Gujarat is staring at an acute water crisis this summer allegedly due to its over dependence on the Narmada Dam to meet all its requirements.&nbsp; 
 
Gujarat chief secretary JN Singh recently announced that due to less water available in the Narmada, they will not be able to provide water to industries, and have asked local bodies to look for alternate sources this summer.&nbsp; 
 
The Narmada River catchment areas, mainly in Madhya Pradesh, received less rainfall last monsoon with the Sardar Sarovar Dam receiving only 45 per cent of what it gets normally during monsoon.&nbsp; 
 
The state government recently asked farmers to skip sowing summer crops as it would not be able to provide irrigation water. It also plans to cut supply to industries and has asked the administration of cities and villages, dependent on the Narmada for drinking purpose, to explore local sources.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Yes, we need to change the perception that we are totally dependent on the Sardar Sarovar project on Narmada. The Naramda water should be seen as an add-on to local sources of water and not as the main source,&quot; Gujarat chief minister&#39;s adviser on water management, BN Navalawala, told news agency PTI.&nbsp; 
 
The Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada has been described as &#39;Gujarat&#39;s lifeline&#39; by BJP leaders as it aims to provide drinking water to 131 urban centres and 9,633 villages (53 per cent of state&#39;s villages).&nbsp; 
 
The dam is also expected to facilitate irrigation of 18.54 hectares of land covering 3,112 villages of 73 talukas in 15 districts of Gujarat.&nbsp; 
 
Apart from providing water to so many towns and villages, the state government has embarked on an ambitious Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation Yojna (Sauni Scheme) under which it plans to fill up 115 reservoirs of Saurashtra with Narmada water.&nbsp; 
 
The Sardar Sarovar Dam&#39;s foundation stone was laid on April 5, 1961 by the country&#39;s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. However, it took 56 years to complete its construction due to court cases and protests by the affected villagers.&nbsp; 
 
The dam was inaugurated on September 17 last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.&nbsp; 
 
After over 15 years, when the state administration gradually learnt to depend on the Narmada for the water requirements, this year seems to be a wake up call.&nbsp; 
<iframe frameborder="0" height="1" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" width="1"></iframe> 
Due to weak monsoon in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat would only get 4.71 million acre feet (MAF) water, which is just 45 per cent of the sanctioned supply of 9 MAF awarded by the Narmada Tribunal to the state, as per an official release.&nbsp; 
 
A municipal official said it seems the state has ignored local sources, the ambitious Kalpsar project which aims to harness water of seven rivers by building a reservoir in the Gulf of Khambhat, and desalination plants.&nbsp; 
 
The government may have thought that the Narmada river can provide water that is needed for the state, he said. However, Mr Navlawala, who is also heading the central task force for interlinking of rivers, said the state has been time and again exploring all options.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;There is a perception that Gujarat is totally dependent on Narmada, but we are working in all directions to mitigate the crisis that has come our way. All cities and towns which are now provided water from Narmada, earlier used to have their local source of water. We have asked administrators of cities to revive the local sources of water,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
Regarding the Kalpsar project, Mr Navalawala said, &quot;As it is a one-of-its-kind project, we have to carry out many surveys which we expect to complete by the end of this year. We will then be able to prepare a detailed project report.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
On the desalination plants, he said the cost of water from it is very high and that water supply can be provided only in a limited sphere. &quot;But the state government has taken up the work of a plant for desalination of 105 million litres per day and tenders for it will soon be out,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
However, Mr Navalawala said due to climate change, the water scarcity in future cannot be ruled out, and states needs a paradigm shift in approach towards water management.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

&quot;We should move from demand driven supply to demand management. Recently, in one of the cities of South Africa which is facing drought, we were surprised by news that our cricketers were asked to take a shower for just two minutes. But it could be the order of the day in future in India too due to water scarcity,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
Mr Navlawala also stressed on water auditing and putting water meters in every house. &quot;Water auditing or water meters are inescapable. If you are not going to do it today, you will be compelled to do it tomorrow,&quot; he added.&nbsp;

