GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER - 3

Water Resources
The three-fourth of the earth’s surface is covered with
water, but only a small proportion of it accounts for
fresh water that can be put to use.

Water scarcity - It is a situation when water is short in

comparison to the minimum requirements for daily use.

Types of water scarcity:

1. Physical water scarcity - is caused by lack of water in nature.

2. Economic water scarcity - is caused by result of economic, social & economic conditions.
1. Water has become a renewable resource through the
hydrological
cycle. The fresh water is mainly obtained from the
surface run-off
and groundwater that is being continually renewed
and recharged
through the hydrological cycle.

2. Given the abundance and renewability of water, it is

difficult to
imagine that we may suffer from water scarcity. For
example: In
Rajasthan, women balancing many ‘matkas’ (earthen
The reasons for water scarcity
1. Growth of population and consequent greater demands for
water and
unequal access to it. A large population requires more
water not only for
domestic use but also to produce more food.
2. Expansion of agriculture: To facilitate higher food-grain
production, water
resources are being over-exploited during dry-season
agriculture. Irrigated
agriculture is the largest consumer of water.
3. Post-independent India witnessed intensive
industrialization and
urbanization, creating vast opportunities for us. The ever-
increasing number
of industries (MNCs) has made matters worse by exerting
5. Moreover, multiplying urban centres with large and dense
populations and
urban lifestyles have not only added to water and energy
requirements but
have further aggravated the problem. If you look into the
housing societies or
colonies in the cities, you would find that most of these
have their own
groundwater pumping devices to meet their water needs.
Not surprisingly, we
find that fragile water resources are being over-exploited
and have caused
their depletion in several of these cities.
6. So far we have focused on the quantitative aspects of
water scarcity. Now, let
Government of India has accorded highest priority to improve
the quality of life and enhance ease of living of people
especially those living in rural areas by announcing the Jal
Jeevan Mission (JJM) started in August 2019.
The Goal of JJM is to enable every rural household get assured
supply of potable piped water at a service level of 55 litres
per capita per day regularly on long-term basis by ensuring
functionality of the tap water connections.
You may have already realised that the need of the
hour is to conserve and manage our water resources.
1. To safeguard ourselves from health hazards.
2. To ensure food security, continuation of our livelihoods and
productive
activities.
1. Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) is being implemented in 8220 water

stressed Gram Panchayats of 229 administrative blocks / talukas in 80

districts of seven states, viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

2. The selected States account for about 37 per cent of the total number

of water - stressed (over-exploited, critical and semi-critical) blocks in

India.

3. One of the key aspects of Atal Jal is to bring in behavioural changes

in the community, from the prevailing attitude of consumption to

conservation and smart water management.

Archaeological and historical records show that from ancient
times we have been constructing sophisticated hydraulic
structures like dams built of stone rubble, reservoirs of lakes,
embankments and canals for irrigation.
Hydraulic Structures in Ancient India:
1. In the first century B.C., Sringaverapura near Allahabad had sophisticated water
harvesting system channelling the flood water of the river Ganga.
2. During the time of Chandragupta Maurya, dams, lakes and irrigation systems
were extensively built.
3. Evidences of sophisticated irrigation works have also been found in Kalinga
(Odisha), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bennur (Karnataka), Kolhapur
(Maharashtra), etc.
4. In the 11th Century, Bhopal Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes of its time was
built.
5. In the 14th Century, the tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi was constructed by Iltutmish
for supplying water to Siri Fort area.
Multi-purpose river project:
Multi-purpose river project is a project of constructing dam
on the river to store water that is used for different purposes
like irrigation, power generation, recreation, etc. (Dam is a
barrier like structure that is used to store water).
The objectives (advantages) of multipurpose project
(Dams):
1. To impound rivers and rainwater that could be used later to
irrigate
agricultural fields.
2. Today, dams are built not just for irrigation but also for
electricity
generation, water supply for domestic and industrial uses,
flood control,
recreation, inland navigation and fish breeding.
Multi-purpose projects, launched after Independence

with their

integrated water resource management approach,

were thought of as the vehicle that would lead the

nation to development and progress, overcoming the

handicap of its colonial past.

Jawaharlal Nehru proudly proclaimed the dams as the

‘temples of modern India’ because dams would

integrate development of agriculture and the village

In recent years, multi-purpose projects and large dams have come under

great scrutiny and opposition for a variety of reasons.

1. Regulating and damming of rivers affect their natural flow causing excessive

sedimentation at the bottom of the reservoir, resulting in rockier stream beds

and poorer habitats for the rivers’ aquatic life.

2. Dams also fragment rivers making it difficult for aquatic fauna to migrate

especially for spawning (depositing eggs).

3. The reservoirs that are created on the floodplains also submerge the existing

vegetation and soil leading to its decomposition over a period of time.

