But in India, “Day Zero” has come and gone for residents in many parts of the country, where taps failed long ago and people have turned instead to digging wells or buying water.
An expanding population, growing demand for water from agriculture and industry, and poor management of water supplies have sent India’s groundwater to ever lower levels.
That reality, combined with rising temperatures, threatens worsening scarcity, experts say.
Nearly 163 million people among India’s population of 1.3 billion – or more than one in 10 – lack access to clean water close to their home, according to a 2018 WaterAid report.
India is entangled in water disputes with its eastern and western neighbors – Bangladesh and Pakistan – which accuse it of monopolizing water flows moving downstream toward them.
To the north and northeast, however, India fears a loss of water to upstream China, which plans a series of dams over the Tsangpo river, called the Brahmaputra as it flows into eastern India.
While India’s trans-boundary rivers are governed by treaties on how water should be shared, disputes are increasing as water shortages stoke tensions.
Bengaluru, once known as the “city of lakes”, now relies heavily on groundwater, which is not being naturally replenished and cannot sustain the growing population, said Sushmita Sengupta at CSE.
“These will, in turn, increase tensions between states and countries over water.
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