What’s a poor Indian farmer to do when the land is parched at the end of the monsoon season? For many, already in debt, it means migrating to the nearest large city to work for rages, perhaps as a rickshaw driver. Proper planning on the use of water resources might have avoided this upheaval in the life of a farmer. Multiply by millions, and you have some idea of the scale of the problem.
Farmers from a richer caste solve this problem by sinking private wells to use for irrigation. They are in the minority. India estimates that over 450,000,000 people live off rain-fed farming, but lately, monsoons have been rather scant. Droughts are declared in half of the countries districts, and in 2009 only 80 percent of the expected rain feel. Consequently, rice crops fall by 60 percent. India’s main reservoirs are not of much help, as they are only 2/3 full. City dwellers must prepare for days of thirst.
Luckily famine isn’t anticipated because of adequate grain reserves. Nonetheless, India is facing some cold hard facts: the country suffers from extremes in hydrology, poverty and population; droughts are increasing, possibly a forerunner of climate change; smaller monsoon seasons and less rain. Couple this with the rapid ice melting of the Himalayan glaciers, and major rivers will run low.
In India, the overall rainfall would be sufficient if it could be distributed evenly throughout the country. The failure to build water infrastructure is a serious mismanagement. Industries that depend on water, everything from flower growing to manufacturing, are bound to suffer under the current circumstances. Political infighting is often seen as the culprit behind poor water planning. For instance one state irrigation department, despite have many idle employees, has performed no maintenance at all for silt removal or fixing of leaks in canals, dams and irrigation facilities.
Often,, when water canals are dug, they suffer not only from leakage, but from water hoarding from people upstream. Water levels have fallen in many places that used to be rice paddies. To compensate, Indians have more and more had to depend on groundwater, which is now beginning to dry up though overuse. Furthermore, much groundwater is becoming polluted – unfit to drink.
India subsidizes its water and electricity prices, so conservation is not encouraged to the extent that it would be without subsidies. Other remedial approaches include the construction of new dams, teach farmers water efficiency, Best prospects rest with the building of millions of small water storage tanks and mini-reservoirs thought the country administered by local governments. Unless steps are taken now, millions may die of thirst in the years to come.