Water resources in

India

Water resources in India includes information on precipitation, surface and groundwater storage
and hydropower potential. India experiences an average precipitation of 1,170 millimetres (46 in)
per year, or about 4,000 cubic kilometres (960 cu mi) of rains annually or about 1,720 cubic
metres (61,000 cu ft) of fresh water per person every year.[1] India accounts for 18% of the world
population and about 4% of the world’s water resources. One of the proposed solutions to solve
the country’s water woes is the Indian rivers interlinking project.[2] Some 80 percent of its area
experiences rains of 750 millimetres (30 in) or more a year. However, this rain is not uniform in
time or geography. Most of the rains occur during its monsoon seasons (June to September),
with the north east and north receiving far more rains than India's west and south. Other than
rains, the melting of snow over the Himalayas after winter season feeds the northern rivers to
varying degrees. The southern rivers, however experience more flow variability over the year. For
the Himalayan basin, this leads to flooding in some months and water scarcity in others. Despite
extensive river system, safe clean drinking water as well as irrigation water supplies for
sustainable agriculture are in shortage across India, in part because it has, as yet, harnessed a
small fraction of its available and recoverable surface water resource. India harnessed 761 cubic
kilometres (183 cu mi) (20 percent) of its water resources in 2010, part of which came from
unsustainable use of groundwater.[3][4] Of the water it withdrew from its rivers and groundwater
wells, India dedicated about 688 cubic kilometres (165 cu mi) to irrigation, 56 cubic kilometres
(13 cu mi) to municipal and drinking water applications and 17 cubic kilometres (4.1 cu mi) to
industry.[1]

Vast area of India is under tropical climate which is conducive throughout the year for
agriculture due to favourable warm and sunny conditions provided perennial water supply is
available to cater to the high rate of evapotranspiration from the cultivated land.[5] Though the
overall water resources are adequate to meet all the requirements of the country, the water
supply gaps due to temporal and spatial distribution of water resources are to be bridged by
interlinking the rivers of India.[6] The total water resources going waste to the sea are nearly
1200 billion cubic meters after sparing moderate environmental / salt export water requirements
of all rivers.[7] Food security in India is possible by achieving water security first which in turn is
possible with energy security to supply the electricity for the required water pumping as part of
its rivers interlinking.[8]

Instead of opting for centralised mega water transfer projects which would take long time to
give results, it would be cheaper alternative to deploy extensively shade nets over the cultivated
lands for using the locally available water sources efficiently to crops throughout the year.[9]
Plants need less than 2% of total water for metabolism requirements and rest 98% is for cooling
purpose through transpiration. Shade nets or polytunnels installed over the agriculture lands
suitable for all weather conditions would reduce the potential evaporation drastically by
reflecting the excessive and harmful sun light without falling on the cropped area.

Annual average rainfall in India.

Map showing rivers and flood prone areas in India

Drought, floods and shortage of drinking water

The precipitation pattern in India varies dramatically across distance and over calendar months.
Much of the precipitation in India, about 85%, is received during summer months through
monsoons in the Himalayan catchments of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin. The north
eastern region of the country receives heavy precipitation, in comparison with the north western,
western and southern parts. The uncertainty in onset of annual monsoon, sometimes marked by
prolonged dry spells and fluctuations in seasonal and annual rainfall is a serious problem for the
country.[10] Large area of the country is not put to use for agriculture due to local water scarcity
or poor water quality.[11] The nation sees cycles of drought years and flood years, with large
parts of west and south experiencing more deficits and large variations, resulting in immense
hardship particularly the poorest farmers and rural populations.[12] Dependence on erratic rains
and lack of irrigation water supply regionally leads to crop failures and farmer suicides. Despite
abundant rains during June–September, some regions in other seasons see shortages of
drinking water. Some years, the problem temporarily becomes too much rainfall, and weeks of
havoc from floods.[13]

Surface and ground water storage

India currently stores only 6% of its annual rainfall or 253 billion cubic metres (8.9 ×1012 cu ft),
while developed nations strategically store 250% of the annual rainfall in arid river basins.[14]
India also relies excessively on groundwater resources, which accounts for over 50 percent of
irrigated area with 20 million tube wells installed. India has built nearly 5,000 major or medium
dams, barrages, etc. to store the river waters and enhance ground water recharging.[15] The
important dams (59 nos) have an aggregate gross storage capacity of 170 billion cubic metres
(6.0 ×1012 cu ft).[16] About 15 percent of India’s food is being produced using rapidly depleting /
mining groundwater resources. The end of the era of massive expansion in groundwater use is
going to demand greater reliance on surface water supply systems.[17]

India is not running out of water whereas water is running out of India without extracting its full
potential benefits.[18] Land based water reservoirs construction is very costly after meeting the
land & property compensation and rehabilitation expenditures. To create adequate water
storage, fresh water coastal reservoirs located on the sea area near the river deltas, is the
suitable option socioeconomically without land and forest submergence problems.[19][20]

Hydro power potential

Indian rivers have fairly good hydro power potential when they descend from their source
mountains (Himalayas, Western Ghats, Aravali Range, Vindhya Mountains, Eastern Ghats, etc)
before the water consumption or flowing to the sea. The hydro power potential keeps on varying
depending on the technological developments including alternate power sources, priorities and
limitations.

