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Dear Friends,
The problem of water scarcity in India and many developing nation is not new and everyone is quite aware of it these days. But incidentally, I met one of my school friend and he 
 came up with really ignorant side towards water scarcity problems in India. For that reason, I am writing an email to all my friends to reach out to them about the issues and solution of this problem. Those who are aware of the problems may simply surpass the email and I really hope that you all can include some more to this email series. 

Regards
Avi Sharma

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Water Scarcity: For people to understand( General and India specific)

The word 'water scarcity' describes the relationship between demand for water and its availability. There is no fix figure above which an area is called as surplus water area or below which an area is called as scare water area due to the fact that needs of each society is very different. Even our class of living influences water requirement and thus each region defines it's own parameter to judge water scarcity. But if you feel that water is in abundance seeing the massive sea then let me tell you that 1/5th of the world's population lives in water scare area and note that many more people are following in that 1/5th list with each passing day. 

Connection of rainfall and water- People assume especially in developing nations that heavy rainfall in few concentrated months (usually 4 in number) can easily provide us significant water for the months to comes. That philosophy is right but due to lack of infrastructure and lack of areas for making reservoirs results in holding of only a limited quantity of water for use. It should also be respected that with each reservoirs we make, many people/citizens loses their villages/towns and that is why we need to restrict ourself with size and quantity of reservoirs/region. 

Why should India address this problem ?

India’s population is expected to increase from 1.13 Bn in 2005 to 1.66 Bn by 2050.  Out of that the urban population is expected to grow from 29.2% of the total population in 2007 to 55.2% by 2050. First and foremost result of the increasing population is the growing demand for more food-grains and allied agricultural produce. It results in expanding area of land under the crops especially high yielding crop varieties. It is estimated that the production of water-intensive crops is expected to grow by 80% between 2000 and 2050. For example Rice, wheat and sugarcane together constitute about 90% of India’s crop production and are the most water-consuming crops. In addition, states with the highest production of rice and/or wheat are expected to face groundwater depletion of up to 75% by 2050. (Facts and figures are sourced from: Grail Research)

Total water consumed by the Indian industry

Another area of concern is the water Intensive Industries. India’s economic growth has been gargantuan in the last decade. Foreign direct investment equity inflow in the industrial sector has grown to $17.68 Bn in 2007–2008. Steel and energy sector will need to keep pace in order to fulfill the demands of sectors like manufacturing and production. Annual per capita consumption of power is expected to reach its maximum level as compared to present installed power generation capacity. As per the ministry of power, thermal power plants which are the most water-intensive industrial units, constitute around65% of the installed power capacity in India.  Industrial water consumption is expected to shoot up its growth between 2000 and 2050. (Facts and figures are sourced from: Grail Research)

All of this will result in increased consumption of water. That is why there is urgent requirement to address the issue of water scarcity in India to make better policy decisions which will affect its availability in future. .  If the conditions remain same; water will turn out to be the world’s most precious resource soon.

Solutions ?

As we now have developed that water is scare and a very precious resource then we should also know what are the solutions to this problem. Two 'C' can answer this question-

1) Conserve

2) Proper 'Consumption

Conserve mainly includes technological uses, equipments to reduce water usage, rain water harvesting concept and many such which includes your society's effort/building technology in conservation of this resource. This usually includes Low flush shower heads, Low flush toilet mechanics, waste water management, saline water use and many such are included in technology and equipments. A important part of technology is to reduce water evaporation from our reservoirs and this is definitely a important step in conserving water. Water harvesting is also a field which will flourish at both, urban and village level. Ralegon Siddi village in Maharashtra acts as a role model for water harvesting. 

Proper Consumption includes our personal effort to save water. You can use water efficiently during bathings, washing cloths, dishes etc and also at social level. For example- when you see a burst of pipeline then instead of passing like a usual citizen, you should inform local authorities to take action and save water. 

I am attaching few links related to conservation and proper consumption of water for further references- 

1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_conservation

2) http://www.icbse.com/2010/water-conservation-tips/

3) http://www.annahazare.org/ralegan-siddhi.html

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Note: Please print this email only if it's required. Save Paper, Save Environment.

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Avi Sharma
Student
Department of Civil Engineering
SRKNEC, Nagpur ,India