fully grown alien vegetation tree consumes about 100 litres of water per day. Also read | Protests erupt in Iran over water crisis; at least three killed With this project, a total of 60 hectares have been covered already, with 20 hectares each for the Churchill, Impofu and Loerie dams. There are approximately 100 trees per hectare. Nelson Mandela Bay MMC for infrastructure and engineering, Thsonono Buyeye, said that a multipronged approach was the best solution to avoid dry taps. Watch “We need to also look at the water crisis and drought from an environmental management perspective. As we continue to save the city against drought, we get an opportunity to explore different options and areas where we can save the little that we have in an integral approach. Removing these alien trees that have a high consumption of water contributes to the bigger picture,” Buyeye told News24. This project is one of many that the metro is implementing to save as much water as possible and to augment the existing water resources. (With inputs from agencies)

South African municipality to chop down ‘water guzzling’ alien trees to mitigate drought impact

8,000 people in a Canadian city have been without drinking water for 3 days. The city's water supplies have been contaminated. The water is not safe for consumption even if its boiled or filtered. The city's mayor has imposed a state of emergency.

Around 8,000 people experience drinking water crisis in Canada

A United Nations (UN) agency report has warned that more than five billion people globally are expected to face a shortage of water by 2050.

UN: Over 5 billion may face drinking water shortage by 2050

More than four million people, including one million refugees, are at immediate risk of losing access to safe water in Lebanon. UNICEF has estimated that most water pumping will gradually cease across the country in the next four to six weeks.

Lebanon faces water crisis, supply on verge of collapse

Three people including a police officer were reportedly killed as&nbsp;protests erupted in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan over water shortages.

There were reports of anti-government protests in Tehran&nbsp;as the country faces the worst drought in 50 years accelerating&nbsp;the water crisis with the economy already hit by US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.

Reports said the protests have been going on for the past six days amid reports of Internet slowdown and backouts in the country.

Last week Iran's state media had reported a protester was shot in Shadegan town with protests taking place in other parts including in Ahvaz, Hamidiyeh, Izeh and&nbsp;Mahshahr.

The country's social media has witnessed heightened activity over the water crisis with #KhuzestanIsThirsty and #KhuzestanHasNoWater trending on various platforms.

Khuzestan has been hit with persistent drought leading to protests in towns since last week. Two years ago the province was hit by mass anti-government protests.

The country has faced repeated droughts in the last 10 years with severe situation in the south.

Reports had claimed the government had sent a delegation comprising of ministers to Khuzestan to tackle the water shortage&nbsp;problem last week amid protests.

Local media had reported last week a youth was shot during the second night of protests during a rally as rioters reportedly shot in the air which allegedly hit the protester even as people chanted slogans against the government.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Three people including a police officer were reportedly killed as protests erupted in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan over water shortages. There were reports of anti-government protests in Tehran as the country faces the worst drought in 50 years accelerating the water crisis with the economy already hit by US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.

Three people including a police officer were reportedly killed as protests erupted in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan over water shortages. There were reports of anti-government protests in Tehran as the country faces the worst drought in 50 years accelerating the water crisis with the economy already hit by US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic. Reports said the protests have been going on for the past six days amid reports of Internet slowdown and backouts in the country. Last week Iran's state media had reported a protester was shot in Shadegan town with protests taking place in other parts including in Ahvaz, Hamidiyeh, Izeh and Mahshahr. The country's social media has witnessed heightened activity over the water crisis with #KhuzestanIsThirsty and #KhuzestanHasNoWater trending on various platforms. Khuzestan has been hit with persistent drought leading to protests in towns since last week. Two years ago the province was hit by mass anti-government protests. The country has faced repeated droughts in the last 10 years with severe situation in the south. Reports had claimed the government had sent a delegation comprising of ministers to Khuzestan to tackle the water shortage problem last week amid protests. Local media had reported last week a youth was shot during the second night of protests during a rally as rioters reportedly shot in the air which allegedly hit the protester even as people chanted slogans against the government. (With inputs from Agencies)

Protests erupt in Iran over water crisis; at least three killed

With rising temperatures, shifting rainfalls and extreme weather conditions availability of fresh water is becoming a worrisome situation in South Asia, especially in Pakistan with Karachi being the sixth highly water insecure metro in the world.

WION Dispatch: Pakistan fails to keep up with rising demand of fresh water

Every year the&nbsp;World Meteorological Day is celebrated on March 23 to highlight the significance of people's role and their behaviour in protecting the Earth's atmosphere.

It also commemorates the establishment of&nbsp;the World Meteorological Organization, an intergovernmental body on March 23, 1950.

It showcases the essential contribution of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to the safety and wellbeing of society and is celebrated with activities around the world. &nbsp;The themes chosen for World Meteorological Day reflect topical weather, climate or water-related issues.

Covering some 70 per cent&nbsp;of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is a major driver of the world’s weather and climate. It also plays a central role in climate change. The ocean is also a major driver of the global economy, carrying more than 90 per cent&nbsp;of world trade and sustaining the 40 per cent&nbsp;of humanity that lives within 100 km of the coast.

Recognizing this, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and researchers regularly monitor the ocean and how it is changing, modelling how it affects the atmosphere and delivering a wide variety of marine services, including supporting coastal management and Safety of Life at Sea.

The World Meteorological Day theme - The ocean, our climate and weather – celebrates WMO’s focus in connecting the ocean, climate and weather within the Earth System. It also marks the starting year of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

The Decade galvanizes efforts to gather ocean science – through innovative and transformative ideas &nbsp;- as the basis of information to support sustainable development. &nbsp;WMO, as the United Nations specialized agency for climate, weather and water, strives to support understanding the inextricable link between ocean, climate and weather. This helps us understand the world in which we live, including the impacts of climate change, and to help Members to strengthen their ability to keep lives and property safe – reducing the risk of disaster – and to maintain viable economies.

Here are 10 facts about water and how vulnerable communities are struggling to access supplies as growing demand and a warming planet raise the risk of shortages:

* About 2.2 billion people, or 29% of the global population, lacked safely managed drinking water services in 2017, according to the latest U.N. data.

* More than 2 billion people live in countries experiencing water stress - when demand outstrips available supplies - and an estimated 4 billion live in areas that suffer from severe water scarcity for at least one month per year. By 2050, more than half of the global population is expected to face water stress.

* One in five children worldwide do not have enough water to meet their daily needs, and children in more than 80 countries live in areas with high water vulnerability, meaning they depend on surface water, unimproved sources or water that takes more than 30 minutes to collect.

* Eastern and southern Africa have the highest proportion of children living in such areas, with 58% facing difficulty accessing sufficient water every day.

* Two in five people worldwide, or 3 billion, do not have a hand-washing facility with water and soap at home, including nearly three-quarters of people in the poorest countries.

* Providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation in 140 low and middle-income countries would cost $114 billion per year, whereas the many social and economic benefits of safe water are hard to evaluate.

* Global freshwater use has increased six-fold over the past 100 years and continues to grow at a rate of about 1% per year since the 1980s.

* Agriculture accounts for nearly 70% of global water withdrawals, mainly for irrigation but also for livestock and aquaculture. The ratio can reach up to 95% in some developing countries.

* Climate change is altering rainfall patterns, reducing water availability, and worsening the damage caused by floods and drought around the world.

* The melting of ice cover and glaciers – known as the water towers of the world - is leading to more hazards such as flash floods in the short-term, while threatening to reduce water supplies for hundreds of millions of people in the future.

