Economic, Social, and Political Implications Arising from India’s Water Crisis

India is a country whose dependence on water is growing even more quickly than its population.  With monsoons, floods, and droughts occurring with such regularity, there are those who face extreme difficulties in handling how much water do or do not have.  While floods come as regularly as the monsoon, arid land is facing such water scarcity that the future for entire states looks bleak.  Since independence, water per capita has dropped from 6,008m³ to 2,384m³ as of 2000 (Singh, 2007).  Due to increased population pressure and industrial and agricultural innovations, India is neither capable of harnessing enough water to provide for its entire people, nor is its infrastructure capable of preventing massive rainfalls from causing extreme devastation.

Floods are particularly troubling in India because of the regular destruction they wreak, costing on average 1,600 lives a year, as well as homes for more than 30 million people and 8 million hectares of agricultural land (Singh, 2007).  Starting with the economic effects, this is a massive amount of land left unusable; it is only the technological advances which began in the Green Revolution that keep India’s agricultural productivity up, while accounting for lost land means that there is truly little growth.  What does this mean for a growing population who has stagnated in their food production?  Future floods could lead to loss of enough cropland to send India back to the days of famine.  Without the ability to work the land, millions are left displaced and have no resources to rebuild with.  This can have a fallout effect in regards to health, education, and social stability in rural India.  However, flooding is not limited to rural areas.  Urban flooding is common due to the number of impermeable surfaces seen in cities.  Poor infrastructure and the sheer amount of water that is deposited during monsoon rains means that the water often has nowhere to go but into streets and buildings.  The damage caused by this constant flooding puts a great deal of economic pressure on city-dwellers, and may affect their choices in regards to budgeting for medical treatment and education.  The link between environment and social stability is clear.

Droughts have other implications and problems for India.  Areas that are identified as water stressed or scarce are the most likely to be affected by drought, and these tend to be arid or semi-arid areas (Singh, 2007).  Rajasthan is an area particularly affected by both drought and subsequently groundwater depletion (Singh, 2007; Rodell, 2009).  The arid nature of states like Rajasthan and the industrialization of agriculture to include massive irrigation, makes what was once a more nomadic but stable area into a population dependent on a constant water supply in an environment which is prone to drought (Rodell, 2009).  Data from the GRACE satellite has proven that groundwater in the area is being depleted at a rate of 17.7+/- 4.5 km³yr^-1 (Rodell, 2009); this area includes major metropolises like Delhi and the wealthy state of Haryana.  Lack of water to these states and territories would be extremely destabilizing to the entire country as major centers for wealth and government.

Singh presents two possible strategies for dealing with water distribution issues.  Broadly, India could choose to deal with water issues with a structural approach or a non-structural approach.  In cities, it may be prudent to increase structural solutions like dams, canals, and drainage.  Cities are not going to disappear due to natural disaster, no matter how prudent (look to New Orleans and Katrina).  It is better to protect the cities while harnessing the benefits of dams and reservoirs to provide for the power and water needs of the population living there.  For more rural areas that are experiencing greater scarcity, the solution may lie in non-structural solutions like emigration.  If an area is no longer capable of supporting life, people will move on their own accord eventually. It makes sense for the government to support this to try to prevent issues that often result from movements or environmental refugees.

How India deals with its water in the coming decades will make or break the entire country.  With a booming population and increasing temporal and spatial water displacement, India will be affected from the bottom up in its economic power, social stability, and strength of government.  If water issues are allowed to progress to the point of acute crisis, the center of India’s government in Delhi will be facing such a shortage that it will be unable to take action to help the country. Action must be taken now to have a positive and lasting effect.