India is facing its worst-ever water crisis, with some 600 million people facing acute water shortage, a government think-tank says.
The Niti Aayog report, which draws on data from 24 of India’s 29 states, says the crisis is "only going to get worse" in the years ahead.
It also warns that 21 cities are likely to run out of groundwater by 2020 despite increasing demand.
This would also threaten food security as 80% of water is used in agriculture.
The Indian ‘water mother’ helping villages Around 200,000 Indians die every year because they have no access to clean water, according to the report.
Winding queues of people waiting to collect water from tankers or public taps is a common sight in Indian slums.
Water scarcity would also account for a 6% loss in India’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Some Indian states, however, are doing a better job than others in managing their water.
Gujarat in the west topped the report’s rankings.
It was closely followed by Madhya Pradesh in central India and Andhra Pradesh in the south.