The Narmada River catchment areas, mainly in Madhya Pradesh, received less rainfall last monsoon with the Sardar Sarovar Dam receiving only 45 per cent of what it gets normally during monsoon

Gujarat is staring at an acute water crisis this summer allegedly due to its over dependence on the Narmada Dam to meet all its requirements. Gujarat chief secretary JN Singh recently announced that due to less water available in the Narmada, they will not be able to provide water to industries, and have asked local bodies to look for alternate sources this summer. The Narmada River catchment areas, mainly in Madhya Pradesh, received less rainfall last monsoon with the Sardar Sarovar Dam receiving only 45 per cent of what it gets normally during monsoon. The state government recently asked farmers to skip sowing summer crops as it would not be able to provide irrigation water. It also plans to cut supply to industries and has asked the administration of cities and villages, dependent on the Narmada for drinking purpose, to explore local sources. "Yes, we need to change the perception that we are totally dependent on the Sardar Sarovar project on Narmada. The Naramda water should be seen as an add-on to local sources of water and not as the main source," Gujarat chief minister's adviser on water management, BN Navalawala, told news agency PTI. The Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada has been described as 'Gujarat's lifeline' by BJP leaders as it aims to provide drinking water to 131 urban centres and 9,633 villages (53 per cent of state's villages). The dam is also expected to facilitate irrigation of 18.54 hectares of land covering 3,112 villages of 73 talukas in 15 districts of Gujarat. Apart from providing water to so many towns and villages, the state government has embarked on an ambitious Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation Yojna (Sauni Scheme) under which it plans to fill up 115 reservoirs of Saurashtra with Narmada water. The Sardar Sarovar Dam's foundation stone was laid on April 5, 1961 by the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. However, it took 56 years to complete its construction due to court cases and protests by the affected villagers. The dam was inaugurated on September 17 last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After over 15 years, when the state administration gradually learnt to depend on the Narmada for the water requirements, this year seems to be a wake up call. Due to weak monsoon in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat would only get 4.71 million acre feet (MAF) water, which is just 45 per cent of the sanctioned supply of 9 MAF awarded by the Narmada Tribunal to the state, as per an official release. A municipal official said it seems the state has ignored local sources, the ambitious Kalpsar project which aims to harness water of seven rivers by building a reservoir in the Gulf of Khambhat, and desalination plants. The government may have thought that the Narmada river can provide water that is needed for the state, he said. However, Mr Navlawala, who is also heading the central task force for interlinking of rivers, said the state has been time and again exploring all options. "There is a perception that Gujarat is totally dependent on Narmada, but we are working in all directions to mitigate the crisis that has come our way. All cities and towns which are now provided water from Narmada, earlier used to have their local source of water. We have asked administrators of cities to revive the local sources of water," he said. Regarding the Kalpsar project, Mr Navalawala said, "As it is a one-of-its-kind project, we have to carry out many surveys which we expect to complete by the end of this year. We will then be able to prepare a detailed project report." On the desalination plants, he said the cost of water from it is very high and that water supply can be provided only in a limited sphere. "But the state government has taken up the work of a plant for desalination of 105 million litres per day and tenders for it will soon be out," he said. However, Mr Navalawala said due to climate change, the water scarcity in future cannot be ruled out, and states needs a paradigm shift in approach towards water management. "We should move from demand driven supply to demand management. Recently, in one of the cities of South Africa which is facing drought, we were surprised by news that our cricketers were asked to take a shower for just two minutes. But it could be the order of the day in future in India too due to water scarcity," he said. Mr Navlawala also stressed on water auditing and putting water meters in every house. "Water auditing or water meters are inescapable. If you are not going to do it today, you will be compelled to do it tomorrow," he added.

Gujarat staring at acute water crisis warns top official

As the Cape Town city is at the edge of becoming a first modern city to run out of the water, India&#39;s It hub and Karnataka&#39;s Bengaluru is also facing similar circumstances.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/as-cape-town-drought-bites-residents-prepare-for-day-zero-32350">As Cape Town drought bites, residents prepare for &#39;Day Zero&#39;</a>

India&#39;s IT hub, Bengaluru has been listed&nbsp;at number two in the list carrying cities name that would soon run out of the water.