Every year the World Meteorological Day is celebrated on March 23 to highlight the significance of people's role and their behaviour in protecting the Earth's atmosphere.

Every year the World Meteorological Day is celebrated on March 23 to highlight the significance of people's role and their behaviour in protecting the Earth's atmosphere. It also commemorates the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization, an intergovernmental body on March 23, 1950. It showcases the essential contribution of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to the safety and wellbeing of society and is celebrated with activities around the world. The themes chosen for World Meteorological Day reflect topical weather, climate or water-related issues. Covering some 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is a major driver of the world’s weather and climate. It also plays a central role in climate change. The ocean is also a major driver of the global economy, carrying more than 90 per cent of world trade and sustaining the 40 per cent of humanity that lives within 100 km of the coast. Recognizing this, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and researchers regularly monitor the ocean and how it is changing, modelling how it affects the atmosphere and delivering a wide variety of marine services, including supporting coastal management and Safety of Life at Sea. The World Meteorological Day theme - The ocean, our climate and weather – celebrates WMO’s focus in connecting the ocean, climate and weather within the Earth System. It also marks the starting year of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). The Decade galvanizes efforts to gather ocean science – through innovative and transformative ideas - as the basis of information to support sustainable development. WMO, as the United Nations specialized agency for climate, weather and water, strives to support understanding the inextricable link between ocean, climate and weather. This helps us understand the world in which we live, including the impacts of climate change, and to help Members to strengthen their ability to keep lives and property safe – reducing the risk of disaster – and to maintain viable economies. Here are 10 facts about water and how vulnerable communities are struggling to access supplies as growing demand and a warming planet raise the risk of shortages: * About 2.2 billion people, or 29% of the global population, lacked safely managed drinking water services in 2017, according to the latest U.N. data. * More than 2 billion people live in countries experiencing water stress - when demand outstrips available supplies - and an estimated 4 billion live in areas that suffer from severe water scarcity for at least one month per year. By 2050, more than half of the global population is expected to face water stress. * One in five children worldwide do not have enough water to meet their daily needs, and children in more than 80 countries live in areas with high water vulnerability, meaning they depend on surface water, unimproved sources or water that takes more than 30 minutes to collect. * Eastern and southern Africa have the highest proportion of children living in such areas, with 58% facing difficulty accessing sufficient water every day. * Two in five people worldwide, or 3 billion, do not have a hand-washing facility with water and soap at home, including nearly three-quarters of people in the poorest countries. * Providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation in 140 low and middle-income countries would cost $114 billion per year, whereas the many social and economic benefits of safe water are hard to evaluate. * Global freshwater use has increased six-fold over the past 100 years and continues to grow at a rate of about 1% per year since the 1980s. * Agriculture accounts for nearly 70% of global water withdrawals, mainly for irrigation but also for livestock and aquaculture. The ratio can reach up to 95% in some developing countries. * Climate change is altering rainfall patterns, reducing water availability, and worsening the damage caused by floods and drought around the world. * The melting of ice cover and glaciers – known as the water towers of the world - is leading to more hazards such as flash floods in the short-term, while threatening to reduce water supplies for hundreds of millions of people in the future.

World Meteorological Day 2021: All you need to know

March 22 is celebrated every year as 'World Water Day'. The day serves as an important reminder to advocate the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

World Water Day: 60 Metre piece of art reminds push for sustainable freshwater use

Major cities across Turkey could run out of water. Poor rainfall has led to a severe drought. Taps in Istanbul could run dry in 45 days.

Gravitas: Istanbul could run out of water in 45 days

The densely populated Gaza Strip has long lacked official drinking water. But, a new project has now helped mitigate this shortfall with the solar power process.

Israel firm helps Gaza strip residents amidst worsening water crisis

Beginning this week, water will be exchanged on the Wall Street wares fates market, because of its shortage. The cost of the crucial fluid will vacillate much the same as oil, gold, or wheat, CME Group announced.&nbsp;

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.<a href="https://twitter.com/Nasdaq?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nasdaq</a> Veles California Water Index (NQH2O) futures are here, the first-of-its kind tool to help market participants manage water supply and demand risk.
— CME Group (@CMEGroup) <a href="https://twitter.com/CMEGroup/status/1335954717852262403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Water shortages could affect around five billion people worldwide by 2050, according to the United Nations.

The cost of water in California has multiplied in the most recent year, as indicated by the Nasdaq Velez California Water Index. Specialists guarantee that its appearance on the ware market will permit better administration of things to come hazard related to this resource.&nbsp;

The US organisation CME Group will dispatch contracts identified with California spot water, a market of 1.1 billion dollars. With the NQH2O ticker, the cost of water prospects in California was exchanging today at about $ 486.53 per acre-foot, which is comparable to 1,233 cubic meters.&nbsp;

The record depends on costs in California's significant waterway bowls, where water shortage has expanded. This worth can be utilized as a source of perspective for the remainder of the world in the water markets.&nbsp;

Ranchers, assets, or regions may ensure themselves or theorize against changes in the cost of water. As per CME Group, the new agreements will permit better administration of the danger related to water shortage and make a superior relationship among's organic market in the business sectors.&nbsp;

These fates contracts don't need actual conveyance of water and are absolutely monetary. They depend on the week after week cost arrived at the midpoint of over California's best five watersheds through 2022.&nbsp;

These agreements are the first of their sort in the United States and were declared in September when the west bank of the nation was crushed by warmth and fierce blazes. As per Bloomberg, they are expected to "fill in as security for California's biggest water buyers against rising costs and as a marker of shortage for financial specialists around the globe."&nbsp;

China and the United States are the world's primary customers of water. As per the United Nations, 2 billion individuals live in nations with difficult issues of admittance to water. The office gauges that in the following not many years 66% of the planet could encounter water deficiencies and a huge number of individuals will be uprooted by it.&nbsp;

The inadequacy of the crucial fluid is identified with the over the top misuse of these assets by the essential area, industry, and human utilization, just as environmental change.

Beginning this week, water will be exchanged on the Wall Street wares fates market, because of its shortage. The cost of the crucial fluid will vacillate much the same as oil, gold, or wheat, CME Group announced.

Beginning this week, water will be exchanged on the Wall Street wares fates market, because of its shortage. The cost of the crucial fluid will vacillate much the same as oil, gold, or wheat, CME Group announced. .@Nasdaq Veles California Water Index (NQH2O) futures are here, the first-of-its kind tool to help market participants manage water supply and demand risk. — CME Group (@CMEGroup) December 7, 2020 × Water shortages could affect around five billion people worldwide by 2050, according to the United Nations. The cost of water in California has multiplied in the most recent year, as indicated by the Nasdaq Velez California Water Index. Specialists guarantee that its appearance on the ware market will permit better administration of things to come hazard related to this resource. The US organisation CME Group will dispatch contracts identified with California spot water, a market of 1.1 billion dollars. With the NQH2O ticker, the cost of water prospects in California was exchanging today at about $ 486.53 per acre-foot, which is comparable to 1,233 cubic meters. The record depends on costs in California's significant waterway bowls, where water shortage has expanded. This worth can be utilized as a source of perspective for the remainder of the world in the water markets. Ranchers, assets, or regions may ensure themselves or theorize against changes in the cost of water. As per CME Group, the new agreements will permit better administration of the danger related to water shortage and make a superior relationship among's organic market in the business sectors. These fates contracts don't need actual conveyance of water and are absolutely monetary. They depend on the week after week cost arrived at the midpoint of over California's best five watersheds through 2022. These agreements are the first of their sort in the United States and were declared in September when the west bank of the nation was crushed by warmth and fierce blazes. As per Bloomberg, they are expected to "fill in as security for California's biggest water buyers against rising costs and as a marker of shortage for financial specialists around the globe." China and the United States are the world's primary customers of water. As per the United Nations, 2 billion individuals live in nations with difficult issues of admittance to water. The office gauges that in the following not many years 66% of the planet could encounter water deficiencies and a huge number of individuals will be uprooted by it. The inadequacy of the crucial fluid is identified with the over the top misuse of these assets by the essential area, industry, and human utilization, just as environmental change.

