With demand poised to outstrip supply by 2030. Water emergency is not a distant threat, it is already unfolding
In India we have taken natural resources for granted. We care little about them but exploit them to hilt realising little that these resources are limited and if not consumed in a responsible way would perish faster than we can imagine. India today stands on the brink of a monumental water crisis that threatens to derail its economic progress, destabilise food security, and imperil public health. Despite housing 18 per cent of the world’s population, India holds only 4 per cent of its freshwater resources.
NITI Aayog’s 2018 Composite Water Management Index had already sounded the alarm — 600 million Indians are living under high to extreme water stress. By 2030, demand could double the available supply. Yet, despite the growing evidence, the country continues to respond with fragmented policies and piecemeal solutions. The roots of this crisis are deep and multi-layered.
One of the primary causes is the grossly unequal distribution of water across the country. While some states struggle with devastating floods, others face year-round droughts. Climate change has intensified this disparity. Adding to this challenge is India’s overwhelming dependence on groundwater. Excessive extraction has pushed India to become the world’s largest user of groundwater. Replenishment rates simply cannot keep up. Climate change has transformed the water equation from a future threat to a present crisis. Erratic rainfall patterns have made agriculture precarious. The shrinking glaciers have further led to the shortage of water across storage systems. Glaciers in the Himalayas — the lifeline of rivers like the Ganga and Indus — are melting at alarming rates.
The contamination of water sources presents an equally serious challenge. The 2024 Annual Groundwater Quality Report revealed that 70 per cent of India’s water is contaminated, with arsenic and fluoride contaminating drinking water for over 230 million people across 19 states. Untreated sewage and industrial waste continue to choke rivers, rendering them unfit for use. The toll on public health is staggering. According to NITI Aayog, nearly 200,000 lives are lost each year to waterborne diseases — a tragedy that is preventable. Cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi have already experienced water crises of a scale once thought unimaginable. According to NITI Aayog, 21 Indian cities could exhaust their groundwater by 2030, impacting over 100 million people. There is, however, a way forward. But it requires systemic transformation. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) must become the norm rather than the exception. Water cannot be viewed in isolation — it is intricately connected with energy, agriculture, climate, and health. National policies must reflect this reality. Nature-based solutions like wetland restoration need to be scaled up alongside cutting-edge technologies such as real-time monitoring and water accounting systems that can track usage and redistribute resources more equitably. A water-secure India is the bedrock of economically vibrant, and socially just future. The consequences of inaction will be huge. What remains to be seen is whether India will rise to the challenge.