Surprisingly the city that was also in the list was London; despite the recent heavy rains in January.

In 2017 many reports claimed that Bengaluru faced the worst drought in past 40 years in 2017.

Water in the Bengaluru city comes from&nbsp;number of sources and 80% of that supply is fulfilled by Cauvery river; &nbsp;report says that the place where Cauvery river originates has gone dry.

Other two main sources Krishna Sagar Dam and the Arkavathi has also gone dry.

According to reports as the sewage system need an urgent which leads to the loss of over half of the drinking water to waste.

Some of the cause of water shortage is the sewage system of the city which needs urgent expand.

Though the city is known for its lakes and rivers and not a single river is suitable to use for drinking or bathing purpose.

The number of healthy existing lakes has been reducing to 17 which used to be 51 in 1985.

The city that is at number one is Brazil&#39;s capital, Sao Paulo.&nbsp;

According to reports in 2017 about 850 cities of Brazil are suffering from water scarcity including Sao Paulo which is also in the list of most polluted cities in the world.

Beijing who is also suffering from pollution problem was at number three in the list.

Two-thirds of the water supply comes from groundwater, one third from surface water. Average rainfall has substantially declined since the 1950s. Furthermore, one of the two main rivers supplying the city, the Yongding River, had to be abandoned as a source of drinking water because of pollution.&nbsp;

The full list of cities that would soon run out of the water.

1. Sao Paulo, Brazil 
2. Banglore, India 
3. Beijing, China 
4. Cairo, Egypt 
5. Jakarta, Indonesia 
6. Moscow, Russia 
7. Istanbul, Turkey 
8. Mexico, United States 
9. &nbsp;London, United Kingdom 
10. Tokyo, Japan 
11. Miami, United States

South Africa&#39;s Cape Town has been hit by a severe drought&nbsp;due to climate change and is heading towards <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/drought-forces-some-cape-town-residents-into-midnight-queues-for-water-32064">&#39;day zero</a>&#39;, the day when the water in the dams reaches 13.5 per cent of the capacity which currently three-quarter empty, which probably will fall in April.

&nbsp;

Bengaluru has been listed at number two in the list carrying name of eleven cities that would soon run out of the water

As the Cape Town city is at the edge of becoming a first modern city to run out of the water, India's It hub and Karnataka's Bengaluru is also facing similar circumstances. Also read: As Cape Town drought bites, residents prepare for 'Day Zero' India's IT hub, Bengaluru has been listed at number two in the list carrying cities name that would soon run out of the water. Surprisingly the city that was also in the list was London; despite the recent heavy rains in January. In 2017 many reports claimed that Bengaluru faced the worst drought in past 40 years in 2017. Water in the Bengaluru city comes from number of sources and 80% of that supply is fulfilled by Cauvery river; report says that the place where Cauvery river originates has gone dry. Other two main sources Krishna Sagar Dam and the Arkavathi has also gone dry. According to reports as the sewage system need an urgent which leads to the loss of over half of the drinking water to waste. Some of the cause of water shortage is the sewage system of the city which needs urgent expand. Though the city is known for its lakes and rivers and not a single river is suitable to use for drinking or bathing purpose. The number of healthy existing lakes has been reducing to 17 which used to be 51 in 1985. The city that is at number one is Brazil's capital, Sao Paulo. According to reports in 2017 about 850 cities of Brazil are suffering from water scarcity including Sao Paulo which is also in the list of most polluted cities in the world. Beijing who is also suffering from pollution problem was at number three in the list. Two-thirds of the water supply comes from groundwater, one third from surface water. Average rainfall has substantially declined since the 1950s. Furthermore, one of the two main rivers supplying the city, the Yongding River, had to be abandoned as a source of drinking water because of pollution. The full list of cities that would soon run out of the water. 1. Sao Paulo, Brazil 2. Banglore, India 3. Beijing, China 4. Cairo, Egypt 5. Jakarta, Indonesia 6. Moscow, Russia 7. Istanbul, Turkey 8. Mexico, United States 9. London, United Kingdom 10. Tokyo, Japan 11. Miami, United States South Africa's Cape Town has been hit by a severe drought due to climate change and is heading towards 'day zero', the day when the water in the dams reaches 13.5 per cent of the capacity which currently three-quarter empty, which probably will fall in April.