Wall Street to begin trading water for the first time due to fear of shortages

Around 3.2 billion people across the world live in agricultural areas with high or very high water shortages or scarcity, of whom 1.2 billion people live in areas with very high water constraints, according to data from a report.

A report titled 'The State of Food and Agriculture 2020:Overcoming water challenges in agriculture' by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published on Thursday shows&nbsp;fresh water available for each person has plunged by a fifth over two decades.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/harare-suburb-faces-severe-water-shortage-community-drinks-water-from-graveyard-wells-337682/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

About 1.5 billion individuals are enduring serious water shortage or even dry spell, as a blend of atmosphere breakdown, rising interest and helpless administration has made horticulture progressively troublesome across wraps of the globe.&nbsp;

The UN cautioned on Thursday that billions of individuals would confront hunger and broad ongoing food deficiencies because of disappointments to save water assets, and to handle the atmosphere emergency.&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/wion-gravitas-water-shortage-in-major-cities-8317/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Qu Dongyu, chief general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), stated: "We should pay attention to exceptionally both water shortage (the irregularity among gracefully and interest for freshwater assets) and water deficiencies (reflected in deficient precipitation designs) for they are presently the truth we as a whole live with … Water deficiencies and shortage in farming must be tended to quickly and intensely."&nbsp;

He said that the UN's reasonable advancement objectives, which incorporate clearing out yearning and improving admittance to clean water, were still close enough however substantially more should have been done to improve cultivating rehearses the world over and to oversee assets impartially.&nbsp;

The association's State of Food and Agriculture 2020 report found that 50 million individuals in sub-Saharan Africa live in territories where serious dry season effects affects cropland and pastureland once at regular intervals. In excess of a tenth of the world's rainfed cropland is liable to visit dry spell, as is about 14% of the world's pastureland.&nbsp;

Rainfed agribusiness speaks to 60% of worldwide harvest creation, and 80% of land under development, with the rest profiting by water system. Notwithstanding, water system is no panacea: over 60% of inundated cropland around the globe is profoundly water pushed. Water system of some unacceptable kind can squander water, exhausting non-inexhaustible assets, for example, underground springs, and helpless administration can bring about certain ranchers missing out on water assets – for example, on account of downstream homesteads, if streams and streams are shown dry to upstream water system.&nbsp;

Little scope and rancher drove water system frameworks are regularly more effective than enormous scope extends, the report found. Enormous scope state-supported plans in Asia, for example, have depended on taking advantage of groundwater, squeezing that asset. However, little scope ranchers around the globe face additional troubles, for example, an absence of secure residency over water rights, and little admittance to fund and credit.&nbsp;

Separate exploration has as of late indicated that the world's farmland is progressively being amassed in less hands, with enormous organizations and global proprietors assuming control over wraps of creation, while little ranchers – whose homesteads are frequently run along more earth supportable lines – are progressively being pushed out. About 1% of the world's homesteads work 70% of the universes' farmland.&nbsp;

Food creation must change to lessen ozone harming substance emanations and attempt to fight off atmosphere breakdown, however even this isn't clear, the FAO cautioned. "As the world expects to move to solid eating regimens – regularly made out of moderately water-serious nourishments, for example, vegetables, nuts, poultry and dairy items – the economical utilization of water assets will be perpetually significant," said Qu, previous bad habit priest of horticulture and country issues in China. "Rainfed farming gives the biggest portion of worldwide food creation. In any case, for it to keep on doing as such, we should improve how we oversee water assets from restricted precipitation."&nbsp;

The current year's FAO report centered around water, however a significant part of the association's work this year has been to attempt to stem the potential for the Covid pandemic to offer ascent to inescapable food deficiencies. The association approached governments recently to keep worldwide gracefully chains and food markets open, regardless of the movement limitations coming about because of the pandemic, and these calls appear to have generally been noticed.&nbsp;

The world's reaps this year have commonly been acceptable, with certain special cases, yet a few territories of Africa are as yet under danger of extreme food issues.

&nbsp;

Around 3.2 billion people across the world live in agricultural areas with high or very high water shortages or scarcity, of whom 1.2 billion people live in areas with very high water constraints, according to data from a report.

Around 3.2 billion people across the world live in agricultural areas with high or very high water shortages or scarcity, of whom 1.2 billion people live in areas with very high water constraints, according to data from a report. A report titled 'The State of Food and Agriculture 2020:Overcoming water challenges in agriculture' by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published on Thursday shows fresh water available for each person has plunged by a fifth over two decades. About 1.5 billion individuals are enduring serious water shortage or even dry spell, as a blend of atmosphere breakdown, rising interest and helpless administration has made horticulture progressively troublesome across wraps of the globe. The UN cautioned on Thursday that billions of individuals would confront hunger and broad ongoing food deficiencies because of disappointments to save water assets, and to handle the atmosphere emergency. Qu Dongyu, chief general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), stated: "We should pay attention to exceptionally both water shortage (the irregularity among gracefully and interest for freshwater assets) and water deficiencies (reflected in deficient precipitation designs) for they are presently the truth we as a whole live with … Water deficiencies and shortage in farming must be tended to quickly and intensely." He said that the UN's reasonable advancement objectives, which incorporate clearing out yearning and improving admittance to clean water, were still close enough however substantially more should have been done to improve cultivating rehearses the world over and to oversee assets impartially. The association's State of Food and Agriculture 2020 report found that 50 million individuals in sub-Saharan Africa live in territories where serious dry season effects affects cropland and pastureland once at regular intervals. In excess of a tenth of the world's rainfed cropland is liable to visit dry spell, as is about 14% of the world's pastureland. Rainfed agribusiness speaks to 60% of worldwide harvest creation, and 80% of land under development, with the rest profiting by water system. Notwithstanding, water system is no panacea: over 60% of inundated cropland around the globe is profoundly water pushed. Water system of some unacceptable kind can squander water, exhausting non-inexhaustible assets, for example, underground springs, and helpless administration can bring about certain ranchers missing out on water assets – for example, on account of downstream homesteads, if streams and streams are shown dry to upstream water system. Little scope and rancher drove water system frameworks are regularly more effective than enormous scope extends, the report found. Enormous scope state-supported plans in Asia, for example, have depended on taking advantage of groundwater, squeezing that asset. However, little scope ranchers around the globe face additional troubles, for example, an absence of secure residency over water rights, and little admittance to fund and credit. Separate exploration has as of late indicated that the world's farmland is progressively being amassed in less hands, with enormous organizations and global proprietors assuming control over wraps of creation, while little ranchers – whose homesteads are frequently run along more earth supportable lines – are progressively being pushed out. About 1% of the world's homesteads work 70% of the universes' farmland. Food creation must change to lessen ozone harming substance emanations and attempt to fight off atmosphere breakdown, however even this isn't clear, the FAO cautioned. "As the world expects to move to solid eating regimens – regularly made out of moderately water-serious nourishments, for example, vegetables, nuts, poultry and dairy items – the economical utilization of water assets will be perpetually significant," said Qu, previous bad habit priest of horticulture and country issues in China. "Rainfed farming gives the biggest portion of worldwide food creation. In any case, for it to keep on doing as such, we should improve how we oversee water assets from restricted precipitation." The current year's FAO report centered around water, however a significant part of the association's work this year has been to attempt to stem the potential for the Covid pandemic to offer ascent to inescapable food deficiencies. The association approached governments recently to keep worldwide gracefully chains and food markets open, regardless of the movement limitations coming about because of the pandemic, and these calls appear to have generally been noticed. The world's reaps this year have commonly been acceptable, with certain special cases, yet a few territories of Africa are as yet under danger of extreme food issues.

