India's water needs to double in next 20yrs: How can we bridge that Gap?

I feel RAIN WATER HARVESTING is the optimum option which can solve the water problem to greater extent. This will make use of the rain water which these days only get added to lakes/river and go waste in hard surfaces in most of the urban areas where there is no proper drainage system too. Therefore, i feel implementing this in all the houses/apartments/comercial units..... will reduce the gap which is growing at faster pace these days... Thank you, Manish N.

Cheers!!

The concern being expressed the world over for paucity of water and water resources is not unfounded.The water is rudimentary requirement not only for humans but also for other species.The Germans have therefore been drinking cola instead of water to conserve water.The instinct for servival is very strong in all the species.The humans are more adapt to any situation and hence the present population.The scietists world over should work for an alternate source like capsule and also modified deit so that human race could servive without impending holocaust of world war III for water.In the meantime, till the time alternative source is developed,we must conserve water by channelising rain water and also develop scheme to treat sea water.

River linking, using rain water harvesting and desalination

Given the fact that we have abundant sea water around us - de salination could be a viable option given the limitations of supply deficiency we are going to face in the future. De salination offers producing water at a commercially feasible cost though it takes large investments upfront. So if this initiative is supported or partially funded by the government it will be a great success

The Central government should seriously think about a new National Water Policy for 2010.  This is also to achieve the 7th Goal of the UN MDG - United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which states - Ensure environmental sustainability.

First and foremost we should have a detailed national WIS - National Water resources Information System.

As part of the new National Water Policy, government can also specify about Interlinking of Rivers, Desalination of Sea Water, Provision of Safe drinking water in belts where very high Fluoride and other mineral content is present in water, Rain Water Harvesting, etc..,  It should also cover rules and guidelines for packaged drinking water companies and other water selling companies.

There has to be a regulator appointed on lines of regulators for other utilities like telecom TRAI, banking RBI, insurance IRDA, stock exchange SEBI etc.,  This will take care of interstate water sharing disputes, Rehabilitation procedures around areas where Dams are proposed to be constructed, pricing of water by private companies and state water supply boards etc.

Clear lines have to be drawn between Water resources and Power Generation etc., without leaving any grey areas unanswered. 

I think efforts are needed to use water more efficiently in mainly three major areas of consumption which is like, agriculture, industry and municipal or domestic. In agriculture, which is the main concern for India, one should be well versed with package of well-known measures like, drip-irrigation and sprinkler-irrigation to control present flood irrigation, integrated pest management, rationalization of fertilizer use, genetic crops for both rain-fed and irrigated lands, artificial recharge and scientific drainage systems to use rainwater efficiently. Most of these are low-cost measures. And I guess with these techniques we can bring the sustainable consumption and bridge that gap or narrow it some what.

Main reasons of poluting water is storing water. We construct dams to store water and use it for industrial purpose which polutes environment.

Second reason is excess usage of urea and other insect, germ killer sprays we use in our agriculture which are againest our culture.they polute our ground water, rain water. as rain water passes through agriculture fields it is getting polted and spreading polution in rivers.

We are drinking same water so we are also getting effected. Solution for it is stop constructing Dams. Let water spread over large area of the ground. create local water bodies such as ponds and lakes.

This way we can even avoid storms and floods.

Stop encroacing water catchment areas of these water bodies. Then water automatically spreads and goundwater level increases. and also is solution for global warming.

Yes, the same can be done by constructing small dams all along the rivers so that the water table in the vicinity of the dam area will increase after constructing. in the areas where the water is not available the same can be lifted from the small dams that are constructed.

The points to be kept in view for integrated water management are as follows.

Rerouting the flood waters through the interlinking of the rivers to be adopted and thus meting out the water demand in draught areas.

Government should declare national water policy for sharing the river waters amongst the states.

Optimum usage of the river water to the last drop should be ensured.

Treating the waste water of the urban areas as well as agricultural drains and recycle it to suit most of the industrial as well as domestic demands other than for drinking purposes. 

To avoid the wastage of agricultural water, drip irrigation system for the crops should be implemented.

These measures will certainly augment our water management and meet out the excess demands.

Well we have many sources of water but they r not usable for routine purposes. We can start using new technologies to process the water from those sources. Though they r quite expensive but in future we will be needing them for processing.

Big trees hold humidity and water in their root systems and have a very strong relationship with peaks and troughs on the earth's landscape.It also enable to build a very amenable environment for us thus requiring less energy for our needs of cooling(like AC etc).

We at our own level can stop the wastage,since a report suggests that 40% of the water used in India is wasted.This will help a lot.Other things in order of expense and priority should as well be tried.Rain water harvesting is next easier way to help cause.

village /  town tanks and ponds are to be cleaned and water storage capacities should be fully utilsed. This process should be completed bfore the on set of mansoon

It helps in storage of water aswell as maintaining watertables for longer period

We must balance the enviorment  by plantation, if for roads or other development is carried out by cutting trees . Double number of trees should be planted and taken care that 80 percent must survive.Care should be taken that no natural water resources are blocked.Similarly water conservation is a necessaty,unnecessary boreing must be avoided or it must be taxed to avoid wastage.In all we must try to save the enviorment or water scarcity will make general livelyhood impossible.Pragya ji you have raised a nice topic thanks.

So very little is wasted 

Meat consumption adds to water consumption as well as to pollution. In order to improve the ecological balance, meat eating especially the meat industry must be discouraged.

Water will always be in abundance if we focus on agriculture and other basic needs of life rather than on slaughterhouses and heavy industry. As we cannot do away with heavy industry , we should at least contain slaughterhouses and discourage meat eating / meat industry.

With a vast coastline and least impact to natural order, desalination of sea water as a premier source of potable water remains elusive only due to lack of efforts in developing commercially feasible models for operationalizing this concept

linking of rivers is the only possible way to get out of this issue