Bengaluru, London, Tokyo among cities that would soon run out of water!

Hit by a severe drought, the city authorities of South Africa&#39;s Cape town issued a warning to residents&nbsp;saying that it might have to turn off most city taps in mid-April if residents don&#39;t save enough water.

New water restrictions&nbsp; have also been introduced by the authorities on Thursday in an attempt to avoid &quot;Day Zero.&quot;

Residents will be asked to use no more than 50 litres (13.2 gallons) of water daily, down from the current limit of 87 litres (23 gallons).

The day zero is the day when the water in the dams reaches 13.5 per cent of the capacity which currently three-quarter empty, which probably will fall in April.

Most of the city&#39;s water is demand is supplied by dams.

According to the new instructions, taps will be shut off and residents will have to stand in queues to get water which will be only allowed 25 litres per person.

However, water will be supplied to hospitals, clinics and essential services.

Showing proof of consequence of climate change, drought is hurting Cape town&#39;s tourism industry also affecting economy of the city,

Hotels have asked guests not to use baths and to limit showers to two minutes or less, while some restaurants are switching to disposable cups and ditching table linen.

Tourism accounted for an estimated 9 percent of South Africa&#39;s economic output last year, or 412 billion rands ($35 billion).

There is no official data available yet to quantify the impact water shortages are having on numbers&nbsp;

According to the reports if the situation remains same for several more weeks then it will become a first major city to run out of the water.

(With inputs from Reuters)

New water restrictions have also been introduced by the authorities on Thursday in an attempt to avoid 'Day Zero'

Hit by a severe drought, the city authorities of South Africa's Cape town issued a warning to residents saying that it might have to turn off most city taps in mid-April if residents don't save enough water. New water restrictions have also been introduced by the authorities on Thursday in an attempt to avoid "Day Zero." Residents will be asked to use no more than 50 litres (13.2 gallons) of water daily, down from the current limit of 87 litres (23 gallons). The day zero is the day when the water in the dams reaches 13.5 per cent of the capacity which currently three-quarter empty, which probably will fall in April. Most of the city's water is demand is supplied by dams. According to the new instructions, taps will be shut off and residents will have to stand in queues to get water which will be only allowed 25 litres per person. However, water will be supplied to hospitals, clinics and essential services. Showing proof of consequence of climate change, drought is hurting Cape town's tourism industry also affecting economy of the city, Hotels have asked guests not to use baths and to limit showers to two minutes or less, while some restaurants are switching to disposable cups and ditching table linen. Tourism accounted for an estimated 9 percent of South Africa's economic output last year, or 412 billion rands ($35 billion). There is no official data available yet to quantify the impact water shortages are having on numbers According to the reports if the situation remains same for several more weeks then it will become a first major city to run out of the water. (With inputs from Reuters)

South Africa: Cape town issues warning as city faces severe water shortage due to drought

Barely 15 days old, Kinza whimpers at an Islamabad hospital where she is suffering from diarrhoea and a blood infection, a tiny victim among thousands afflicted by Pakistan`s severely polluted and decreasing water supplies.

Cloaked in a colourful blanket, Kinza moves in slow motion, like a small doll. Her mother, Sartaj, does not understand how her daughter became so ill.

&quot;Each time I give her the bottle, I boil the water,&quot; she tells AFP.&nbsp;

But Sartaj and her family drink daily from a stream in their Islamabad neighbourhood -- one of several waterways running through the capital that are choked with filth. Boiling the water can only do so much.

