Water crisis has links to women’s rights & economic progress

Just how grave the water shortage in India is brought out in IndiaSpend’s latest report, which says that India is facing the worst crisis in a decade, with the shortage likely to create drought-like conditions in many parts of the country.

We are already seeing the worst of it in many regions. Farmers in Bengaluru led a protest over water scarcity that lasted days. The water crisis in Karnataka is affecting Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which are among the states that will be worst hit this year.

The impact of this scarcity will be felt most by women and children, especially girls, on every count, be it health, education or nutrition.

In Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, the acute drought has led to an alarming drop in nutrition levels. 86% homes have cut down on dal intake, while 84% have cut down on milk for their children.

The threat of food scarcity is not limited to Uttar Pradesh alone given that there is not enough water to irrigate farmlands. So we are looking at a potential food shortage across the country.

Clean water affects education. It helps keep children in schools. This is especially true of girls because in rural India, the task of fetching water still remains the primary responsibility of women. Families in Marathwada, in rural Maharashtra, which is facing severe water scarcity, are pulling their children out of school so they can help fetch water.

Perhaps the biggest concern is the impact on health. The acute shortage of safe, drinking water will lead to a spiralling of diseases like diarrhoea. There are over 300,000 diarrhoea-related deaths in the world every year. 45% of them are from India.

Access to clean water is not just a supply and demand issue. It has links to women’s rights, maternal and infant health and overall economic progress. Its time we looked at water from a larger perspective rather than battling it from season to season.