HindustanTimes.com

Saturday, August 16, 2003

Water level to fall, warns TERI

HT Correspondent
New Delhi, August 15

A Tata Energy Research Institute (Teri) study says annual per capita water
availability in India is going to fall by 67 per cent in the next 50 years.

The water availability in the first fifty years of independence fell by 62
per cent from 6008 cubic metres in 1947 to 2266 cubic metres in 1997. And if
business continued as usual, it is going to fall from 2266 cubic metres to
750 cubic metres in the next 50 years.

Teri Director R.K. Pachauri has warned that in the absence of policies and
strategies for efficient water management, the country may move from a state
of "water stress" to "water scarcity".

Dr Pachauri was presenting the study ‘Looking Back to Change Track’, which
looks back at TERI's earlier Green-India 1947-1997 study, in which the
institute had assessed the damage to India’s environment in the first 50
years of Independence. The new Teri study projects the impact of development
on the environment and natural resources over the next 50 years (1997-2047).

By 2047, he said, seven of the 20 agro ecological zones are projected to
have a situation of water scarcity (annual per capital availability of less
than 1000 cubic metres) or absolute scarcity(less than 500 cubic metres).

Pachauri also warned of the increasing pollution levels in rivers across
India. Indian rivers still continue to be filthy, he said, and expressed
alarm at the increase in BOD levels (biochemical oxygen demand).
The BOD level provides a rough idea of how much biodegradable waste is
present in the water.

© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.
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