Taps running dry? Report highlights India's growing drinking water woes

By Raj Kumar Sinha*
As the heat begins to set in, the drinking water crisis starts. The administrative machinery also begins efforts to ensure that people do not face water scarcity. However, the issue of saving and conserving water often remains absent from the discourse between the government and society. Ninety-seven percent of the Earth is water, out of which only 2.5 to 2.75 percent is potable. India was included in the list of water-stressed countries for the first time in 2011. According to a report released by UNICEF on March 18, 2021, 91.4 million children in India are facing a severe water crisis.
It is estimated that by 2030, about 40 percent of the country's population will face a water crisis. According to a report released by the World Resources Institute (WRI), if policies related to water management are not improved, India, China, and Central Asia could face a loss equivalent to 7 to 12 percent of their GDP in the next 27 years. Seventy percent of the country's groundwater sources have dried up, and the rate of replenishment has fallen below 10 percent.
Cities like Chennai and Bengaluru are in the news headlines regarding water scarcity. Therefore, laws were made to make potable water available to all and to conserve it. In Part (9) of the Constitution, Article 243(G) of the Seventy-third Amendment gives the Panchayat the power to plan for economic development and social justice, which is listed in the Eleventh Schedule. Item number 11 mentions drinking water. Article 14(2)(H) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979, mentions water provisions for women. Article 24(2)(C) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, states that obtaining safe drinking water from clean sources is a right of children. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, is an important law in India to prevent water pollution. It provides for two types of regulatory methods to prevent the discharge of waste into rivers and streams: (1) the Central Pollution Control Board and (2) the State Pollution Control Boards. This law was amended in 2024. The original Act had provisions for imprisonment ranging from one and a half to six years along with fines for violations of water pollution.
However, the new bill proposes to remove the provision of imprisonment for most violations and replace it with a fine ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹1.5 million. The Environment Protection Act, 1986, also includes rules related to water quality. The Madhya Pradesh Drinking Water Testing Act, 1986, is also quite important. According to Section 41 of the Central Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and Rule 23 of the Madhya Pradesh Biological Diversity Rules, 2004, the Village Level Biodiversity Committee has to maintain the ecological system within its jurisdiction, which includes river conservation.
Section 5(b) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, states, "to ensure that the sustainably used traditional water bodies, forest areas and other ecologically sensitive areas are adequately protected." Clause 12(1)(b) of the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Provisions (Extension to Scheduled Areas) PESA Rules-2022 also mentions strong provisions such as "to manage natural resources within the area of the village, including land, water and forests, in accordance with their traditions and1 in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution and other relevant laws in force at that time, with due regard." However, despite all the legal provisions, the condition of water sources is revealed by this report. According to the State of Environment (SoE) Report 2023, released on the occasion of Environment Day, 279 out of the country's total 603 rivers, i.e., 46 percent, are polluted.
Among the states, Maharashtra has the highest number of polluted rivers (55), followed by Madhya Pradesh (19). Therefore, instead of administrative management of rivers, a monitoring mechanism should be developed from the perspective of environmental management, which must include experts with an understanding of the ecosystem, climate change, and biodiversity. The tribal Gond queen Rani Durgavati of Mandla had built 52 ponds in Jabalpur city, but due to illegal construction and urbanization, only a handful of incomplete ponds remain.
The rural population of Madhya Pradesh depends on hand pumps. According to April 2023 data, there were 564,290 hand pumps in the state, out of which 14,191 were not yielding water. The main reasons for the decrease in water sources are: increase in per capita water consumption, decline in groundwater, pollution of natural sources of water, decrease in traditional water sources, indiscriminate cutting of trees, and soil erosion.
In such a situation, the government and society will have to make concrete efforts at the ground level together, such as:

Identifying water sources and, after discussion in the Gram Sabha, entrusting the responsibility for their conservation and management to the village committee.
Discussing the prevention of defecation near the village's rivers and drains and its adverse effects in the Gram Sabha, and forming a village-level monitoring committee.
Forming a village-level study team for the traditional methods of water conservation, management, and control of the village community.
Implementing 'bori bandhan' (check dams made of sandbags) or other measures to stop the water of nearby rivers and drains after the monsoon.

Establishing a rainwater harvesting system around the village to stop rainwater. Reviving all dried-up rivers, ponds, lakes, and other water bodies.
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*Bargi Dam Displaced and Affected Association

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