More than 3 billion people affected by water shortages: Report

Imagine. Every day you have to carry 30-40 litres of water on your head and walk on rugged paths for 6-9 hours daily. Your back buckling under the heavyweight of the water.&nbsp;

Your feet hurting, walking 5-7 kilometres daily in the scorching heat. Fetching water doesn’t get you any money. It only gets you survival. Life. This is how 82 per cent of rural households in India get their water. According to the Jal Shakti Ministry, 18 crore people living in rural areas don’t have access to piped water. The source of water being kilometres away. Often dirty and in summer months dry.&nbsp;

Women in these households perform this task of fetching water daily, which you wouldn’t even dare to do. Access to clean drinking water in rural India is a massive challenge. Niti Aayog report states that 70 per cent of India’s surface water — rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands etc are polluted.&nbsp;

This makes the proximity to the source of clean water a serious problem. Our governments, public policy practitioners, non-government organisations and society at large — all stakeholders have come out with various solutions to the problem. Water is&nbsp;a subject which state governments deal with, but the union government has announced a massive integrated plan called Jal Jeevan Mission. Rs 3.6 lakh crore are to be spent on this project which aims to provide piped water connection to every rural household by 2024.

It is essential to understand the water system, its vastness and complexities. First, in any developing country, building and managing water infrastructure is a huge societal enterprise. A large amount of capital expenditure is necessary to build piped water&nbsp;networks. We are witnessing that in the proposed Jal Jeevan Mission.

Second, the storage of water is easy and convenient but the transportation of water is difficult and very expensive. Compare that with the transportation of similar natural resource, let’s say electricity. Electricity is easy to transport, but difficult to store. This is&nbsp;in diametrically opposite to water. No wonder, in India, electricity transportation to remote areas is still an easy task than distributing water. Long-distance transportation of electricity is feasible, but water transportation is required for localised areas.

Third, contaminated water always returns as food on our table. Most of our rivers are lying on deathbeds due to heavy pollution and human exploitation. Agricultural runoff is harmful to rivers because of the use of chemicals for cultivation, which has become the&nbsp;norm today. Any food growing on their banks is laced with heavy toxins and chemicals.

Policy interventions should be simple. Governments should have minimum interference upon the lives of individuals. The problem of access to water to rural India can have multiple solutions. So, what is the one simplest solution to this problem?

We need to clean up our surface water. The 70 per cent polluted surface water sources which Niti Aayog has identified consist of 13,000 lakes, ponds and wetlands, apart from 35 tributaries of major rivers. Even if we clean-up 13000 water bodies. It will solve only part of the problem. We need to begin somewhere. A ‘Swachh Jal Mission’ should be undertaken within the framework of the Jal Jeevan Mission, which if implemented correctly can clean these 13000 surface water bodies. Installing de-silting machinery and 
ecological cleaning are the easy ways which we can do it.

Critics may argue that we already have similar mechanisms under the Namami Gange scheme launched by the union government and it is not showing many results. This is because the little emphasis is there on the monitoring of this mechanism in the Ganga&nbsp;cleaning mission. Every district should have a Swachh Jal Centre which can use technology to monitor the pollutant levels in the water bodies. Independent audits need to be done to oversee the entire process.

An awareness campaign which highlights the importance of clean water bodies in rural areas must be launched. An estimated 15 lakh hectares of water bodies will be cleaned up, and an additional 2.33 crore households will have access to clean water, if this mechanism is adopted. This will benefit 13 per cent households, thus lowering the 82 per cent household without access to around 68 per cent. Some progress, indeed.

According to the author’s rough calculations, an amount of Rs 7,000 crore is projected to be spent for 3 years, if this simple mechanism is adopted for 13000 water bodies. This is a small figure compared to what the government intends to spend.&nbsp;

Water is the lifeline of our existence. It is not just an economic good, but it has cultural, social and environmental significance. Civilizations are born and destroyed by water.

India has a rich culture of preserving water through our step wells and bawlis. Cleaning up water and using it as an economic asset is the need of the hour. As the Sanskrit shloka goes – Prakritih Rakshati Rakshita — Nature protects, if it is protected.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Imagine. Every day you have to carry 30-40 litres of water on your head and walk on rugged paths for 6-9 hours daily. Your back buckling under the heavyweight of the water.

Imagine. Every day you have to carry 30-40 litres of water on your head and walk on rugged paths for 6-9 hours daily. Your back buckling under the heavyweight of the water. Your feet hurting, walking 5-7 kilometres daily in the scorching heat. Fetching water doesn’t get you any money. It only gets you survival. Life. This is how 82 per cent of rural households in India get their water. According to the Jal Shakti Ministry, 18 crore people living in rural areas don’t have access to piped water. The source of water being kilometres away. Often dirty and in summer months dry. Women in these households perform this task of fetching water daily, which you wouldn’t even dare to do. Access to clean drinking water in rural India is a massive challenge. Niti Aayog report states that 70 per cent of India’s surface water — rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands etc are polluted. This makes the proximity to the source of clean water a serious problem. Our governments, public policy practitioners, non-government organisations and society at large — all stakeholders have come out with various solutions to the problem. Water is a subject which state governments deal with, but the union government has announced a massive integrated plan called Jal Jeevan Mission. Rs 3.6 lakh crore are to be spent on this project which aims to provide piped water connection to every rural household by 2024. It is essential to understand the water system, its vastness and complexities. First, in any developing country, building and managing water infrastructure is a huge societal enterprise. A large amount of capital expenditure is necessary to build piped water networks. We are witnessing that in the proposed Jal Jeevan Mission. Second, the storage of water is easy and convenient but the transportation of water is difficult and very expensive. Compare that with the transportation of similar natural resource, let’s say electricity. Electricity is easy to transport, but difficult to store. This is in diametrically opposite to water. No wonder, in India, electricity transportation to remote areas is still an easy task than distributing water. Long-distance transportation of electricity is feasible, but water transportation is required for localised areas. Third, contaminated water always returns as food on our table. Most of our rivers are lying on deathbeds due to heavy pollution and human exploitation. Agricultural runoff is harmful to rivers because of the use of chemicals for cultivation, which has become the norm today. Any food growing on their banks is laced with heavy toxins and chemicals. Policy interventions should be simple. Governments should have minimum interference upon the lives of individuals. The problem of access to water to rural India can have multiple solutions. So, what is the one simplest solution to this problem? We need to clean up our surface water. The 70 per cent polluted surface water sources which Niti Aayog has identified consist of 13,000 lakes, ponds and wetlands, apart from 35 tributaries of major rivers. Even if we clean-up 13000 water bodies. It will solve only part of the problem. We need to begin somewhere. A ‘Swachh Jal Mission’ should be undertaken within the framework of the Jal Jeevan Mission, which if implemented correctly can clean these 13000 surface water bodies. Installing de-silting machinery and ecological cleaning are the easy ways which we can do it. Critics may argue that we already have similar mechanisms under the Namami Gange scheme launched by the union government and it is not showing many results. This is because the little emphasis is there on the monitoring of this mechanism in the Ganga cleaning mission. Every district should have a Swachh Jal Centre which can use technology to monitor the pollutant levels in the water bodies. Independent audits need to be done to oversee the entire process. An awareness campaign which highlights the importance of clean water bodies in rural areas must be launched. An estimated 15 lakh hectares of water bodies will be cleaned up, and an additional 2.33 crore households will have access to clean water, if this mechanism is adopted. This will benefit 13 per cent households, thus lowering the 82 per cent household without access to around 68 per cent. Some progress, indeed. According to the author’s rough calculations, an amount of Rs 7,000 crore is projected to be spent for 3 years, if this simple mechanism is adopted for 13000 water bodies. This is a small figure compared to what the government intends to spend. Water is the lifeline of our existence. It is not just an economic good, but it has cultural, social and environmental significance. Civilizations are born and destroyed by water. India has a rich culture of preserving water through our step wells and bawlis. Cleaning up water and using it as an economic asset is the need of the hour. As the Sanskrit shloka goes – Prakritih Rakshati Rakshita — Nature protects, if it is protected. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Resolving clean water woes of rural India

