FAILURE OF WATER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

                                                         Edition-4

Unfortunately, present-day water engineering in India has kept itself preoccupied largely with the promotion of irrigation, hydropower generation & food control to some extent. During the 1960s, pumping ground water aquifers promoted for irrigation. The high-priority but low-volume needs of domestic water for drinking & sanitation to 30% of rural people have still not been met & about 80% of them do not have sanitation.

                             Wide spread suffering of the less privileged from fluorides, arsenic, bacterial contamination or outright industrial pollution do not make news in India. For a country aspiring to be a leading economic power in the world, its inability to provide safe drinking water to every Indian after 61 years of independence is not a matter of pride. The success of community initiatives, like the Jal Biradari in Rajasthan, has shown that provision of small amounts needed for domestic requirements is not a problem even in Arial areas, when people are involved.

                             One of the most critical changes needed in India for a more scientific approach to water management is to internalize ecological sciences in the knowledge base for management.