Rivers
Map of India based on survey of rivers of India.

The major rivers of India are:[21]

Flowing into the Bay of Bengal: Brahmaputra, Ganges, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri,
etc.

Flowing into the Arabian Sea: Indus, Narmada, Tapti, etc.

Lakes

Lakes in India include Pulicat Lake, Kolleru Lake, Pangong Tso, Chilika Lake, Kuttanad Lake,
Sambhar Salt Lake, and Pushkar Lake.

Wetlands

India is a signatory of the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and
sustainable utilisation of wetlands[22]

Water supply and sanitation

Water supply and sanitation in India continue to be inadequate, despite long-standing efforts by
the various levels of government and communities at improving coverage. The level of
investment in water and sanitation, albeit low by international standards, has increased during
the 2000s. Access has also increased significantly. For example, in 1980 rural sanitation
coverage was estimated at 1% and reached 21% in 2008.[23][24] Also, the share of Indians with
access to improved sources of water has increased significantly from 72% in 1990 to 88% in
2008.[23] At the same time, local government institutions in charge of operating and maintaining
the infrastructure are seen as weak and lack the financial resources to carry out their functions.
In addition, no major city in India is known to have a continuous water supply[25] and an
estimated 72% of Indians still lack access to improved sanitation facilities.

In spite of adequate average rainfall in India, there is large area under the less water
conditions/drought prone. There are lot of places, where the quality of groundwater is not good.
Another issue lies in interstate distribution of rivers. Water supply of the 90% of India’s territory is
served by inter-state rivers. It has created growing number of conflicts across the states and to
the whole country on water sharing issues.[26]

A number of innovative approaches to improve water supply and sanitation have been tested in
India, in particular in the early 2000s. These include demand-driven approaches in rural water
supply since 1999, community-led total sanitation, a public-private partnerships to improve the
continuity of urban water supply in Karnataka, and the use of micro-credit to women in order to
improve access to water.

Water quality issues

When sufficient salt export is not taking place from a river basin to the sea in an attempt to
harness the river water fully, it leads to river basin closer and the available water in downstream
area of the river basin becomes saline and/ or alkaline water. Land irrigated with saline or
alkaline water becomes gradually in to saline or alkali soils.[27][28][29] The water percolation in
alkali soils is very poor leading to waterlogging problems. Proliferation of alkali soils would
compel the farmers to cultivate rice or grasses only as the soil productivity is poor with other
crops and tree plantations.[30] Cotton is the preferred crop in saline soils compared to many
other crops as their yield is poor.[31] In north eastern states high acidic nature of soils due to
excessive rainfall is effecting the agriculture productivity.[32] Interlinking water surplus rivers with
water deficit rivers is needed for the long term sustainable productivity of the river basins and
for mitigating the anthropogenic influences on the rivers by allowing adequate salt export to the
sea in the form of environmental flows.[33] Also baseflows in rivers are to be restored by
stopping excessive ground water use and augmenting surface water by canals to achieve
adequate salt export to the sea and preserve the water quality.
Water disputes

There is intense competition for the water available in the inter state rivers such as Kavery,
Krishna, Godavari, Vamsadhara, Mandovi, Ravi-Beas-Sutlez, Narmada, Tapti, Mahanadi, etc.
among the riparian states of India in the absence of water augmentation from the water surplus
rivers such as Brahmaputra, Himalayan tributaries of Ganga and west flowing coastal rivers of
western ghats.

Water pollution

Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, just 209 have partial treatment facilities, and only 8 have
full wastewater treatment facilities (WHO 1992).[34] 114 cities dump untreated sewage and
partially cremated bodies directly into the Ganges River.[35] Downstream, the untreated water is
used for drinking, bathing, and washing.[36] This situation is typical of many rivers in India and
river Ganga is less polluted comparatively.[37]

Ganga

The Ganges River is the largest river in India. The extreme pollution of the Ganges affects 600
million people who live close to the river. The river water starts getting polluted when it enters
the plain. The commercial exploitation of the river has risen in proportion to the rise of
population. Gangotri and Uttarkashi are good examples too. Gangotri had only a few huts of
Sadhus until the 1970s and the population of Uttrakashi has swelled in recent years.

Yamuna

Yamuna is one of the few sacred rivers in India which is worshipped by many Indians as a
goddess. However, due to the exponentially rising amounts of tourists and pilgrims with addition
to the rising population of the inhabitants of its banks, Yamuna has come under extreme duress.
Due to this unprecedented rise, the river has become polluted. The river has become extremely
polluted such that the Indian government has launched the Yamuna Action Plan to help the
cause.

Water security
In India, there is competition for water resources of all inter state rivers except the main
Brahmaputra river among the riparian states of India and also with neighboring countries which
are Nepal, China, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, etc.[38] Vast area of the Indian subcontinent is
under tropical climate which is conducive for agriculture due to favorable warm and sunny
conditions provided perennial water supply is available to cater to the high rate of
evapotranspiration from the cultivated land. Though the overall water resources are adequate to
meet all the requirements of the subcontinent, the water supply gaps due to temporal and
spatial distribution of water resources among the states and countries in the subcontinent are to
be bridged.

