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WATER SUPPLY AND

MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS
BY THE GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA
Varyan Goel · Yuvraj Thakur · Ankit
Joshi · Arjun Bikram Singh · Purnendu
Sharma · Ammar Zahid
Corresponding Author: - S. Parimala
renganayaki
Email id: parimala.rengayaki@vit.ac.in

Introduction
India has only about 4 per cent of the
world’s renewable water resources but is
home to nearly 18 per cent of the world’s
population. It receives an average annual
precipitation of 4,000 billion cubic metres
(BCM) which is the principle source of
fresh water in the country. However, there
is wide variation in precipitation across
different regions of the country.
Management of water supply has become a
challenging task owing to population
growth, expansion in industrial and
agricultural activities, changing climate
scenarios, rapidly depleting water
resources, and deteriorating infrastructure
and water quality. Over the past few
decades, India has witnessed a rapid
increase in its urban population. Presently,
over 30 per cent of the country’s population
lives in urban areas and is increasingly
facing water scarcity. It is estimated that 85
per cent of the urban population has access
to drinking water. However, only a small
percentage of the people have access to safe
drinking water. By 2050, India’s total water
demand will increase by 32 per cent.
Groundwater plays an important part in
India’s economy. It caters to about 85 per
cent of rural demand, 50 per cent urban
requirements and more than 60 per cent of
our irrigation needs. If the present rate of
groundwater depletion persists, the country
will have only 22 per cent of the present
daily per capita water available in 2050,
possibly forcing the country to import
water. under wetlands.
Overall, every year, precipitation in the
form of rain and snowfall provide over
4000 cu km of freshwater to India, of which
2047 cu km return to oceans or is
precipitated. A small percentage is stored in
inland water bodies and groundwater
aquifers. Topographic constraints,
distribution pattern, technical limitation,
and poor management do not allow India to
harness its water resources efficiently.
(Mathew Rodell, 2009)
The Ganges-Brahmaputra and the Indus
systems are the largest as they drain almost
half of the country carrying more than 40%
of the utilisable surface water from the
Himalayan watershed to the ocean. Over
70% of India’s rivers drain into the Bay of
Bengal, mostly as part of the Ganges-
Brahmaputra system. The Arabian Sea
receives 20% of the total drainage from the
Indus and other rivers. The remaining 10%
drains into interior basins and natural lakes.

Literature Review
Demand for groundwater is ever increasing
due to the limited availability of surface
water resources in several parts of the
world. This has led to depletion of
groundwater resources and there are several
reports on decline in groundwater head over
the last two decades (Shankar et al. 2011;
Gun 2012). Excessive extraction of
groundwater for irrigation where it is
slowly renewed is the main cause of the
depletion and climate change has the
potential to exacerbate the problem in some
regions (Vaux 2011; Hertig and Gleeson
2012).
The climate change is expected to affect
precipitation and water availability. So far,
the data collection, processing, storage and
dissemination have not received adequate
attention. The efforts initiated under the
Hydrology Project Phase-I and the
development of the Decision Support
System proposed under Hydrology Project
Phase-II are expected to bridge some of the
gaps between the developed advanced
technologies of water resources planning,
designing and management and their field
applications. (Rakesh Kumar, 2010)
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Most of the water planning and
development in the country has been done
as per administrative boundaries rather than
by using river basins as the hydrological
unit. This has led to water conflict as most
river basins are shared by several states and
water demand for meeting domestic,
industrial and agricultural needs within
each state has gone up significantly. In the
absence of river basins management plans
and active river basin authorities, these
issues have intensified. (G.S Hira, 2009)
In India variation in rainfall means
replenishment is unevenly distributed over
time. (Mosse, D., 2003) This makes the
management of water including with
storage facilities for recharge, even more
important than just absolute quantity of
water availability. (Turner et al., 2000).
According to the survey conducted by the
Centre for Science and Environment in 71
cities, 25 to 40 per cent of the water was
considered to be lost in distribution in most
cities (Narain, 2012a) while a study by
ADB estimates this to be 27 per cent
(ADB,2007).
Much of the distribution losses can be
attributed to ageing and decrepit
infrastructure and a lack of adequate

maintenance. However, given the general
concerns with operations and maintenance,
it is essential that adequate O & M systems
are put in place to ensure sustainability of
the new infrastructure being created.
Gaps from the literature review
Not enough research on impact of
globalization on Indian water supply,
Unpredictable trade and demand of water in
the future further more are studies required
to determine amount of water depletion due
to global warming.
Information is needed to deal with water
scarcity in future especially in India.
Water management policies must also
about ensuring sufficient water to produce
the energy demanded by society. Humans
and their economies and societies critically
depend on reliable supplies of energy.
Energy, as electricity and liquid and
gaseous fuels, available when and where
needed, requires water to produce, such as
for cooling and refining. Therefore research
on using water for energy purposes is
required.
Objectives
To supply safe and wholesome water to the
consumers and in adequate quantity is one
the objectives of this report.
There is a need for additional long-term
water storage necessary to sustain local
economies, customs and to provide
adequate water for domestic, agriculture,
industrial and other water users
during extended droughts.
Furthermore, Authorization of
adequate appropriations for projects which
are needed for development, control,
conservation and utilization of water
resources.
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Methodology
Proper management and supply of water
can be done by support development of
reasonable and cost-effective local water
conservation practices to supplement
prudent water supply planning and
development for future needs.
Long-term protection of water as the
environment or as central element of our
environment and it is important to introduce
water provisions in its various forms as it is
the resource for present as well as future
generations.
Another way is development of new
strategies for sanitary devices – to achieve
sustainability of water management it is
necessary to use new technologies of
enhanced utilization of resources for
rational utilization of water.
References
Mosse, D. Lecturer in Social Anthropology,
School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London.
Gun JVD (2012) Groundwater and global
change: trends, opportunities and
challenges. United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), Paris
Hertig AW, Gleeson T (2012) Regional
strategies for the accelerating global
problem of groundwater depletion. Nat
Geosci 5:853–861
Hira, G.S 2009. Water Management in
Northern States and the Food Security
of India, Journal of Crop Improvement.
Narain, S. 2012a Excreta Matters: How urban
India is soaking up water, polluting
rivers and drowning in its own waste
(Volume-1). Centre for Science and
Environment, New Delhi.
Kumar, Rakesh, Assistant Professor (Stage II),
Department of Computer Science,
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Assam University, Silchar, Assam,

India
Shankar VPS, Kulkarni H, Krishnan S (2011)
India’s groundwater challenge and the
way forward.
Turner, R.K., van der Bergh, J.C.J.M.,
Soderqvist, T., Barendregt,A., van der
Straaten, J., Maltby, E., van Ireland,
E.C., 2000. Ecological economic
analysis of wetlands: scientific
integration for management and policy.
Ecol. Econ. 35 (1), 7–23
Vaux G (2011) Groundwater under stress: the
importance of management. Environ
Earth Sci 62:19–23