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Ground Water Depletion in India |
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Hello there! Today's article talks about the Ground water depletion in India, Its causes and ways we can improve the situation. I hope you find it informative and interesting :) The importance of groundwater for the existence of the human society cannot be undermined. Groundwater is the major source of drinking water in both urban as well as rural India. Besides, it also serves as a major source of water for the agricultural and the industrial sector in the country. The ever increasing demand for water has tremendously increased over the years and this has led to acute water scarcity in many parts of the world. Sadly, this situation is aggravated by the problem of contamination and water pollution. India is currently facing a freshwater crisis mainly due to improper management of water resources and also environmental degradation, which has prevented millions of Indians access to safe water supply. Groundwater crisis is the result of human actions. During the past two decades, the water level in has been falling rapidly due to an increase in extraction and the resource's mismanagement. The number of wells drilled for irrigation of both cash crops and food crops and has indiscriminately increased. India's rapidly rising population is also a major cause of water depletion and changing lifestyles has added to the problem and increased it manifold. The water requirement for the industry over the years has also substantially increased. The quality of groundwater has worsened and is continuously getting severely affected because of the widespread and uncontrolled pollution of surface water. Besides, the discharge of untreated waste water through bores and unscientific disposal of wastes also lead to the contamination of groundwater, thereby reducing the quality of fresh water resources. Causes of groundwater depletion and contamination in India What we must realize is that groundwater is undoubtedly an integral part of the environment, and hence cannot be looked upon in isolation. Lack of adequate attention on water conservation, lack of research to increase efficiency in groundwater recharge, water use, water re-use, and ecosystem sustainability are major causes of the current situation. An uncontrolled utilization of the bore well technology has led to the extraction of groundwater at such alarming rates that often natural recharge is insufficient. The causes of low water availability in many regions are also thought to be directly linked to the reducing forest cover and soil degradation in the affected areas. What I think can be and should be done: It is important for all of us to realize that groundwater is not a resource that should be utilized simply because it is available in abundant quantities (It's not abundant anymore). Anything done in excess has a negative impact and so does the over exploitation of the water table. Other than legislation and occasional checks to monitor the quality of groundwater, care must also be taken to conserve groundwater. We in particular and the society at large itself has a very important role to play. There has been awareness among the common people on the need to conserve our water resources. Water use has to be well integrated with water regeneration. The Water Act (Prevention and Control) was passed by the Government in the year 1974, and by 1990 all the states had adopted the act. In 1986, the Environment Protection Act was also passed by the Parliament. Under both these acts, the states and the central government collaborated and developed environmental norms for air emissions and waste water discharge for different types of sources but it lacked policies to restore our Ground water table. An amendment would help improve the current situation. Please feel free to share your views :) |
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14 Comments
Thank you for your view Park :)
Posted 21-08-2016 15:30
Thank you for your views Minjoo :)
Posted 21-08-2016 15:30
Absolutely Kazazabrang! I loved the way you relate this problem to money kept in a bank account!
Posted 21-08-2016 15:30
Thanks for your views Burton!
Posted 21-08-2016 15:28
I agree Arushi, India is undoubtedly among the worst hit nations and our ever growing population has added to the problem and made it much more severe.
Posted 21-08-2016 15:28
I agree Arushi, India is undoubtedly among the worst hit nations and our ever growing population has added to the problem and made it much more severe.
Posted 21-08-2016 15:28
I agree @ Joshua
Posted 21-08-2016 15:19
Nilanjan, I think similar condition applies to our home town since our extensive drought pushes us to use ground water... (if not on drought condtion we would normally use snow/rain water from sierra nevada mt range) But yeah groundwater depletion is very harmful :( thank you for amazing report, if you need more information about this, I'll be willing to share my report about groundwater as well :D
Posted 18-08-2016 13:53
Thanks Nilanjan, large extraction of ground water can cause many unexpected disasters such as influx of saltwater and destabilization of the ground, along with the points you made up there. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas! It would've been better if you could add some references you took from. Thanks for posting as always!
Posted 17-08-2016 15:20
Nilanjan, I am also with you that groundwater is very crucial to our human life. I do not believe it is abundant (actually the percentage that groundwater takes from whole water source is very, very small), but its importance cannot be undermined. Thanks for sharing and have a great day!
Posted 16-08-2016 20:54
The water stored in the ground can be compared to money kept in a bank account. If you withdraw money at a faster rate than you deposit new money you will eventually start having account-supply problems. Pumping water out of the ground faster than it is replenished over the long-term causes similar problems. The volume of groundwater in storage is decreasing in many areas of the world and not only india. in response to pumping. Groundwater depletion is primarily caused by sustained groundwater pumping. Some of the negative effects of groundwater depletion include drying up of wells,
reduction of water in streams and lakes, deterioration of water quality,
increased pumping costs , land subsidence. this is an immenent danger. why? because sources show that in countries with massive population, the water table drops massively. we should find a way to control population effectlively as well as creating many, and i mean many, options for consumption instead of water for plants and other consumers. and water show me maximized by recycling. i hope i dropped some knowledge though. this is what i managed to dig up from reading diff reports from WHO, UN and other organizations
Posted 16-08-2016 06:20
Degrading the soil is very bad because it makes the nutrients in the soilnto wear away
Posted 15-08-2016 17:29
Groundwater is disappearing fast from the world and India is among the worst hit. It is the biggest threat to rural livelihoods and food security and cause of many other concerns.
Groundwater depletion in India is a calamity that now calls for urgent measures. I hope authorities look at it on top priority and implement some drastic measures to improve /control the situation. Thanks for the report.
Posted 15-08-2016 03:50
Soil degradation is a very bar thing. People must acknowledge that water is very important and for that matter, the need for more afforestation and water conservation.
Posted 15-08-2016 02:59