They are not alone. More than two-thirds of households drink bacterially contaminated water and, every year, 53,000 Pakistani children die of diarrhoea after drinking it, says UNICEF.&nbsp;

Cases of typhoid, cholera, dysentery and hepatitis are rampant. According to the UN and Pakistani authorities, between 30 and 40 percent of diseases and deaths nationwide are linked to poor water quality.

And it is costing the developing country billions. In 2012 the World Bank, which has warned that &quot;substantial investments are needed to improve sanitation&quot;, estimated that water pollution costs Pakistan $5.7 billion, or nearly four percent of GDP.

&quot;Water is the number one problem for the country,&quot; says professor Javed Akram, vice chancellor at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad.&nbsp;

In Lahore, Pakistan&#39;s second largest city, the situation is even worse than in Islamabad.

The Ravi River which supplies the city&#39;s 11 million or so inhabitants with drinking water also serves as a spillway to hundreds of factories upstream.

River fish are eaten by locals, but &quot;some papers show that in the fishbones, some heavy metal contamination (is) found,&quot; says Sohail Ali Naqvi, a project officer with the conservation group WWF.

The Ravi is also used to irrigate neighbouring crops, which are themselves rich in pesticides, warns Lahore environmentalist Ahmad Rafay Alam. The lack of water infrastructure is glaring. In a country where the &quot;environment is not part of the political agenda&quot;, there are &quot;nearly no treatment plants&quot;, warns Imran Khalid, a researcher at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

&quot;Those who can afford it buy bottles of water, but what about those who cannot?&quot; he says.

In Karachi, a megacity whose population could be as many as 20 million people, mafias fill the vacuum left by the creaking local network, selling the precious water they bring in by tanker trucks at high prices.&nbsp;

In the face of widespread indignation, Sindh along with Punjab province, together home to more than half of the country&#39;s population, have already announced measures to improve water quality, though their efficacy is yet to be seen.

But Pakistan&#39;s water is not only contaminated -- it is becoming scarce.&nbsp;

Official projections show the country, whose population has increased fivefold since 1960 to some 207 million, will run dry by 2025, when they will be facing an &quot;absolute scarcity&quot; of water with less than 500 cubic metres available per person in Pakistan.&nbsp;

That&#39;s just one third the water available in already parched Somalia now, according to the UN.Pakistan, a country of massive Himalayan glaciers, monsoon rains and floods, has just three major water storage basins, compared with more than a thousand in South Africa or Canada, says Bashir Ahmad of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.

As such any surplus is quickly lost, said Ahmad, who denounced &quot;a lack of political vision&quot; to counter the nationwide water crisis.&nbsp;

While official statistics show that 90 percent of the country&#39;s water is used for agriculture, the massive irrigation network, built decades ago by British colonists, has deteriorated.&nbsp;

Much of its use appears to defy common sense. &quot;We are neglecting the northern areas, where there (is) a lot of rainfall, to focus on irrigated areas like Sindh or Punjab,&quot; says Ahmad.

There, in arid areas where temperatures can soar up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), Pakistan grows water-intensive crops such as rice and sugar cane.

&quot;The crisis is looming. In all urban areas, the water table is going down day by day,&quot; warns Muhammad Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources.

Pumps draw deeper and deeper into the water table, where the arsenic content is naturally higher, he warns. An international study in August said some 50 to 60 million Pakistanis are slowly poisoning themselves with arsenic-tainted water.

Yet waste remains the norm. In Islamabad, roads are sprinkled to drive away dust, cars are washed daily, and verdant lawns watered generously.