From water conservation to tackling plastic pollution, here are some interesting snippets from PM's speech.

WION Gravitas: Broad themes of PM Modi's Independence Day speech

Is august the month of freedom? Watch report.

WION Gravitas: August 15 is the Independence Day for 5 other countries

It is like a ticking time bomb and the people who can stop it are doing nothing but stare.

"Feels frustrating that we have to remind them to save our home - it is theirs too! Isn't it our collective duty? There is no planet B" -- some of the chants one gets to hear at marches, demonstrations and vigils being organized across India with one common objective - to save our planet.

School students have also been joining the protests - taking inspiration from Sweden's 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg.

The children want to educate adults on how denial and subsequent inaction on climate change mean we are wasting precious time.
<img alt="School students" data-align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c25b6932-4725-4dd4-a737-1d8b1b9cc551" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/climate_0.jpg" />
15-year-old climate activist Asheer Kandhari is one of them. She has been taking to the streets with her school friends as part of 'Fridays for Future', a global movement pushing for climate action.

Asheer grew up learning that each one can do their bit - with her mother telling her to switch off the lights when leaving the room or closing the tap while brushing - basics that go a long way.

"Climate Change doesn't affect just us humans. Thousands of species are bearing the brunt of our actions. We have no right to destroy their natural habitats. How is it that we can see what's coming and others cannot? Or do they not want to? What are they leaving behind for future generations?", she asks.

But one can no longer pretend to not see Climate Change. It is all around us. And it's only getting worse. 
The threat is as real as it can get. July 2019 was the hottest month in Earth’s recorded history.

So far this year, world headlines have been dominated by news of heatwaves, floods, tsunamis and wildfires.

India is already staring at its worst long-term water crisis. 
 
21 Indian cities are predicted to run out of groundwater by 2020 according to the government think-tank NITI Aayog. 
 
600 million people or nearly half of the country's population are at risk of facing an acute shortage. 
 
And at least one-third of Himalayan ice, among the world’s most vital water resources, is set to disappear by the end of the century.

The list of warnings is endless. But the time to act is limited. 
 
We are the last generation that can prevent irreparable damage to our planet. And we have just over a decade's time to do so.

There are many who realise the urgency. And Aman Sharma is trying his best to reach out to those who don't. The Delhi-based 16-year-old activist is on a mission.

He launched a petition in May this year calling on the Indian Government to declare a climate emergency. It now has over 230,000 signatures.

"The issue first has to be officially recognised as an emergency; a threat to our citizens. Until we acknowledge that climate change is a problem, we cannot come up with a solid plan", says Aman.

A birder at heart, Aman knew it was time to act when he saw the changes happening in our urban ecosystem.

"My brother and father developed conditions due to rising levels of pollution which meant we couldn't stay in Delhi during the Diwali festive period because of how horrible the air was. Plus the decrease in a number of birds with each passing year and our cities getting hotter. All of this made me ask - if we don't act now, then when?"

He started off from his own school where he won his first battle against plastic. 
 
After noticing that students were purchasing multiple bottles of water from the school canteen which meant that hundreds of plastic bottles were getting sold each day, Aman resolved to put an end to this.

He spoke to the owner of the canteen, gave the authorities a letter talking about what plastic was doing to marine life and ultimately with the help of efforts from the school Principal, the canteen stopped housing plastic bottles.

"The next step will be to completely eliminate single-use plastic items."

Aman demands an enforced ban in the country on the use of plastic, an increase in green cover along with the regulated implementation of waste segregation policies.

He also talks about the need to focus energies on finding innovative ways to tackle the crisis. For instance, an emission control device that turns pollutants into ink. Manufactured as part of an initiative led by a team of young Indian engineers - Arpit Dhupar, Kushagra Srivastava and Prateek Sachan - it captures emissions from the exhaust of diesel generators and the particulate matter is then processed into usable products like inks and paints.

"It is so scary to imagine that we are using up our resources like they are unlimited. One straw that you use for a minute to have your drink is going to be around till after my children die. This is not a distant crisis", Aman says.

The crisis, in fact, is as immediate as it can be. After a heatwave in several parts, India is now witnessing floods in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra - a year after Kerala was ravaged by the worst flood in a century.

"In Asia, mitigation alone is not enough. We also have to focus on climate change adaptation for which preparedness is an essential strategy. Plus India has a long coastline which makes it crucial to protect natural flood barriers like mangrove forests that are currently under threat due to coastal infrastructure projects", warns Rozita Singh, a young sustainability researcher and urban development practitioner.

She takes a keen interest in promoting the practice of composting. "Each person can contribute to controlling greenhouse gas emissions. People think it is the government's job, not theirs. That's where they are wrong. Composting can easily begin at home. You just need to identify your needs and find the right kind of vessel. It is an extremely simple process that nature will thank you for."

They say little drops make the mighty ocean. So little drops can also save it.

Will you make yours count?

After all, we are in this together. And as Aman puts it - there is no Iron man or Thor coming to rescue us. We have to save ourselves. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

It is like a ticking time bomb and the people who can stop it are doing nothing but stare. "Feels frustrating that we have to remind them to save our home - it is theirs too!