There is intense competition for the water available in the inter state rivers such as Kavery,
Krishna, Godavari, Vamsadhara, Mandovi, Ravi-Beas-Sutlez, Narmada, Tapti, Mahanadi, etc.
among the riparian states of India in the absence of water augmentation from the water surplus
rivers such as Brahmaputra, Himalayan tributaries of Ganga and west flowing coastal rivers of
western ghats. All river basins face severe water shortage even for drinking needs of people,
cattle and wild life during the intense summer season when the rainfall is negligible.

Water security can be achieved along with energy security as it is going to consume electricity to
link the surplus water areas with the water deficit areas by lift canals, pipe lines, etc.[39]

See also

Environment of India List of drainage basins by area

Kalpasar Project List of rivers of India by discharge

List of rivers by dissolved load List of rivers by discharge

Ground water in India List of dams and reservoirs in India

Interstate River Water Disputes Act National Water Policy

Irrigation in India

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neighbours-become-enemies/165052.html) . The Statesman. Retrieved 21 September 2016.

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22. "Wet lands atlas of India 2011" (http://www.indiawaterportal.org/node/18315) . Retrieved 29 May 2016.

23. UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation estimate for 2008 based on
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trends to 2010. See JMP tables (http://www.wssinfo.org/datamining/tables.html)

24. Planning Commission of India. "Health and Family Welfare and AYUSH : 11th Five Year Plan" (http://planni
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78

25. "Development Policy Review" (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEX

T/0,,contentMDK:20980493~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html) . World Bank.
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26. "Water scarcity and India « For the Changing Planet" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110924062622/htt
p://greencleanguide.com/2011/07/19/water-scarcity-and-india/) . greencleanguide.com. Archived from
the original (http://greencleanguide.com/2011/07/19/water-scarcity-and-india/) on 2011-09-24.

27. Keller, Jack; Keller, Andrew; Davids, Grant (January 1998). "River basin development phases and
implications of closure" (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237403006) . Retrieved
25 September 2020.

28. David Seckler. "The New Era of Water Resources Management: From "Dry" to "Wet" Water Savings" (htt
p://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/pub001/REPORT01.PDF) (PDF).
Retrieved 5 June 2016.
29. Andrew Keller; Jack Keller; David Seckler. "Integrated Water Resource Systems: Theory and Policy
Implications" (http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/pub003/REPORT0
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30. Oregon State University, USA. "Managing irrigation water quality" (http://extension.oregonstate.edu/umati
lla/mf/sites/default/files/pnw597-e.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 28 August 2012.

31. "Irrigation water quality—salinity and soil structure stability" (http://222065430381538974.weebly.com/u

ploads/1/1/5/2/11520542/irrigation_water_quality_-_salinity_-_derm.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 5 January
2016.

32. "Extreme rainfall acidifies land in India's northeastern states" (https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/envi

ronment/extreme-rainfall-acidifies-land-in-india-s-northeastern-states-62330) . Retrieved 2 December
2018.

33. "India on verge of looming soil crisis: Report" (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-busin

ess/india-on-verge-of-looming-soil-crisis-report/article9985289.ece) . Retrieved 7 December 2017.

34. Russell Hopfenberg and David Pimentel HUMAN POPULATION NUMBERS AS A FUNCTION OF FOOD
SUPPLY (http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/populatn.htm) oilcrash.com Retrieved on- February 2008

35. National Geographic Society. 1995. Water: A Story of Hope. Washington (DC): National Geographic
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36. "River Stretches for Restoration of Water Quality, MoEF" (http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/fi

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37. "Water Quality Database of Indian rivers, MoEF" (http://cpcbenvis.nic.in/water_quality_data.html#) .

Retrieved 15 September 2016.

38. "India's water economy bracing for a turbulent future, World Bank report, 2006" (http://www-wds.worldba
nk.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/06/25/000333037_20080625020800/Rende
red/PDF/443760PUB0IN0W1Box0327398B01PUBLIC1.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 29 May 2015.

39. Brown, Lester R. (November 29, 2013). "India's dangerous 'food bubble' " (https://web.archive.org/web/20
131218120818/http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/29/opinion/la-oe-brown-india-food-bubble-famine-
20131129) . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original (https://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/29/
opinion/la-oe-brown-india-food-bubble-famine-20131129) on December 18, 2013. Retrieved July 13,
2014. Alt URL (http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2013/update119)

External links

Cook-Anderson, Gretchen (12 August 2009). "NASA Satellites Unlock Secret to Northern
India's Vanishing Water" (http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html) .
 NASA. Retrieved 26 November 2010.

Children's Eyes on Earth 2012 photography contest – in pictures (https://www.theguardian.co

m/environment/gallery/2012/oct/09/childrens-eyes-earth-photography-in-pictures#/?picture=
397396825&index=17) Peaceful Co-existence Guardian 9 October 2012

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