&quot;We own our houses, but not our streams,&quot; Ashraf sighs. &quot;That`s why we dump our waste in the rivers.&quot;

More than two-thirds of households drink bacterially contaminated water

Barely 15 days old, Kinza whimpers at an Islamabad hospital where she is suffering from diarrhoea and a blood infection, a tiny victim among thousands afflicted by Pakistan`s severely polluted and decreasing water supplies. Cloaked in a colourful blanket, Kinza moves in slow motion, like a small doll. Her mother, Sartaj, does not understand how her daughter became so ill. "Each time I give her the bottle, I boil the water," she tells AFP. But Sartaj and her family drink daily from a stream in their Islamabad neighbourhood -- one of several waterways running through the capital that are choked with filth. Boiling the water can only do so much. They are not alone. More than two-thirds of households drink bacterially contaminated water and, every year, 53,000 Pakistani children die of diarrhoea after drinking it, says UNICEF. Cases of typhoid, cholera, dysentery and hepatitis are rampant. According to the UN and Pakistani authorities, between 30 and 40 percent of diseases and deaths nationwide are linked to poor water quality. And it is costing the developing country billions. In 2012 the World Bank, which has warned that "substantial investments are needed to improve sanitation", estimated that water pollution costs Pakistan $5.7 billion, or nearly four percent of GDP. "Water is the number one problem for the country," says professor Javed Akram, vice chancellor at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad. In Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city, the situation is even worse than in Islamabad. The Ravi River which supplies the city's 11 million or so inhabitants with drinking water also serves as a spillway to hundreds of factories upstream. River fish are eaten by locals, but "some papers show that in the fishbones, some heavy metal contamination (is) found," says Sohail Ali Naqvi, a project officer with the conservation group WWF. The Ravi is also used to irrigate neighbouring crops, which are themselves rich in pesticides, warns Lahore environmentalist Ahmad Rafay Alam. The lack of water infrastructure is glaring. In a country where the "environment is not part of the political agenda", there are "nearly no treatment plants", warns Imran Khalid, a researcher at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. "Those who can afford it buy bottles of water, but what about those who cannot?" he says. In Karachi, a megacity whose population could be as many as 20 million people, mafias fill the vacuum left by the creaking local network, selling the precious water they bring in by tanker trucks at high prices. In the face of widespread indignation, Sindh along with Punjab province, together home to more than half of the country's population, have already announced measures to improve water quality, though their efficacy is yet to be seen. But Pakistan's water is not only contaminated -- it is becoming scarce. Official projections show the country, whose population has increased fivefold since 1960 to some 207 million, will run dry by 2025, when they will be facing an "absolute scarcity" of water with less than 500 cubic metres available per person in Pakistan. That's just one third the water available in already parched Somalia now, according to the UN.Pakistan, a country of massive Himalayan glaciers, monsoon rains and floods, has just three major water storage basins, compared with more than a thousand in South Africa or Canada, says Bashir Ahmad of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council. As such any surplus is quickly lost, said Ahmad, who denounced "a lack of political vision" to counter the nationwide water crisis. While official statistics show that 90 percent of the country's water is used for agriculture, the massive irrigation network, built decades ago by British colonists, has deteriorated. Much of its use appears to defy common sense. "We are neglecting the northern areas, where there (is) a lot of rainfall, to focus on irrigated areas like Sindh or Punjab," says Ahmad. There, in arid areas where temperatures can soar up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), Pakistan grows water-intensive crops such as rice and sugar cane. "The crisis is looming. In all urban areas, the water table is going down day by day," warns Muhammad Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources. Pumps draw deeper and deeper into the water table, where the arsenic content is naturally higher, he warns. An international study in August said some 50 to 60 million Pakistanis are slowly poisoning themselves with arsenic-tainted water. Yet waste remains the norm. In Islamabad, roads are sprinkled to drive away dust, cars are washed daily, and verdant lawns watered generously. "We own our houses, but not our streams," Ashraf sighs. "That`s why we dump our waste in the rivers."

Poisonous and running out: Pakistan's water crisis

Imrat Namdev and her younger sister Pushpa Namdev were neighbours in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Chhatarpur district, in the drought-hit Indian region of Bundelkhand. Both relied on the same well for water and, according to police, frequently quarrelled over how much the other was using. 
 
In May, during one fight over water, Pushpa, 42, beat Imrat, 48, with a stick, police say. The injured sister was rushed to a hospital, but died there, and Pushpa was charged with murder. 
 
