Water Resources
Water covers nearly 3/4th of the Earth’s surface.
97.5% of the total water on Earth is in oceans.
2.5% is freshwater that exists in rivers and glaciers.
India receives 4% of the world’s rainfall and it ranks 133 in terms of water
availability perperson in a year.
Reasons for Water Scarcity in India?
Quantitative Aspect:
Low rainfall
Unequal distribution of water resources
Increasing demands because of the rapidly rising population
Large scale industrialization
Increased requirement of irrigation owing to the continuous expansion of agriculture
Increasing urbanization
Qualitative Aspect
Bad quality of water due to discharge of industrial wastes, chemicals, pesticides and
fertilisers used in agriculture.
Land pollution
Water pollution
Multi-Purpose River Valley Projects (DAMS)
From ancient times we have been constructing sophisticated hydraulic structures like dams
built of stone rubble, reservoirs or lakes, embankments and canals for irrigation.
In the first century B.C., Sringaverapura near Allahabad had sophisticated water harvesting
system channeling the flood water of the river Ganga.
During the time of Chandragupta Maurya, dams, lakes and irrigation systems were extensively
built.
In the 11th Century, Bhopal Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes of its time was built.
In the 14th Century, the tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi was constructed by Iltutmish for supplying
water to Siri Fort area.
Uses/Advantages of Dams:
For generation of Hydro-electricity.
Dams are built across rivers; these are big reservoirs that store river and rainwater
that is used for and for irrigation later.
Water supply for domestic and industrial uses.
Flood control.
Recreation
Inland navigation.
Fish breeding.
Some major Multipurpose Projects of India
Bhakra Nangal Project on Sutlej River (Himachal Pradesh-Punjab)
Hirakud Project on river Mahanadi (Orissa)
Damodar Valley Project on Damodar River (Jharkhand-West Bengal)
Narmada Valley Project on Narmada River (Also known as sardar Sarovar- Gujrat)
Disadvantages of Multi-Purpose Projects
Regulating the flow of rivers results in poor sediment flow and excessive
sedimentation at the bottom of the reservoir. This results in rockier stream
beds that are not suitable for sustaining the aquatic life.
Dams control the flow of rivers, which creates difficulty for the aquatic
animals to migrate.
Dams also submerge the nearby vegetation and habitats.
Multipurpose projects cause large scale displacement of people.
Extensive irrigation causes the salinization of soil.
The sedimentation at the base of the reservoir causes floods in the event of
heavy rainfall.
Narmada Bachao Andolan
A non-governmental organization (NGO).
Against the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River in Gujarat.
Its focus is on environmental imbalance created by the dam and also on
therehabilitation of the displaced people.
Mobilized tribes, farmers and environmentalists.
Ms. Medha Patkar is the leader of this NGO.
Rainwater Harvesting
The system of collecting and storing rainwater.
Prevalent and useful in water deficient regions such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu etc.
Uses
For recharging ground water
For domestic usage
For irrigating crops
Roof-Top Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater is collected in underground tanks connected to the
rooftop through pipes.
Rain falling on rooftops travels down the pipes to the tanks and is stored
forfuture usage.
Also used for recharging hand pumps and tube wells.
Most common is the desert districts of Rajasthan.
Bamboo Drip Irrigation System
Practiced in Meghalaya.
A 200-year-old system.
Water from the streams is tapped using bamboo pipes and used for irrigating
theroots of plants.
Long bamboo pipes are connected with each other to form a chain from the
streamto the crops.
Water flows through the pipes and drops directly at the site of the plant.
Note:
Jawaharlal Nehru proudly proclaimed the dams as the ‘temples of
modern India’; the reason being that it would integrate development of
agriculture and the village economy with rapid industrialisation and
growth of the urban economy.
In hill and mountainous regions, people-built diversion channels like the ‘guls’
or ‘kuls’ of the Western Himalayas for agriculture.
In Gendathur, a remote backward village in Mysuru, Karnataka, villagers have
installed, in their household’s rooftop, rainwater harvesting system to meet
their water needs.
Tamil Nadu is the first state in India which has made roof top rainwater
harvesting structure compulsory to all the houses across the state.
