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A large number of Indians face high to extreme water stress. The country has 18 percent of the world’s population, but only 4 percent of it’s water resources, making it among the most water stressed in the world. The problem of access to drinking water and sanitation facilities in urban areas of India is a major concern. It is estimated that by 2050 half of India’s population will be living in urban areas and will face acute water problems. In addition, there is a lack of waste water treatment facilities to treat the waste water of a growing population. Flexible and innovative solutions are needed to cope with sudden and substantial changes in water demands for people and their associated economic activities.

The objective of this paper is to study the urban water issues and challenges in India.

Water scarcity refers to the lack of fresh water resources to meet water demand. Thomas S. Eliot (1888-1965)reported that” Drought is the death of the earth”.

Issues and Challenges      

Despite the significant improvement relevant infrastructure , updated water management plans and technological solutions improving water use efficiency (WUE),water scarcity remains a major concern in several parts of the world over the next decade. Million of families around the world remains vulnerable to water scarcity or do not yet have access to clean and adequate drinking water.

More specifically over 2 billion people are living in region experiencing high water stress and this number is expected to increase.

Over 1 billion people do not have access to clean and safe drinking water.

About 3.4 million people die each year due to the use of contaminated water.

At any given time, half of the world,s hospita lbeds are occupied by patients suffering from disease associated with lack of access to clean drinking water.

A 2016 report -by the Indian parliamentary committee on restructuring the central water commission and the central ground water board says “the growing dependence on groundwater has taken the form of unsustainable over extraction , which is lowering the water table and adversely impacting drinking water security”.

A wide spread depletion of water causes situations of drought across the country. Drought have multiple effects on communities, especially on children,by reducing food security, increasing poverty and malnutrition, and aggregating community conflicts, among others.

Supply -led water deprivation prevails in major cities in India. The per capita water availability in these cities is no where near the standards led down by the world health organization or the bureau of Indian standards (1993), and it is also for lower than that in other large cities in the world. The availability of water in Indian cities varies with socio- economic groups and areas.

Households with low income suffer a lot in big cities which lack sufficient water.

Predicting the future is a hazardous business but one thing is certain, that the world in the future, at least in some respect , is going to be different from that of today (Figueres et al 2005). It is certain that societies are going to have to confront, among other things, demographic transitions, geographical shift of population, technological advancement, growing globalization, degradation of the environment and emergence of water scarcities .

Water the need of life, is likely to pose the greatest challenge on account of an increased demand with population rise and economic development, and shrinking supplies due to over- exploitation and renewable natural resource covering two thirds of the planet but a very small proportion of this is effectively available for human use. In India, as a result of development, the demand for water is increasing both in urban and rural areas. This may increase tensions and disputes over sharing and command of water resources. The emerging scarcity of water has also raised a host of issues related to sustainability of the present form of economic development, sustained water supply equity and social justice water financing, pricing, governance and management.

As per the bureau of Indian standards IS: 1172-1993, a minimum water supply of 200 litres per capita per day (lpcd) should be provided for domestic consumption in cities with full flushing systems, water supply may be reduced to 135 lpcd for the LIG (lower income group )and the EWS (economically weaker section) of the society and in small towns . Besides domestic requirement, water is also demanded for commercial , industrial and civic or public use. The IS: 1172-1993, gives the total requirement of water in industrial and commercial towns with full flushing systems as 280 lpcd,. The ninth plan (1997-2002) had advocated the requirement of water in urban areas as 125 lpcd in cities with planned sewerage systems, 70 lpcd in cities without planned sewerage systems; and 20 lpcd for those collecting water from public stand- posts. However the tenth plan (2002- 2007), the cities with two groups based on population , i.e., metro or mega cities and non metro cities. The National Commission on urbanisation (1988) recommended that a per capita water supply of 90-100 litres per day is needed to lead a hygienic existence, and emphasized that this level of water supply must be ensured to all citizens.

Not with standing the IS: 1172-1993 amd the Five -Year plan recommendations, we find that almost every municipal corporation, municipality has defined the requirement of water per capita per day in it’s own way. One agrees that industrial and commercial development of towns and cities may differ and hence the amount of water required will also vary, but the requirement for domestic use seems unlikely to vary so much.

Considering the fact that various agencies recommend different quantities of requirement of water for domestic use, we have to decide a benchmark for identifying water deficient households.

It is also important to note here that the quantity of water consumed in most of the Indian cities is not determined by the demand but the supply.

Metro cities face a perpetual problem of water shortage and the tragedy is that in these cities a very limited proportion of households are aware of rain water harvesting methods . Awareness leads to adaptations, and so the local and state government need to put special emphasis to spread awareness about various methods of water conservation and management.

In big cities, a majority of the households perceive these activities as the most wasteful . This shows that given appropriate and affordable technologies to save water in specified activities the households would be willing to adopt them. Infact , there exists a large scope for reducing water consumption in washing clothes by adopting appropriate Soap/Detergent and Machines; and in the toilets by changing and modifying the flushing systems. An awareness campaign about the best practices in the urban areas can play a better role in consuming water.

However it is found that a large number of households from the lower socio economic class reuse water, and this is a result of limited water availability,to this class. The municipal corporation supplies water in a majority of households once in two days , and during summers when there is more scarcity of water once in three days is also not so uncommon.Water tanks and bore wells compensate for the deficiency of municipal water in these cities.

Twenty- four hour water supply in municipal taps is a dream for a majority of households in the large cities in the country. This has forced the households in a majority of these cities to depend on groundwater and other sources of water,like private vendors who supply water through tankers and drums. These sources in turn results in depletion of groundwater.

For example, in cities like Ahmadabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai some households have started using packaged water for drinking. However, it is also true that so far none of these cities have permanently handed over the task of water supply to private bodies (NGOs, or corporations).

Urban water conservation depends on changing behaviors by water users. So there is strict and instant need to change their behavior.

Water conservation strategies in Urban areas must be in regular practice, like Balancing water supply, and demands, public education campaigns, reevaluating water value,rain harvesting boxes , planting trees, as we know that, trees hold the Water, new green technologies for waste water management, treatment and reuse of grey water released from laundry and showers can be reused for multiple household chores after treatment. This process will reduce the pressure on our public sewers and generate more usable water. The population is increasing day by day at an alarming rate and water resources are decreasing . To prevent the scarcity of water we should conserve more and more water and prevent it for the next generation as well. The time has come to have a retrospect view on the water use and misuse to take serious actions that will lead towards sustainable urban water management sustaining healthy environment in the urbanized world of 21st century.

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