It is like a ticking time bomb and the people who can stop it are doing nothing but stare. "Feels frustrating that we have to remind them to save our home - it is theirs too! Isn't it our collective duty? There is no planet B" -- some of the chants one gets to hear at marches, demonstrations and vigils being organized across India with one common objective - to save our planet. School students have also been joining the protests - taking inspiration from Sweden's 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg. The children want to educate adults on how denial and subsequent inaction on climate change mean we are wasting precious time. 15-year-old climate activist Asheer Kandhari is one of them. She has been taking to the streets with her school friends as part of 'Fridays for Future', a global movement pushing for climate action. Asheer grew up learning that each one can do their bit - with her mother telling her to switch off the lights when leaving the room or closing the tap while brushing - basics that go a long way. "Climate Change doesn't affect just us humans. Thousands of species are bearing the brunt of our actions. We have no right to destroy their natural habitats. How is it that we can see what's coming and others cannot? Or do they not want to? What are they leaving behind for future generations?", she asks. But one can no longer pretend to not see Climate Change. It is all around us. And it's only getting worse. The threat is as real as it can get. July 2019 was the hottest month in Earth’s recorded history. So far this year, world headlines have been dominated by news of heatwaves, floods, tsunamis and wildfires. India is already staring at its worst long-term water crisis. 21 Indian cities are predicted to run out of groundwater by 2020 according to the government think-tank NITI Aayog. 600 million people or nearly half of the country's population are at risk of facing an acute shortage. And at least one-third of Himalayan ice, among the world’s most vital water resources, is set to disappear by the end of the century. The list of warnings is endless. But the time to act is limited. We are the last generation that can prevent irreparable damage to our planet. And we have just over a decade's time to do so. There are many who realise the urgency. And Aman Sharma is trying his best to reach out to those who don't. The Delhi-based 16-year-old activist is on a mission. He launched a petition in May this year calling on the Indian Government to declare a climate emergency. It now has over 230,000 signatures. "The issue first has to be officially recognised as an emergency; a threat to our citizens. Until we acknowledge that climate change is a problem, we cannot come up with a solid plan", says Aman. A birder at heart, Aman knew it was time to act when he saw the changes happening in our urban ecosystem. "My brother and father developed conditions due to rising levels of pollution which meant we couldn't stay in Delhi during the Diwali festive period because of how horrible the air was. Plus the decrease in a number of birds with each passing year and our cities getting hotter. All of this made me ask - if we don't act now, then when?" He started off from his own school where he won his first battle against plastic. After noticing that students were purchasing multiple bottles of water from the school canteen which meant that hundreds of plastic bottles were getting sold each day, Aman resolved to put an end to this. He spoke to the owner of the canteen, gave the authorities a letter talking about what plastic was doing to marine life and ultimately with the help of efforts from the school Principal, the canteen stopped housing plastic bottles. "The next step will be to completely eliminate single-use plastic items." Aman demands an enforced ban in the country on the use of plastic, an increase in green cover along with the regulated implementation of waste segregation policies. He also talks about the need to focus energies on finding innovative ways to tackle the crisis. For instance, an emission control device that turns pollutants into ink. Manufactured as part of an initiative led by a team of young Indian engineers - Arpit Dhupar, Kushagra Srivastava and Prateek Sachan - it captures emissions from the exhaust of diesel generators and the particulate matter is then processed into usable products like inks and paints. "It is so scary to imagine that we are using up our resources like they are unlimited. One straw that you use for a minute to have your drink is going to be around till after my children die. This is not a distant crisis", Aman says. The crisis, in fact, is as immediate as it can be. After a heatwave in several parts, India is now witnessing floods in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra - a year after Kerala was ravaged by the worst flood in a century. "In Asia, mitigation alone is not enough. We also have to focus on climate change adaptation for which preparedness is an essential strategy. Plus India has a long coastline which makes it crucial to protect natural flood barriers like mangrove forests that are currently under threat due to coastal infrastructure projects", warns Rozita Singh, a young sustainability researcher and urban development practitioner. She takes a keen interest in promoting the practice of composting. "Each person can contribute to controlling greenhouse gas emissions. People think it is the government's job, not theirs. That's where they are wrong. Composting can easily begin at home. You just need to identify your needs and find the right kind of vessel. It is an extremely simple process that nature will thank you for." They say little drops make the mighty ocean. So little drops can also save it. Will you make yours count? After all, we are in this together. And as Aman puts it - there is no Iron man or Thor coming to rescue us. We have to save ourselves. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Saving our burning home

1.7 billion people are facing an unthinkable water crisis. Globally, water withdrawal doubled since the 1960s. 44 countries are under high water stress. impacted countries have withdrawn 80% of the available supply of water. Watch this video to know more about this...

Water scarcity all over the world, it's getting terrible day by day

A country of over a billion people is on its way to becoming dry land. Millions living in Chennai and Bengaluru know this well and Delhi is on its way.

Sadly, what the recent water crisis in India’s mega cities has shown, is just the trailer. It’s time to critically explore what brought us here and what we can do to resolve this deepening disaster.

Since Independence, India has blindly followed the footsteps of the Western world. We have adopted cut-copy-paste models, ignoring how to innovate and implement progress in the Indian context.

In the twentieth century, the western world primarily built its economy on the exploitation of natural resources, a template that India adopted without examining its impact on the country and its burgeoning population.

Now that the West is moving towards more sustainable living and infrastructure development, India is too far behind and has too much to lose by continuing with this short-sighted approach.

Due to our approach to building and planning cities without regard for population growth, natural resources and quality building standards, we have overpopulated crumbling metropolises without a solid foundation.

There are no proper drainage or sewage systems to accommodate the rapid construction that is happening all around the country. Most of the water leaving buildings and houses is drained into rivers not only contaminating them, but also creating a system which is “use and throw”. This unsustainable approach to infrastructure development doesn’t take into account how much water we have, how much we need, and where it’s going to end up.

Bengaluru has already run out of water because of overpopulation and lack of foresight in resource planning. The lakes around the city are contaminated in the absence of proper sewage treatment systems, which is common throughout the country.

If the water was treated, it could be further used in maintaining water levels underground or reintegrated into rivers without contaminating them.

Along with sustainable urban planning, we need to lower our dependence on the monsoons. If India wants to fulfill its dream of becoming a global powerhouse, it must successfully solve its water problems. It is a short-sighted approach to “wait and watch” for monsoons to end the drought.

With changing climate and less rainwater predictability, we need to incorporate an extensive rainwater harvesting system where all buildings and households are equipped to gather and store rain.

How many seasons do we have to watch as Mumbai is flooded during monsoon and is unable to successfully harness the excess water, before we decide to take action? Collection and storage also needs to apply to flooding rivers so that we maximise water availability throughout the whole year.

However, even these two measures are not enough for us to foster the growing demands and ambitions of India. We are on our way to becoming the fourth-largest economy in the world, where a huge percentage of our economy is still dependent on agriculture, which in turn is heavily dependent on water.

The industries that India is focused on to achieve its growth targets, such as tourism and textiles, are heavily water- dependent.

Failure to educate the country’s population on water conservation is an opportunity we can’t afford to miss. Ground-level education and awareness building among farmers and the rural population is crucial.

We should focus more on crops that require less water for crop yield and incorporate the use of technologies that minimise the use of water. In this way, the government should be investing in grass-roots community education and incentivising the use of new technologies among our farming population.

Most leaders of India are now realising the grave crisis we are in. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a special ministry, Jal Shakti, and chose to address this issue in his first speech after his re-election on Mann ki Baat.

Water is fast becoming a commodity in India, and our leaders are facing the reality of millions of desperate people lining the streets with empty water containers each day, waiting for trucks to deliver the most basic of human needs.

These desperate times are igniting anger within communities and discontent with our leaders. Our politicians at all levels have failed to deliver a proper, systematic and long-term solution to this worsening emergency. For starters, water and policies on climate change should become two election issues.

But the government is not the only one to be held accountable. We, as people, have ignored and moved away from taking individual responsibility. People’s behaviour and an ignorant mindset is one of the reasons why we have arrived at this point.

We are so blindly focused on making money and satisfying our superficial needs that we haven’t considered the impact of our actions on our natural environment. As long as there’s water running from the tap, we don’t care where it’s coming from or where it’s going to.

Among the solutions for providing water security, we need to invest heavily in desalination plants and adopt the technologies of the future as Singapore, Israel and Spain have done.

India has a huge coastline and massive investment in desalination plants would provide the water we could store. Why should we be lining the streets with empty buckets in hand when the technology lies at our fingertips?

