Hyderabad: Hyderabad and 20 other major metros in the country will reach ‘zero’ ground water level by 2020, which will affect 10 crore people. In the following decade, access to drinking water will sharply decline, said Niti Aayog in its Composite Water Management Index report released in 2018.
Hyderabad features in the list of metros that are likely to face the risk of losing groundwater. This is despite the municipal corporation and the HMWSSB restoring tube wells, which have been bone dry for years, and trying to recharge ground water by constructing rain harvesting pits.
According to the statistics released in January 2019, groundwater levels have dropped across 16 localities and Hyderabad district. Ameerpet, Khairatabad, Trimulgherry, Marredpally and Musheerabad have seen a drastic drop.
Sai Prasad, who works for the groundwater conservation forum said, “The present levels of groundwater are critical because of the overexploitation and rampant borewell digging. In 2019, the average groundwater level registered a fall of 1.52 m, which is 13.40 m below ground level in March as compared to 11.88 m during the same month in 2018. With regard to wells, 41 showed a rise, while 59 per cent reported a dip in water levels during this period. Telangana has faced droughts in recent years. If the state does not wake up, disaster looms large.”
The report concluded that the 21 cities including Hyderabad are suffering the worst water crisis in their history and millions of lives and livelihoods are under threat.
Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about 2 lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.
The crisis is only going to get worse. By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and an eventual ~6% loss in the country’s GDP. The think tank developed the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) to enable effective water management in Indian states in the face of this growing crisis.
When asked how it will tackle the crisis, a senior officer with the Ground Water Department, said, “Fluctuation in groundwater levels may vary from region to region depending on the population density. The board has decided to install borewell testing units every 5 km radius, which will give us a clear picture and help recharge the groundwater. Besides this rain harvesting pits have been constructed in a majority of localities. The GHMC has been asked to make pits mandatory when applying for building permission. With growing population and urbanisation, it is also the responsibility of the citizen to help recharge water levels.”
