- India Today
- Business Today
- Reader’s Digest
- Harper's Bazaar
- Brides Today
- Cosmopolitan
- Aaj Tak Campus
- India Today Hindi
Get 72% off on an annual Print +Digital subscription of India Today Magazine
The great indian thirst: the story of india's water crisis, solutions to tackle it, the country is staring at a grave water crisis unless we get our act together, and fast..
Listen to Story
Ominously for India, history seems to be repeating itself. A NITI Aayog report in 2018 stated bluntly that 600 million people, or nearly half of India’s population, face extreme water stress. That three-fourths of India’s rural households do not have piped, potable water and rely on sources that pose a serious health risk. That India has become the world’s largest extractor of groundwater, accounting for 25 per cent of the total. That 70 per cent of our sources are contaminated and our major rivers are dying because of pollution. Its conclusion: ‘India is suffering from its worst water crisis in its history.’
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Launched in August 2019, the ambitious scheme aims to provide potable water through taps to the 191 million rural households by 2024, from the existing one out of six households that have tap water. Given the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, there were doubts about the Jal Shakti ministry’s ability to meet its targets.