Water Resources in India

Water Resources in India include the rivers, estuaries, lakes and dams. These water resources in India are helpful in enriching the land and irrigational purposes.Water resources in India are regarded as one of its vital assets. India receives an annual precipitation of about 4000 km3. The rainfall in India shows very high spatial and temporal variability and importance of the situation is that Mousinram near Cherrapunjee receives the highest rainfall in the world, also suffers from a shortage of water during the non-rainy season, almost every year. The total average annual flow per year for the Indian rivers is estimated as 1953 km3. The total annual replenishable groundwater resources are assessed as 432 km3. The annual utilizable surface water and groundwater resources of India are estimated as 690 km3 and 396 km3 per year, respectively. With rapid growing population and improving living standards the pressure on the water resources is increasing and per capita availability of water resources is reducing day by day. The quality of surface and groundwater resources is also deteriorating because of increasing pollutant loads from point and non-point sources. The climate change is expected to affect precipitation and water availability.

Since India is a monsoon land, the majority of rainfall is restricted to a brief period of three to four months. As such, a large part of the country is scarce in surface water supply for a larger part of the year. Even regions like Meghalaya and Konkan receiving heavy rainfall, suffer from water insufficiency during dry months. Ground water resources in India are profuse only in the northern and coastal plains. In other parts of the land, supply is exceedingly inadequate. In reality, in specific places ground water is obtained from a depth of more than 15 metres. So far as safe drinking water resources in India are concerned, it has not yet been possible to supply it to every village. In many parts, people have to trudge for more than a kilometre to fetch water. Therefore, in most parts of the country, availability of water for agricultural and other purposes is insufficient and unbalanced. It is thus urgently needed to chalk out the use of accessible water.

Taking into account the average yearly rainfall of 50 cm for the whole country and its totality area, it has been discovered that total water resources in India are of the order of 167 million hectare-metres. It has further been calculated that only 66 million hectare-metres of water resources in India can be employed for irrigation. Keeping in mind the confines of financial and technological resources, it has been chalked that water will be used in a synchronised manner, totally by 2010 A.D.

Although India occupies only 3.29 million km2 geographical areas, which forms 2.4 percent of the world`s land area, it supports over 15 percent of the world`s population. The population of India as on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,027,015,247 persons. Thus, India supports about 1/6th of world population, 1/50th of world`s land and 1/25th of world`s water resources. India also has a livestock population of 500 million, which is about 20 percent of the world`s total livestock population. More than half of these are cattle, forming the backbone of Indian agriculture. The total utilizable water resources of the country are assessed as 1086 km3.

Before the start of the planning era, i.e. in 1951, only 9.7 million hectare-metres of water resources in India was used for irrigational purposes. By 1973, as much as 18.4 million hectare-meter of water was being used for irrigation. If the land area is adopted as a unit, the position could be put forward in a little different manner. In 1951 only 22.6 million hectares of land was under irrigation. By 1984-85, land under irrigation nearly increased threefold to 67.5 million hectares. By 1990 another 13 million hectares were brought under irrigation, carrying the total to 81 million hectares. This may be judged against the whole potentiality of 113 million hectares by 2010 A.D. This is the gross sown area and not the net sown area, because the former is bound to be bigger than the latter.

Water Resources in IndiaAt present around 28 prercent of the net sown area is under irrigational use, i.e. 45 million hectares, although the gross irrigated area is approximately 80 million hectares. However, not more than 50 percent of the net sown area will eventually be brought under irrigation. This approximated potential embraces even ground water resources that are replenished every year by customary rainfall. These exploitable ground water resources in India are reckoned to be roughly 40 million hectare-metres. From this, only 1/4th i.e. 10 million hectare-metres are being employed at present. The remaining 30 million hectare-metres are in the pipeline for utilisation. This is an overview of the country`s potency and developed water resources in India. The water resources in India are prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious national asset. Best possible development and efficient utilisation of water resources in India, therefore, assumes great significance.

The Ministry of Water Resources lays down policies and programmes for development and regulation of the water resources in India. It includes sectoral planning, coordination, policy guidelines, technical examination and techno-economic appraisal of projects, providing Central assistance to specific projects, facilitation of external assistance and assistance in the resolution of inter-state water disputes, policy formulation, planning and guidance in respect of minor irrigation, command area development and development of ground water resources in India and others.