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The development of the human race is always dependent on water as is evident from history. All the civilizations are developed along the banks of major rivers in the world. Water is required for nearly all human activities and the survival of human beings cannot be imagined without the availability of water. India is the second largest populated country in the world and is estimated to be the first till the end of the current decade. This growing population needs more water to satisfy its needs. By the year 2025, India is expected to use 105 mham annually; up from 38 mham annually in 1974(Nag, 1975). The problems related to the availability and accessibility of water is faced by all the countries in the world. About 80 countries comprising 40% of the world's population already suffer from serious water shortages(Ashok Nigam, 1998) and the problem is projected to become severe with time. Projected estimates indicate a huge demand-supply gap of water in all the major river basins by 2030(GoM, 1999). The problem in India is more serious. Nearly 44 million people in India are affected by water quality problems either due to pollution, the prevalence of fluoride, arsenic, and iron deposits in groundwater, or due to the Ingress of seawater into groundwater aquifers(Ashok Nigam, 1998). The available water is also not up to the quality standards required for human consumption. 30 percent of urban at 90% of rural households still depend on untreated surface orgroundwater(Srikanth, 2009). Nonavailability of quality water for consumption results in health and economic losses. 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually, 1.5 million children are estimated to die because of diarrhea control and 73 million working days are lost due to waterborne diseases each year. the resulting economic burden is estimated at 600 million US dollars a year(Srikanth, 2009). The availability and accessibility to water and irrigation facilities are also uneven in different parts of the country. The dimensions of inequality analysed include: inequality in access to common pool groundwater resources (both inter-generational and intra-generational inequality); inequality caused by monopolistic groundwater markets; inequality in access to common property water from river catchments; inequality in access to subsidized water from public irrigation schemes; and inequality in access to water from municipal water supply systems(Kumar & R. Maria Saleth, 2018) |