&quot;Our village faces a severe shortage of potable water,&quot; Imrat&#39;s son, Jitendra, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. &quot;Pushpa always felt my mother drew more water from the well.&quot; 
 
As northern and central India continue to suffer through severe drought and oppressive heat, police in Bundelkhand and several other regions are reporting a rise in violent &ndash; and often deadly &ndash; clashes over water. 
 
After almost ten years of below-average rainfall and several consecutive years of drought, the region&rsquo;s rivers, lakes, reservoirs and wells are drying up. 
 
Disputes are a common problem in many places in India that face water shortages. But Indian police report that the fighting is getting more frequent and bloody. In many parts of the country, neighbours, friends and family are turning on each other, desperate to protect what little water they have left, police records suggest. 
 
Last month, in the tribal-dominated Alirajpur district of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, 13-year-old Surmada, her brother and her uncle used a neighbour&#39;s hand-pump, without permission, to get water for the family&#39;s houseguests. 
 
According to police, the owner of the pump and his son attacked the group with arrows. One pierced Surmada&#39;s eye, killing her. 
 
And in the village of Kanker, in Shivpuri district, a large-scale argument broke out after two motorcyclists got into an accident, causing one to spill the 15-litre (4 gallon) container of water he was carrying. 
 
&quot;The two later called their family members and friends and attacked each other with spears, axes and sticks,&quot; said investigating officer Jaisingh Yadav of Sathanwada police station. Fifteen people were injured, five of them women, he said. 
 
Lal Singh Arya, Madhya Pradesh&rsquo;s urban administration and development minister, said the government is using all its resources to try to make sure everyone has water. But he predicted tensions will remain high until monsoon rains &ndash; which began recently in some areas &ndash; take hold. 
 
&ldquo;There have been disputes over water in many parts of the state because of two consecutive droughts,&quot; he said. &quot;The situation will improve with the monsoon rains.&quot; 
 
Only drinking water&nbsp; 
 
Activists say the government&rsquo;s failure to act to better manage water is partly to blame for the rise in violence. 
 
&quot;The present crisis is the fallout of over-consumption, wasteful use and inefficient water governance systems,&quot; said Ajay Dubey, an activist with the environmental non-governmental organisation Prayatna, based in Madhya Pradesh. 
 
&quot;People are going to any lengths for the sake of water. They&#39;ve lost hope that the situation will ever improve. Things were never so bad,&quot; Dubey said. 
 
According to the Madhya Pradesh water resource department, out of the state&#39;s 139 main reservoirs, 82 are at only 10 per cent capacity and 22 are empty. As authorities try to make the remaining water last until monsoon rains help refill the reservoirs, the measures they have implemented have only exacerbated the sense of desperation. 
 
Across much of the region, authorities have banned the use of water for washing cars or trucks, bathing cattle or irrigating crops. In most cities in Madhya Pradesh, the local government only supplies drinking water on one out of every two to seven days. 
 
The district administration of Sehore in Madhya Pradesh has temporarily taken charge of all water sources, whether government or privately owned, so that it can manage use of the dwindling resource. And in three towns in Madhya Pradesh, the use of water for anything other than drinking is banned. 
 
Lokesh Kumar, sub-divisional magistrate of Ichhawar town, said water can&#39;t be used for farming or industrial purposes until July 5, when the monsoon is underway and authorities hope water sources will be replenished. 
 
For many in rural India, the struggle to survive with very little water is proving too difficult. In areas like Bundelkhand, a growing number of people are leaving their homes and abandoning their work in hopes of finding water &ndash; even just a little more &ndash; somewhere else. 
 
Asandi Das, who lives in a village in Chhatarpur district, plans to take his family to Agra, where the famous Taj Mahal is located, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. He said that right now his family has neither food nor water. 
 
He knows it won&#39;t be easy even in Agra &ndash; or anywhere else &ndash; but hopes to get enough work to make ends meet. 
 
