Question.
It is said that the water resources in India have been depleting very fast. Discuss the factors responsible for the depletion of water resources.
(NCERT class 12 geography, India People and Economy, Chapter -6 Water resources)
Answer.
India has 2.45 percent of the world's surface area, 4 percent of the world's freshwater resources, and about 16 percent of the world's population. From rainfall, about 4000 cubic km of water is available in India per year, and out of this only 1,122 cubic km of water can be put to beneficial use. Out of 1122 cubic km, 690 cubic km is surface water and 432 cubic km is groundwater which is suitable for use.
Water resources in India are depleting very fast. Following are the factors responsible for the depletion of water resources:
The supply of water resources is not a problem but the wrong way of irrigation [use of flood irrigation techniques, excessive use of groundwater, growing water-intensive crops], water pollution [industrial waste, agricultural pollution, urban waste, domestic and sewage effluents], And increasing population [per capita water availability is decreasing day by day] are mostly responsible for the scarcity of water resources in India.
Agriculture accounts for the majority of the use of surface as well as groundwater resources. Agriculture accounts for 89 percent of surface water and 92 percent of groundwater use. The use of groundwater is very high in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.
Our irrigation techniques like flood irrigation, canal irrigation, tube well irrigation, etc. are responsible for inefficient use of water in irrigation.
Irrigation for growing water-intensive crops like paddy, sugarcane, etc. preferentially increases the demand for water.
The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides leads to hardening of the soil and loss of humus, which reduces the water holding capacity of the soil.
The use of water resources is also increasing due to the increasing population and a large part of the population, till now 9% of the total surface water is used for domestic purposes.
Due to increasing water pollution due to urban waste and agricultural waste, much of the surface water in urban areas is polluted and not suitable for domestic use.
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