A National Workshop on 'Science and Technology for sustainable Water Security in India' is being organised at M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation during October 27-28, 2003 to discuss and deliberate on issues related to the availability and demand of water resources technology and the options for their optimum utilisation and innovative methods of conservation and use. The workshop intends to develop a road map for harnessing science and technology for sustainable water security in our country.
The global water use has tripled since 1950. The main causes for this increase are population explosion in many parts of the world and increased usage. Urbanisation, industrialisation, and agricultural practices have also had important ecological impacts on the water quality, from both microbiological and toxicological points of view. Providing adequate amount of good quality safe drinking water will be the most critical challenge of the 21st Century. Efforts to optimise and economise water usage have to be combined with improvement in water quality.
Water plays an important role throughout the food chain, from farms, to food processing plants and finally to consumers who drink water or use it for food preparation. It is, therefore, crucial to examine all potential hazards related to the use of water. Attention needs to be given to all types of water including the water used for drinking purposes, water used in different processes and types of foods and water used in agricultural practices. It is important that the issues relating to water availability, quality of water, treatment techniques and discharge of treated water are discussed on a priority basis to evolve a plan of action.
In an agrarian economy like ours, the importance of water for agricultural productivity hardly needs any emphasis. The recurring cycle of floods in some parts of the country and drought in others has accentuated the need for a comprehensive strategy to combat these natural disasters and mitigate their impacts. The consequences of global climate change and the frequency of cyclones, droughts and floods are more evident today than before.
In India, there is unfortunately a mismatch between the endowment of natural resources and the population to be supported. While our country accounts for 2% of the world's geographical area and 4% of its fresh water, it has to support 17% of the world's population and 15% of it's livestock. The status of fresh water availability in India is even more serious than the global figures indicate. The per capita availability of fresh water in the country, which was a healthy 5,177 cubic metres in 1951, has dropped to 1,869 in 2001. It is estimated to further decline to 1,341 by 2025 and 1,140 by 2050.
The demand by 2050 AD is likely to reach the level of the full utilisable quantum. But the problem is much more immediate. Many basins are already facing water stress, the per capita annual availability having fallen below the threshold value of 1,000 cubic metres. Conservation of water and improvement of water use efficiency will have to be paid more attention from now on as otherwise the demand will outstrip the availability in a few decades from now.
Recent advances in biotechnology, space and information technologies are helping to initiate an evergreen revolution capable of enabling small farm families to achieve sustainable advances in productivity and profitability per units of land, time, labour and capital. The new genetics, involving molecular mapping and modification, is a powerful tool for fostering eco-farming as well as for enhancing the productivity of rain fed and saline soils. Development of transgenic plants, microbes and animals during the last few years have opened up new prospects for developing stress tolerant material that is likely to contribute towards addressing problems of water scarcity, increased salinisation in the agricultural sector, increased contamination of ground water and solving several other associated problems in waste management. Mapping based on geographic information systems (GIS) and progress in short and medium term weather forecasting, coupled with prior information on markets and pricing, can enable farmers to strike a proper balance between land use and ecological, meteorological and marketing factors. Such advances are crucial, given that agriculture provides the largest avenue for new employment through environmental enterprises.
The 'water emergency' prevailing in the country both due to drought and the unsustainable and inefficient use of most water resources, particularly of ground water, has brought home the urgent need for developing a strategy for the conservation of every drop of water and its sustainable and equitable use for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes.
A National Workshop on 'Science and Technology for sustainable Water Security in India' is being organised at M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation during October 27-28, 2003 to discuss and deliberate on issues related to the availability and demand of water resources technology and the options for their optimum utilisation and innovative methods of conservation and use. The workshop intends to develop a road map for harnessing science and technology for sustainable water security in our country.
In an agrarian economy like ours, the importance of water for agricultural productivity hardly needs any emphasis. The recurring cycle of floods in some parts of the country and drought in others has accentuated the need for a comprehensive strategy to combat these natural disasters and mitigate their impacts. The consequences of global climate change and the frequency of cyclones, droughts and floods are more evident today than before.
