Here's how India can address the emerging scarcity of fresh water

It's time for the country to invest in future supplies through desalination plants that could be set up along our vast coastline

- SUDIPTO MUNDLE

In recent articles, I have often referred to three ongoing technological revolutions that will fundamentally transform the way we live: the energy transformation from fossil fuels to renewables, the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution and the biotechnological revolution (Mint, 31 May 2024, Economic & Political Weekly, 28 September 2024). But there is a fourth fundamental challenge which will also have a profound effect on our lives in India and around the world—namely, the emerging global water crisis. Or to put it more precisely, the crisis of scarce fresh water supply. This column addresses this issue.

To put things in perspective, here are some numbers. There is no scarcity of water per se. Accounting for over 70% of the earth's surface, the world's stock of water has been estimated at over 1.4 billion cubic kilometers—vastly in excess of our needs today and in the foreseeable future. However, only 2.5% of this is fresh water, mostly in the form of frozen polar ice-caps and glaciers (69%) and ground water (30%). Only 1% is available as surface water, mostly as ground ice or permafrost and in lakes, marshes, rivers, living creatures and as water vapor in the atmosphere. The natural supply of fresh water is not only not growing, but is likely to shrink due to climate change. Meanwhile, the consumption of fresh water has increased by 600% during the past century due to population growth and increasingly intensive fresh water use in agriculture, which accounts for 70% of total consumption, industry (23%), and home consumption (7%).