[2] In addition to the disproportionate availability of freshwater, water scarcity in India also results from drying up of rivers and their reservoirs in the summer months, right before the onset of the monsoons throughout the country.
The crisis has especially worsened in the recent years due to climate change which results in delayed monsoons, consequently drying out reservoirs in several regions.
Several large cities of India have experienced water shortages in recent years, with Chennai being the most prominent in 2019.
The shortage of water affected the entire city of 9 million people and resulted in the closure of several hotels, restaurants and businesses.
The Government of India has launched multiple schemes and programs, including the formation buck of an entire 'Jal Shakti' Ministry to deal with the problem.
In the city of Latur, the depletion of more than 90% of water sources resulted in a major health crisis and people were forced to dig borewells into the ground, exposing themselves to dangerous chemicals and risking contamination.
In June 2016, the count of health problems skyrocketed in Latur, with multiple people showing symptoms of fever, infection, dehydration, vomiting, and kidney ailments.
In addition to this health crisis, hospitals were unable to safely perform any surgery due to the increased threat of post-operative infections and complications resulting from a lack of clean drinking water.
Wild animals are forced to infiltrate villages and cities in India as they attempt to find potable water.
Eventually, local wild animals like elephants, tigers, and spotted deer started to sneak into the cities in search of water.
Some animals like spotted deer get physically attacked by dogs in the process, or they wind up injured or dead in accidents.
The scarcity of water has rendered a lot of valuable farmland in India completely useless and much of the farming industry in these regions has ceased to operate.
Therefore, the effects of climate change on the monsoon seasons is one of the important reasons for decrease in rainfall and water shortage in India.
[15] The pollution mostly results from untreated sewage from densely populated cities, industrial waste as well as due to religious ceremonies in and around the river.
Bangalore, for example, experienced replenished ground water levels in 2021 due to COVID lockdown induced reduced demand and significantly increased rainfall.
[23] The 2018 report also noted that approximately 200,000 people die in India each year due to the lack of access to safe drinking water.
It has been estimated that the available waste water in 2021 could have potentially grown 28 million metric tons of selected produce amounting to INR 966 billion in revenue.
[30] There have been criticisms of government policies surrounding waste water treatment, including for their lack of incentives, enforcement mechanisms, or usage specific quality standards.
It aims to set quality standards, monitoring and compliance measures for a broad range of its usage and recommends national and state level implementations.
[35] The first Ganges cleaning program (Ganga Action Plan) was started in 1985 with an aim to tackle the problem of excessive water pollution in the river.
[37][38] India has a huge number of Non Government Organisations that focus on solving water shortage problems for the citizens in affected areas.
[39][40] Most of the non-governmental organizations work on raising social awareness and establishing water resources projects for the heavily affected parts of the country.
A lot of non-governmental organisations in India are involved in establishing water harvesting structures in rural areas.
For example, villagers in Palve Budruk, near Ahmednagar, developed a catchment plan covering 1,435 hectares – over 80% of the land available with support from UNICEF.
[42] The Jal Bhagirathi Foundation is one of the most prominent non profit organisations in India dealing with the issues of water scarcity in the desert terrains of Rajasthan.
[43] The organisation claims to harvest over 4000 million litres of water every year along with reclamation of 100+ hectares of barren land.
In Banglore, Biome Environmental Trust and Friends of Lakes launched citizen initiatives to dig up to 1 million recharging wells and connect them to the groundwater using funnels.
A lot of government-supported start - ups such as NeeRain are also providing ways for collecting rainwater in order to recharge underground water reservoirs.
India is already looking into installing desalination plants near the coastal regions to fulfil the water needs of cities such as Chennai.
[37] The Indian Agriculture Institute has been promoting the drip irrigation technology to relieve the water scarcity in India for decades.