Democracy promises that when people elect a government, it will provide the population with life’s essential basics, but unfortunately, in India, people think their responsibility as a citizen stops as soon as they cast their vote. 
&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-india-the-land-of-water-wars-2777094">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

A country of over a billion people is on its way to becoming dry land. Millions living in Chennai and Bengaluru know this well and Delhi is on its way. Sadly, what the recent water crisis in India’s mega cities has shown, is just the trailer.

A country of over a billion people is on its way to becoming dry land. Millions living in Chennai and Bengaluru know this well and Delhi is on its way. Sadly, what the recent water crisis in India’s mega cities has shown, is just the trailer. It’s time to critically explore what brought us here and what we can do to resolve this deepening disaster. Since Independence, India has blindly followed the footsteps of the Western world. We have adopted cut-copy-paste models, ignoring how to innovate and implement progress in the Indian context. In the twentieth century, the western world primarily built its economy on the exploitation of natural resources, a template that India adopted without examining its impact on the country and its burgeoning population. Now that the West is moving towards more sustainable living and infrastructure development, India is too far behind and has too much to lose by continuing with this short-sighted approach. Due to our approach to building and planning cities without regard for population growth, natural resources and quality building standards, we have overpopulated crumbling metropolises without a solid foundation. There are no proper drainage or sewage systems to accommodate the rapid construction that is happening all around the country. Most of the water leaving buildings and houses is drained into rivers not only contaminating them, but also creating a system which is “use and throw”. This unsustainable approach to infrastructure development doesn’t take into account how much water we have, how much we need, and where it’s going to end up. Bengaluru has already run out of water because of overpopulation and lack of foresight in resource planning. The lakes around the city are contaminated in the absence of proper sewage treatment systems, which is common throughout the country. If the water was treated, it could be further used in maintaining water levels underground or reintegrated into rivers without contaminating them. Along with sustainable urban planning, we need to lower our dependence on the monsoons. If India wants to fulfill its dream of becoming a global powerhouse, it must successfully solve its water problems. It is a short-sighted approach to “wait and watch” for monsoons to end the drought. With changing climate and less rainwater predictability, we need to incorporate an extensive rainwater harvesting system where all buildings and households are equipped to gather and store rain. How many seasons do we have to watch as Mumbai is flooded during monsoon and is unable to successfully harness the excess water, before we decide to take action? Collection and storage also needs to apply to flooding rivers so that we maximise water availability throughout the whole year. However, even these two measures are not enough for us to foster the growing demands and ambitions of India. We are on our way to becoming the fourth-largest economy in the world, where a huge percentage of our economy is still dependent on agriculture, which in turn is heavily dependent on water. The industries that India is focused on to achieve its growth targets, such as tourism and textiles, are heavily water- dependent. Failure to educate the country’s population on water conservation is an opportunity we can’t afford to miss. Ground-level education and awareness building among farmers and the rural population is crucial. We should focus more on crops that require less water for crop yield and incorporate the use of technologies that minimise the use of water. In this way, the government should be investing in grass-roots community education and incentivising the use of new technologies among our farming population. Most leaders of India are now realising the grave crisis we are in. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a special ministry, Jal Shakti, and chose to address this issue in his first speech after his re-election on Mann ki Baat. Water is fast becoming a commodity in India, and our leaders are facing the reality of millions of desperate people lining the streets with empty water containers each day, waiting for trucks to deliver the most basic of human needs. These desperate times are igniting anger within communities and discontent with our leaders. Our politicians at all levels have failed to deliver a proper, systematic and long-term solution to this worsening emergency. For starters, water and policies on climate change should become two election issues. But the government is not the only one to be held accountable. We, as people, have ignored and moved away from taking individual responsibility. People’s behaviour and an ignorant mindset is one of the reasons why we have arrived at this point. We are so blindly focused on making money and satisfying our superficial needs that we haven’t considered the impact of our actions on our natural environment. As long as there’s water running from the tap, we don’t care where it’s coming from or where it’s going to. Among the solutions for providing water security, we need to invest heavily in desalination plants and adopt the technologies of the future as Singapore, Israel and Spain have done. India has a huge coastline and massive investment in desalination plants would provide the water we could store. Why should we be lining the streets with empty buckets in hand when the technology lies at our fingertips? Democracy promises that when people elect a government, it will provide the population with life’s essential basics, but unfortunately, in India, people think their responsibility as a citizen stops as soon as they cast their vote. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Water crisis: We have moved away from taking individual responsibility

Chembarambakkam and Chozhavaram tanks have run dry, hundreds of flamingoes, black-winged stilts, Eurasian Coots and Cormorants have made Pallikaranai home. Founder of Nature Trust Organisation TVRK Thiruvaranan said his organization had spotted 87 species of birds this summer. He further said flamingoes are often a sign of clean water.

Pallikarnai Marshland: Parched Chennai Still Has Few Watering Holes For Birds

The first train carrying water reached parched Chennai on Friday.&nbsp;

The train number WAG 5 HA 23907 left Jolarpet with 50 wagons of water at 7:30 am and it reached Villivakkam station near Chennai around 11:45&nbsp;am.

According to a report, the water will be sent to the Kilpauk Water Works via a network of pipes, from there&nbsp;it will be integrated into the city water supply network.

The state government had announced to bring in water from Vellore by rail wagons as Chennai is facing an acute water crisis.

Watch: Water train set to give relieve Chennai

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As per the announcement by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami, logistics and ground checks have been done to bring water from Jolarpet to Chennai by train.

The work was started for the past two weeks and officials had worked day and night to bring in water from Jolarpet to Chennai through the train.

(With inputs from agencies)

The first train carrying water reached parched Chennai on Friday. The train number WAG 5 HA 23907 left Jolarpet with 50 wagons of water at 7:30 am and it reached Villivakkam station near Chennai around 11:45 am.

The first train carrying water reached parched Chennai on Friday. The train number WAG 5 HA 23907 left Jolarpet with 50 wagons of water at 7:30 am and it reached Villivakkam station near Chennai around 11:45 am. According to a report, the water will be sent to the Kilpauk Water Works via a network of pipes, from there it will be integrated into the city water supply network. The state government had announced to bring in water from Vellore by rail wagons as Chennai is facing an acute water crisis. Watch: Water train set to give relieve Chennai × As per the announcement by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami, logistics and ground checks have been done to bring water from Jolarpet to Chennai by train. The work was started for the past two weeks and officials had worked day and night to bring in water from Jolarpet to Chennai through the train. (With inputs from agencies)

Tamil Nadu: First train carrying water for parched Chennai reaches Villivakkam station

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iran-says-it-has-broken-enriched-uranium-stockpile-limit-set-by-2015-nuclear-deal-232067">Iran says it has broken enriched uranium stockpile limit set by nuclear deal</a> 
 
Iran has breached a 300kg (660lb) limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium set under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/violent-clashes-as-hong-kong-marks-china-handover-anniversary-232056">Violent clashes as Hong Kong marks China handover anniversary</a> 
 
The angry scenes ramped up tensions in the financial hub which has been rocked by three weeks of historic demonstrations against a hugely unpopular bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/water-crisis-in-india-centre-sends-out-250-civil-servants-to-driest-areas-232082">Water crisis in India: Centre sends out 250 civil servants to driest areas&nbsp;</a> 
 
India's monsoon, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the country's annual rainfall, turned patchy in the first month of the season that began on June 1.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/samajwadi-party-will-support-extension-of-presidents-rule-in-jammu-kashmir-ram-gopal-yadav-232008">Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal to support extension of President's Rule in Jammu &amp; Kashmir</a> 
 
On June 28, Lok Sabha approved the statutory resolution to extend President's Rule in Jammu &amp; Kashmir with effect from July 3rd, 2019.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghanistan-gun-battle-rages-in-kabul-after-blast-injures-100-taliban-claims-responsibility-231998">Afghanistan: Gun battle rages in Kabul after blast injures 100, Taliban claims responsibility</a>

A blast in the Afghan capital on Monday was part of an attack by Taliban fighters targeting the defence ministry compound in Kabul, the Islamist militant group said in a statement.

