Acccess To Adequate Water In Relation To Population Growth In India

Introduction

Water is one of the most important of all natural resources as it is vital for all life on this planet. Difficult to purify, expensive to transport and impossible to substitue there is a finite supply of freshwaster on earth.

At present the one issue that overarches all other environmental issues is that of population growth. (McNicol, 2000), (SIT, 2006)

As populations increase globally and water use per person rises, the demand for freshwater is increasing.   31 countries counting for 8% of the world population face chronic freshwater shortages and it is estimated that by the year 2025, 48 countries (35% of the world’s projected population) are expected to face shortages affecting more than 2.8 billion people. (PC, 2006)

India is one country that is currently in the midst of a major water crisis   and the aim of this papers is to explore how the issues of access to adequate water for drinking, sanitation and producing food are related to this countries population growth and demands.
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Population and Water Usage of India

The statistics for India are alarming. India is already the second most populated nation in the world with the human population exceeding 1 billion. Current estimates for population growth indicate that the human population of the region will double in the next twenty to forty years, while global demand for dwindling water resources will continue to rise at almost twice that rate. It is estimated that by the year 2030 India will have surpassed China (refer figure.1).

In India, overall water demand will increase from 552 BCM (Billion Cubic Metres) to 1050 BCM by 2025, which will require the use of all the available water resources in the country. Of the present water usage, 92% is devoted to agriculture, with roughly 3% used in industry and only 5% for domestic purposes like drinking water and sanitation. Demand from the industrial and domestic sectors is expected to increase with the growing
population,...