NEW DELHI – Hundreds of millions of Indians are in need of clean water and demand may twice exceed the available supply by 2030, a government think tank has warned.
200,000 people already die annually due to drought and water contamination.
The second-largest population in the world is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history, with the situation deteriorating year by year, according to a study by the government-run National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) think tank.
“Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about 200,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water,” the study warned.
The current state of India’s water resources is equally concerning, the study noted.
Crops that need a lot of water planted in areas unsuitable for them, and waste being dumped into canals.
The South East Asian nation saw a number of water-related protests in recent times.
Tensions over water allocations from the Narmada River were gripping Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In March, state authorities limited irrigation takeaways from the river, asking farmers not to sow crops.
Scores of people died in violent protests over the Kaveri River dispute between southern Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.