“Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink!” Humanity seems to be heading towards such a situation on a planet covered mostly by oceans. The global water picture is alarming with over 400 crore people, almost two thirds of the world’s population, experiencing severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. Over 200 crore people live in countries where water supply is inadequate. It is being projected that around half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025. Some 70 crore people could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030. By 2040, roughly 1 in 4 children worldwide will be living in areas of extremely high water stress.
India too is fighting acute crisis scenario. Water crisis is acquiring alarming proportion in many parts of India- a country traditionally known for its rivers and multitudinous other water sources, thanks to the conventional wisdom of the people. Currently country is reeling under severe heat waves with the mercury crossing 45 degrees celsius at a number of places, adversely affecting life and livelihood of scores of people. The seriousness of the situation can be conjectured from a number of facts put forth by the Niti Aayog and other government agencies. Around 60 crore people in the country face high to extreme water stress. About three-fourth of the households in India do not have drinking water at their premise and rely on unsafe sources of water. Nearly 70% of available water is contaminated and major rivers are dying because of pollution and other factors, pushing India at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index. As many as 256 of 700 districts in India have reported critical or over-exploited groundwater levels and are bereft of useful water sources. 21 cities- including Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Chennai- probably exhausted their groundwater resources in 2021.
In such a gloomy backdrop, concept and implementation of 75 Amrit Sarovar in every district seems to be the right cure. Each of these Amrit Sarovar will have approx. area of one acre with a water holding capacity of 10,000 cubic meter. This Mission is to be completed by 15th August 2023 with around 50,000 Amrit Sarovar may be constructed in the country within this period. So far, 12,241 sites have been finalised for construction of Amrit Sarovars by states/districts, out of which, works have started on 4,856 Amrit Sarovars. And, the country’s first “Amrit Sarovar” has been inaugurated just now at Patwai, Rampur(UP).
This mission is acquiring the shape of a public movement as the government is trying to ensure people’s participation to make it a success. For this, local freedom fighters, their family members, Martyr’s family members, Padma Awardees and citizens of the local area, wherein an Amrit Sarovar is to be constructed, will be engaged at all stages. Without doubt, this is the worst existential crisis humanity is facing. Work is needed on several fronts simultaneously like stopping overuse, checking water pollution, expanding water related infrastructure and taking effective measures to stop the changing weather patterns due to climate change.
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