WATER MANAGEMENT
The sacred river Ganges: Despite government policies implemented to reduce pollution, its efforts have been unsuccessful. Civil society groups have taken up the challenge of supplementing government efforts tio help cleanse the polluting elements from the river.
implementation of water conservation or water efficiency measures, or improved water management practices that reduce or enhance the beneficial use of water. A water conservation measure is, thus, an action, behavioural change, device, technology or improved design or process implemented to reduce water loss, waste or use. The specific goals of water conservation efforts may be put as follows:
• Sustainability: Ensuring availability of water for future generations and also the withdrawal of fresh water from an ecosystem at a rate not ex- ceeding its natural replacement rate. • Energy conservation: As water pumping, delivery and waste-water treatment facilities consume a sig- nificant amount of energy, the need for energy conservation is essential as part of the measures for water management. • Habitat conservation: By minimiz- ing the human use of water, we can
help preserve fresh-water habitats for local wildlife as well as for reducing the need to build new dams and other water diversion infrastructures.
One of the strategies towards conservation could be universal metering. The prevalence of residential water metering varies significantly worldwide. In addition to raising consumer awareness of their water use, metering is recognized as an important means to identify and localize water leakage. Some researchers have
suggested that water conservation efforts should be primarily directed at farmers in light of the fact that crop irrigation accounts for 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water use. The agricultural sector is crucial both economically and politically, and water subsidies are common in most countries. Therefore, the advocates of conservation have urged removal of all subsidies to force farmers to grow more water-efficient crops
and to adopt less wasteful irrigation techniques. However, many view such approaches as too harsh and counter- productive for developing economies.
Water resource management in India India has four per cent of the world’s water resources to support nearly 18 per cent of the world population and 15 per cent of the global livestock. Today, in India, the water crisis has become a reality with per-capita availability declining from 5,150 cubic metres in 1947 to 1,545 cubic metres in 2011. It is expected to be around 1,100 cubic metres by 2050. With its monsoon dominated
climate, spatial and temporal inequities in rainfall, having to address the demand for water from irrigation, industries and a huge population, India is faced with numerous challenges like the availability of water, its optimal management, a better distribution mechanism, the reduction of high rates of leakages, retrieving waste
water and harvesting rainwater. India is one of the few countries
where provisions for environmental conservation exist in the constitution itself. The management of India’s water resources falls under the jurisdiction of multiple government agencies, although the primary responsibility of their development is of the individual states. The central government oversees
the implementation of national policy on resource development and exploitation, and it manages the affairs relating to inter-state and international rivers and river valleys. It also provides technical advice to individual states on water resource development, flood control, coastal erosion, dam safety, navigation and hydropower, if required. The Ministry of Water Resources at the centre is the principal agency responsible for water planning and the development of water resources in India. Besides, a number of non- governmental agencies are also
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