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Arsenic contamination in water, Bengal, central ground water board, DDT in groundwater, Fluorosis, Groundwater, Groundwater crisis, Groundwater governance, India, Manual on Artificial Recharge of Groundwater, Quality of Groundwater, State-wise groundwater pollution scenario
Can you pinpoint the biggest challenge facing India today? Corruption, Overpopulation or Illiteracy may be your top answers. Think again. The greatest threat may well be lack of access to clean water.
Ground water refers to all water below the surface of the ground. Ground water is a major source of fresh water critical for sustaining life. However, it is nature’s buried treasure, since much of it is stored underground. Underground water is the only source of water in many dry areas. Water is brought to the surface using pumps and used in various sectors. Groundwater is used to irrigate India’s farmland. Beneath the “growing economy, and development facade” of our towns and cities, is the gripping water crisis.The Central Ground Water Board has reported that in the 10 years to 2011, there has been a more than 4m decline in aquifers that supply six major cities, including New Delhi, and Mumbai.
Fluid Situation: Image source: http://www.hindustantimes.com
A number of factors affect the depleting groundwater levels in India. Groundwater is used for irrigating our agricultural lands, used by industries, and for human consumption. Apart from gross misuse especially by the first two sectors, the government by virtue of its poor distribution system, adds to the woes. In cities like Delhi and Pune , nearly 40% of the water supply is lost due to leakages.
Quality of groundwater is also major concern where ground water resources are used for human consumption. Urban development, sewage contamination, run-off from landfills, and widespread application of fertilizers and pesticides are the major contributors polluting our ground water.
Effects of Arsenic and Flouride. Image source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com
Fluoride is another natural contaminant that threatens millions in India. Aquifers in the drier regions of India are rich in fluoride deposits. Fluoride is an essential nutrient for bone and dental health, but when consumed in high concentrations, can lead to crippling damage to the neck and back, and to a range of dental problems. The WHO estimates 30 million in northwestern India are drinking water with high fluoride levels. The reason for this is that water has been pumped from deeper aquifers that contain high concentrations of arsenic. Recent reports suggest that groundwater in parts of Delhi is highly polluted.
Some studies from the Central Pollution Control Board paint a dire picture. After half a century of spraying in the eastern Indian states of West Bengal and Bihar, for example, the Central Pollution Control Board found DDT in groundwater at levels as high as 4,500 micrograms per liter which is several thousand times higher than what is considered a safe dose.
Groundwater depletion has forced cities to seek out alternate supplies of water, either because the groundwater has become unusable as is the case with Jaipur or groundwater will cease to exist by 2015 in the case of Hyderabad.
Perhaps the largest misconception being exploded by the spreading water crisis is the assumption that the ground we stand on and what lies beneath it is solid, unchanging, and inert. Just as the advent of climate change has awakened us to the fact that the air over our heads is an arena of enormous forces in the midst of titanic shifts, the water crisis has revealed that slow-moving though it may be, groundwater is part of a system of powerful hydrological interactions between earth, surface water, sky, and sea that we ignore at our peril. http://www.worldwatch.org
Access to Tap Water in rural homes. Image source: http://www.savethewater.org
Access to clean groundwater is linked to our health, and food security. India’s water crisis is predominately a man-made problem. We not only need to acknowledge the severity of the ground water crisis, but also look at a more holistic approach towards resolving it. There have been some solutions initiated by institutes and ngos. Conserving water, reducing our water footprint, using rain-water to recharge our aquifers are some of the solutions prescribed by scientists and experts. Adequate rainfall can recharge our groundwater. On an individual level, we need to be more responsible in water usage, and urge policy makers for an effective, sustainable solution.
Further references:
State-wise ground water pollution scenario in India
Ground Water Quality Problems due to Industries
Manual on Artificial Recharge of Groundwater – Central Ground Water Board
Ek Sparsh 
Reblogged this on Time for Action.
Thank you Jim.
Adarsh.. Well written. Thanks for writing about it. Keep thinking about solution for my place. Nothing practical has struck us. We have some of the best environment crusaders. (http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/conservation/shreePadre.html)
With all awareness, still drilling borewells.. In past 3-4 yrs, borewells have gone few more hundreds ft deeper. Scary.
Conserving ground water and recharging the water table is the only solution. However, it needs people to get more involved in managing water than looking for outside initiatives to provide the necessary impetus for water conservation.
Well written Adarsh, feel free to use anything you need from our site to assist you in future articles, we need people like you educating the public on water problem, have a wonderful day
Anthony M. Kozuh
Media and Education
Research Director,
Webmaster.
Save The Water™
anthonykozuh@savethewater.org
Thank you Antony! Yes, hopefully people will become more aware and act accordingly, so that the water crisis can be overcome.
Best always,
Adarsh.
Hello, Adarsh
A very good article explaining the distressing situation with regard to the vital elixir sustaining our lives after air to breathe. Adding a spiritual-cultural angle to it, if i may. Creation started in water, as we all know. The end is also through water from what religions tell us. India with Her spiritual wealth covering aeons it seems has forgotten the ancient wisdom in the glitz and glamor of temptations available. We need to teach children at least from now on about the greatness of India in all areas of achievement – including the importance given to water in our lives.
Sadly with every new invention by brilliant engineers/scientists/technologists,a feeling of superior ego has cropped up in humankind that adds fuel to further desire for conquering nature in the absence of a direct opposition from the Divine (God) of any religion or country for that matter or strict nature conservation laws.
Thus faith in God is also lowered besides damage to nature with every new advancement, it seems. A connection between Divine and nature needs to be instilled in children from schools itself.
Best,
Bharath
(sairamshankara3@gmail.com)
Bharath, it is said in Sanskrit. “Prakruthi Rakshathi Rakshitaha”. It means “Nature protects, if it is protected.”