1. Sardar Sarovar Dam has been built over the Narmada River in Gujarat.
2. This is one of the largest water resource projects of India covering four states -
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
3. The Sardar Sarovar project would meet the requirement of water in drought -
prone and desert areas.
4. Sardar Sarovar Project will provide irrigation facilities to 18.45 lakh hectare of
land, covering 3112 villages in 15 districts of Gujarat.
5. It will also irrigate 2,46,000 hectare of land in the strategic desert districts of
Barmer and Jalore in Rajasthan and 37,500 hectare in the tribal hilly tract of
Maharashtra through lift.
6. About 75 per cent of the command area (It is an area which can be irrigated
from a scheme and is fit for cultivation) in Gujarat is drought prone while entire
command in Rajasthan is drought prone. Assured water supply will soon make
this area drought proof.
Irrigation has also changed the cropping pattern of many regions with farmers
shifting to water intensive and commercial crops.

1. This has great ecological consequences like salinisation of the soil.

2. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchaee Yojana has been started on 1 st July, 2015 (with the motto of

Har Khet Ko Paani) which ensures access to some means to protective irrigation for all

agricultural farms in the country, thus bringing much desired rural prosperity.

3. Ironically, the dams that were constructed to control floods have triggered floods due to

sedimentation in the reservoir. Moreover, the big dams have mostly been unsuccessful in

controlling floods at the time of excessive rainfall.

4. Floods have not only devastated life and property but also caused extensive soil erosion.

5. Sedimentation also meant that the flood plains were deprived of silt, a natural fertiliser,

further adding on to the problem of land degradation. It was also observed that the

multipurpose projects induced earthquakes, caused water-borne diseases and pests and

pollution resulting from excessive use of water.

Rainwater Harvesting

System
Rainwater harvesting

It is an efficient method of water conservation and

management system. It is the technique of capturing and

storing rainwater directly from the roof and recharging the

ground water through PVC pipes.

The rooftop rainwater harvesting technique.

1. Rooftop rainwater is collected using a PVC pipes.

2. Water is filtered using sand and bricks.

3. Underground pipe takes water to sump for immediate

usage.

4. Excess water from the sump is taken to the well.

Objectives of Rainwater Harvesting:
1. Water harvesting system was a viable alternative,
both
socio-economically and environmentally.
2. To prevent wastage and pollution of the monsoon
rain.
3. To reduce run-off and control the flooding on roads.
4. To recharge and improve the quality of groundwater
storage and
raise water table level.
5. To meet the demands of domestic water
requirements during the dry
season.
The different techniques of rainwater
harvesting in India.
1. Hilly regions: In hill and mountain regions, people
built diversion
channels like the ‘guls’ or ‘kuls’ of the Western
Himalayas for
agriculture.
2. Rooftop rainwater harvesting: It was commonly
practised to store
drinking water, particularly in Rajasthan.
3. In the flood plains of Bengal, people developed
inundation channels
to irrigate their fields.
5. In the semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan,
particularly in
Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer, almost all the houses
traditionally had
underground tanks or tankas for storing drinking
water. (The tanks
could be as large as a big room; one household in
Phalodi had a tank
that was 6.1 metres deep, 4.27 metres long and 2.44
metres wide).
6. The tankas were part of the well-developed rooftop
rainwater
harvesting system and were built inside the main
8. The rainwater can be stored in the tankas till the
next rainfall
making it an extremely reliable source of drinking
water when all
other sources are dried up, particularly in the
summer. Rainwater or
palar pani, as commonly referred to in these parts, is
considered the
purest form of natural water. Many houses
constructed underground
rooms adjoining the ‘tanka’ to beat the summer heat
as it would keep
the room cool.
11. 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.
Nearly 200
households have installed this system and the
village has earned the
rare distinction of being rich in rainwater.

Tamil Nadu is the first state in India which has

made rooftop rainwater harvesting structure
compulsory to all the houses across the state.
Rooftop rainwater harvesting is the most common practice in
Shillong, Meghalaya. It is interesting because Chirapunjee
and Mawsynram situated at a distance of 55 km. from
Shillong receive the highest rainfall in the world, yet the
state capital Shillong faces acute shortage of water. Nearly
every household in the city has a rooftop rainwater
harvesting structure. Nearly 15-25 per cent of the total water
requirement of the household comes from rooftop water
harvesting.

BAMBOO DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM

In Meghalaya, a 200-year-old system of tapping stream and
spring water by using bamboo pipes, is prevalent. About 18-
20 litres of water enters the bamboo pipe system, gets
transported over hundreds of metres, and finally reduces to
The measures that can be taken for
conservation of water resources.

1. Construction of multi-purpose projects and

canals.

2. Solving river water disputes quickly.

3. Inter-basin transfer of water.

4. Measures to raise underground water table.

5. Rainwater harvesting and watershed

development.

6. Avoiding pollution of waterbodies.

THANK YOU