The Government of India is in the process of setting up a National Bureau of Water Use Efficiency. The bureau would, among other things, take necessary steps to conserve water in agricultural, industrial and domestic use.
Disclosing this in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today, the Minister of State for Water Resources and Minority Affairs Vincent Pala said that the National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development had assessed the demand of water in industry as 81 billion cubic metres by the year 2050.
Growing demand
“In view of the growing demand of water due to population growth, rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, there is a need to conduct audit of water consumption by industries to ensure optimum utilisation of available water resources,” he said. The need for a body to keep an eye on water use efficiency is further underscored by a recent publication of Unesco which said that India was among the biggest groundwater abstracting countries in the world.
The ‘United Nations World Water Development Report 4’ said that in India took out 251 cubic kilometres of water per year.
According to the latest assessment of ground water resources as on 2009, out of 5842 assessment units, 1,494 units (around 26 per cent) fall under semi-critical, critical or over-exploited category.
A World Bank Report on “Deep Wells and Prudence: Towards Pragmatic Action for Addressing Groundwater Overexploitation in India” (2010), said that if current trends continued, within 20 years 60 per cent of all aquifers in the country will be in a critical condition.