India is reeling under an extreme water crisis. According to the latest report by the Niti Aayog, over 600 million Indians are facing severe water shortage and about two lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.
With mercury on the rise, most of the states from Delhi to Tamil Nadu are facing water shortage. IndiaSpend report notes that 72% districts in Maharashtra and 80% districts in Karnataka are hit by drought and crop failure. Rajasthan is not far behind. Residents of Bhilwara district have resorted to locking up water containers fearing theft.
Long queues for drinking water is also a common sight in Chennai as piped water supply has been cut down by 40%.
With pre-monsoon being lowest in the last 65 years and groundwater dwindling to an all-time low, 21 Indian cities including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad will run out of groundwater by 2020, and 40% of India’s population will have no access to drinking water by 2030, Niti Ayog report says.