&quot;We&#39;ll not be able to survive in our village,&quot; Das said. &quot;There&#39;s just no water. We&#39;ll have to go to some other place if we want to live.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)

The water crisis is apparently the fallout of over-consumption, wastefulness, and inefficient water-governance systems

Imrat Namdev and her younger sister Pushpa Namdev were neighbours in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Chhatarpur district, in the drought-hit Indian region of Bundelkhand. Both relied on the same well for water and, according to police, frequently quarrelled over how much the other was using. In May, during one fight over water, Pushpa, 42, beat Imrat, 48, with a stick, police say. The injured sister was rushed to a hospital, but died there, and Pushpa was charged with murder. "Our village faces a severe shortage of potable water," Imrat's son, Jitendra, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Pushpa always felt my mother drew more water from the well." As northern and central India continue to suffer through severe drought and oppressive heat, police in Bundelkhand and several other regions are reporting a rise in violent – and often deadly – clashes over water. After almost ten years of below-average rainfall and several consecutive years of drought, the region’s rivers, lakes, reservoirs and wells are drying up. Disputes are a common problem in many places in India that face water shortages. But Indian police report that the fighting is getting more frequent and bloody. In many parts of the country, neighbours, friends and family are turning on each other, desperate to protect what little water they have left, police records suggest. Last month, in the tribal-dominated Alirajpur district of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, 13-year-old Surmada, her brother and her uncle used a neighbour's hand-pump, without permission, to get water for the family's houseguests. According to police, the owner of the pump and his son attacked the group with arrows. One pierced Surmada's eye, killing her. And in the village of Kanker, in Shivpuri district, a large-scale argument broke out after two motorcyclists got into an accident, causing one to spill the 15-litre (4 gallon) container of water he was carrying. "The two later called their family members and friends and attacked each other with spears, axes and sticks," said investigating officer Jaisingh Yadav of Sathanwada police station. Fifteen people were injured, five of them women, he said. Lal Singh Arya, Madhya Pradesh’s urban administration and development minister, said the government is using all its resources to try to make sure everyone has water. But he predicted tensions will remain high until monsoon rains – which began recently in some areas – take hold. “There have been disputes over water in many parts of the state because of two consecutive droughts," he said. "The situation will improve with the monsoon rains." Only drinking water Activists say the government’s failure to act to better manage water is partly to blame for the rise in violence. "The present crisis is the fallout of over-consumption, wasteful use and inefficient water governance systems," said Ajay Dubey, an activist with the environmental non-governmental organisation Prayatna, based in Madhya Pradesh. "People are going to any lengths for the sake of water. They've lost hope that the situation will ever improve. Things were never so bad," Dubey said. According to the Madhya Pradesh water resource department, out of the state's 139 main reservoirs, 82 are at only 10 per cent capacity and 22 are empty. As authorities try to make the remaining water last until monsoon rains help refill the reservoirs, the measures they have implemented have only exacerbated the sense of desperation. Across much of the region, authorities have banned the use of water for washing cars or trucks, bathing cattle or irrigating crops. In most cities in Madhya Pradesh, the local government only supplies drinking water on one out of every two to seven days. The district administration of Sehore in Madhya Pradesh has temporarily taken charge of all water sources, whether government or privately owned, so that it can manage use of the dwindling resource. And in three towns in Madhya Pradesh, the use of water for anything other than drinking is banned. Lokesh Kumar, sub-divisional magistrate of Ichhawar town, said water can't be used for farming or industrial purposes until July 5, when the monsoon is underway and authorities hope water sources will be replenished. For many in rural India, the struggle to survive with very little water is proving too difficult. In areas like Bundelkhand, a growing number of people are leaving their homes and abandoning their work in hopes of finding water – even just a little more – somewhere else. Asandi Das, who lives in a village in Chhatarpur district, plans to take his family to Agra, where the famous Taj Mahal is located, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. He said that right now his family has neither food nor water. He knows it won't be easy even in Agra – or anywhere else – but hopes to get enough work to make ends meet. "We'll not be able to survive in our village," Das said. "There's just no water. We'll have to go to some other place if we want to live." (Reuters)

Murder, violence on the rise as parched central India battles for water

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