Iran says it has broken enriched uranium stockpile limit set by nuclear deal Iran has breached a 300kg (660lb) limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium set under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran says it has broken enriched uranium stockpile limit set by nuclear deal Iran has breached a 300kg (660lb) limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium set under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Violent clashes as Hong Kong marks China handover anniversary The angry scenes ramped up tensions in the financial hub which has been rocked by three weeks of historic demonstrations against a hugely unpopular bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland. Water crisis in India: Centre sends out 250 civil servants to driest areas India's monsoon, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the country's annual rainfall, turned patchy in the first month of the season that began on June 1. Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal to support extension of President's Rule in Jammu & Kashmir On June 28, Lok Sabha approved the statutory resolution to extend President's Rule in Jammu & Kashmir with effect from July 3rd, 2019. Afghanistan: Gun battle rages in Kabul after blast injures 100, Taliban claims responsibility A blast in the Afghan capital on Monday was part of an attack by Taliban fighters targeting the defence ministry compound in Kabul, the Islamist militant group said in a statement.

News brief: Big stories of the day

The Central government is sending more than 250 civil servants to some of the driest areas of the country as part of efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to tackle <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/water-crisis-groundwater-level-in-16-tehsils-mandals-and-blocks-in-over-exploited-category-231773">water shortages</a>.

India's monsoon, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the country's annual rainfall, turned patchy in the first month of the season that began on June 1.

"Other than the efforts of the government, it's the responsibility of every citizen of the country to conserve water so that we can collectively solve the problem," Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Water Resources Minister, told reporters.

Water is typically scarce in the summer, but <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood-star-leonardo-dicaprio-expresses-concern-over-water-crisis-in-indian-state-230654">the situation has been particularly grim</a> this year in western and southern states.

Watch:&nbsp;Chennai deals with crippling water crisis

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India had its driest June in five years due to a delay in monsoon rains, raising fears for crops and the broader economy.

The prime minister has also promised to supply piped water for all homes in the countryside by 2024, setting a tough target at a time when hundreds of millions don’t have access to clean water.

About 200,000 Indians die every year due to inadequate clean water, the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog said in a report last year, citing data by independent agencies. Modi is the chairman of NITI Aayog.

The Central government is sending more than 250 civil servants to some of the driest areas of the country as part of efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to tackle water shortages.

The Central government is sending more than 250 civil servants to some of the driest areas of the country as part of efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to tackle water shortages. India's monsoon, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the country's annual rainfall, turned patchy in the first month of the season that began on June 1. "Other than the efforts of the government, it's the responsibility of every citizen of the country to conserve water so that we can collectively solve the problem," Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Water Resources Minister, told reporters. Water is typically scarce in the summer, but the situation has been particularly grim this year in western and southern states. Watch: Chennai deals with crippling water crisis India had its driest June in five years due to a delay in monsoon rains, raising fears for crops and the broader economy. The prime minister has also promised to supply piped water for all homes in the countryside by 2024, setting a tough target at a time when hundreds of millions don’t have access to clean water. About 200,000 Indians die every year due to inadequate clean water, the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog said in a report last year, citing data by independent agencies. Modi is the chairman of NITI Aayog.

Water crisis in India: Centre sends out 250 civil servants to driest areas 

Chennai's water woes after 2 failed monsoons. Reservoirs hold less than 1% of capacity

Chennai deals with a crippling water crisis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns with his monthly radio broadcast Mann ki Baat today. On February 24, days before the Lok Sabha elections were announced, he had suspended his monthly broadcast for March and April. Confident of his return, PM Modi had said he will be back with the Mann ki Baat programme on the last Sunday of May.

PM Modi's Mann ki Baat 2.0, 30th June,2019

The groundwater level in 16 per cent of the taluka, mandal, block-level units in the country fall under the “over-exploited” category, while 4 per cent fall under the “critical” category, government data shows. Groundwater level of the 6,584 block, mandal, tehsil level units assessed by the Central Groundwater Board reveal that 4,520 units fall under the “safe category”, according to the data shared by the government in Lok Sabha last week.

As many as 1,034 units have been categorised as “over-exploited”, the data states. Nearly 681 block, mandal, taluka level units in the country, constituting 10 per cent of the total figure, fall under the “semi-critical” category, while 253 fall under the “critical” category. Nearly 1 per cent of the blocks, mandals and talukas had saline water. The figure is based on the government’s 2013 assessment.

“As per the 2013 assessment, out of total 6,584 assessment units (blocks, talukas, mandals, watersheds, firkas) in the country, 1,034 units in 17 states and Union territories have been categorised as over-exploited where groundwater extraction is more than the net groundwater availability and there is a significant long-term decline in water levels.

“Two hundred and fifty-three units have been categorised as critical, 681 units as semi-critical and 4,520 units as safe,” the minister of state in the Jal Shakti Ministry shared the information in Parliament last week. The overexploitation of the groundwater was highest in the states of Punjab (76 per cent) and Rajasthan (66 per cent), followed by Delhi (56 per cent) and Haryana (54 per cent). There was no over-exploitation of groundwater reported in the states of West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Odisha, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa.

Groundwater levels in all the block, taluka, mandal level units from 12 states and Union territories — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli — were reported to be in the safe category.

The groundwater level in 16 per cent of the taluka, mandal, block-level units in the country fall under the “over-exploited” category, while 4 per cent fall under the “critical” category, government data shows.

The groundwater level in 16 per cent of the taluka, mandal, block-level units in the country fall under the “over-exploited” category, while 4 per cent fall under the “critical” category, government data shows. Groundwater level of the 6,584 block, mandal, tehsil level units assessed by the Central Groundwater Board reveal that 4,520 units fall under the “safe category”, according to the data shared by the government in Lok Sabha last week. As many as 1,034 units have been categorised as “over-exploited”, the data states. Nearly 681 block, mandal, taluka level units in the country, constituting 10 per cent of the total figure, fall under the “semi-critical” category, while 253 fall under the “critical” category. Nearly 1 per cent of the blocks, mandals and talukas had saline water. The figure is based on the government’s 2013 assessment. “As per the 2013 assessment, out of total 6,584 assessment units (blocks, talukas, mandals, watersheds, firkas) in the country, 1,034 units in 17 states and Union territories have been categorised as over-exploited where groundwater extraction is more than the net groundwater availability and there is a significant long-term decline in water levels. “Two hundred and fifty-three units have been categorised as critical, 681 units as semi-critical and 4,520 units as safe,” the minister of state in the Jal Shakti Ministry shared the information in Parliament last week. The overexploitation of the groundwater was highest in the states of Punjab (76 per cent) and Rajasthan (66 per cent), followed by Delhi (56 per cent) and Haryana (54 per cent). There was no over-exploitation of groundwater reported in the states of West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Odisha, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa. Groundwater levels in all the block, taluka, mandal level units from 12 states and Union territories — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli — were reported to be in the safe category.

Water crisis: Groundwater level in 16% tehsils, mandals and blocks in ‘over-exploited’ category

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