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A human being cannot live without water, but the source of water is not endless. Manju (2017) pointed out that 97% of the water on the earth is salt water, and the remaining 3% includes surface water, glacial water, and groundwater. That is to say, only 1% of the water on earth is available for humans to use. Groundwater is a freshwater resource, which is the main source of water in India and provides most of the domestic and irrigation water. Due to human being’s production and living activities, groundwater is reduced and polluted to varying degrees. For example, excessive dependence on it, and industrial wastewater is sustained discharge into clean rivers, the main reason is that the government does not have appropriate control measures. Wastewater contains highly toxic heavy metals, and their freshwater resources are becoming less and less, which will lead to a reduction in agricultural production and the shortage of drinking water, and bring serious problems to social and economic pressures. India became one of the countries in the world with serious water shortages. To ensure the sustainable use of available water, and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6.4, India is using desalination technology, PMKSY, and rainwater harvesting to address water shortages.
Firstly, India uses desalination, which is a technique for desalinating sea water in some ways, to achieve freshwater. It is one of the smart and sustainable choices to solve the water shortage issue. People have been using it for a long time because salt water is the only inexhaustible source of water on Earth. Manju (2017) reported that more than 300 million people through this technology to achieve their basic needs, such as household water, tap water, and agricultural water. Besides India, nearly 150 countries around the world use this technology to produce fresh water. For instance, Italy, China, Australia, etc. all support desalination plants. As we all know, 70% of the desalination plants in the world are located in the Middle East because there is a lot of fuel, so the local government supports desalination technology. The desalination capacity of there is 31.29 million meters per day which is ranked first in the world (Manju, 2017). Although India’s desalination system is not perfect, it also learns from other better countries, such as starting to use renewable energy. For instance solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, and so on. The process of making fresh water from salt water needs expensive costs, and also burning a lot of fossil fuels can emit greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), which will pollute the environment. This is also a side effect of this technology on society, but it is still a sustainable plan for improving the water shortage globally. Therefore, the desalination industry will rely on renewable energy in the future.
In addition, PMKSY is a government-organized solution project to India’s water shortage. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana(PMKSY) is an irrigation scheme launched by the government, that can improve water use efficiency through better irrigation measures. According to the (RFS Division, DAC&FW, Ministry of Agriculture, Farmers Welfare, & Government of India. (n.d.)) ‘ PMKSY’s main objectives are to improve farm water efficiency, reduce water waste, and introduce sustainable water conservation measures.’According to Gupta, S. (2018), India has 600 million people without water and 40% water loss in 2018. The overall use of water in India is 1/4 of the whole world, agriculture accounts for 90% of India’s water use. Agriculture is a major contributor to water loss and water efficiency in India. Ayyar, K. (2018) said, it is because most of the farmers need to plant the dry crop, such as rice, sugar cane, wheat, etc. They are all very water-intensive. However, farmers cannot easily change what they sow, they need to keep pumping groundwater to meet irrigation needs. So Massive pumping of groundwater has brought about serious water problems in India. So, I reckon that people should solve the problem of irrigation needs. To solve the problem, India uses drip irrigation technology of PMKSY, slow application of water to the root zone. The system is capable of applying water at the optimum rate to the root system of a plant, applying a precise amount of water to retain sufficient moisture in the soil. Compared with previous irrigation methods, the water resource utilization rate of the drip irrigation system is as high as 95% ~ 100%, which greatly reduces water resource waste. With the active cooperation of the government and farmers, the scheme has achieved the best expected results.
On the other hand, drip irrigation in Israel is recognized as the most effective water-saving irrigation technology at present. This country has spread the idea of drip irrigation, which involves dropping water onto the roots of crops rather than flooding entire fields. Drip irrigation can save water by 35% to 50%, and some crops can save up to 80%, compared with the traditional flood irrigation method. I think India should learn more from Israel and achieve significant water savings by making irrigation water more efficient and pumping less water.
Furthermore, India has developed rainwater harvesting which is an affordable technology. Water shortage is caused by the increasing population, water pollution, and climate change. Also, the water shortage affected many things, especially women, and children, and the reducing agriculture. In these circumstances, the use of rainwater harvesting is the best way to solve these problems. Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management reported that rainwater harvesting is a low-cost technology. This technology has collected the rainwater on the roof. Then, the rainwater is transported to the reservoir by gutters. After using rainwater harvesting, caused the groundwater level to rise by nearly six meters. Besides, the net benefit of rice has increased by about 3 times, beans have increased 4 times and oilseeds have increased by 6 times. On the other hand, this technology can improve women’s and children’s lives since they used to spend hours walking to the well every day. These results have played a role in eighteen of the 28 states in India. Also, some new buildings are mandatory to make rainwater harvesting on the rooftop. Stockholm Environment Institute reported that rainwater harvesting motivated gender equality and substantial rural benefit. This shows that this technology can improve Indian living, increase their harvesting, and improve their economy. Also, this technology provides an environmentally safe, affordable, and the most effective way to water scarcity (Pink, 2016). Besides, many developing countries applied rainwater harvesting such as Brazil. In Brazil, two rainwater harvesting systems are launching. One of the rainwater harvesting systems is to provide drinking water; another is to provide laundry, dishwashing, and flushing water which can conserve 222.65 meters per year. This system conserves 456.25 meters per year of mains water (“Rainwater Harvesting in Developing Countries”, 2018). We suggest that India can learn from Brazil because Brazil uses two rainwater harvesting systems that could separate drinking water and non-drinking water. It is using the water more effectively. Therefore, this shows that rainwater harvesting can applied worldwide to water shortage and can successfully solve water scarcity.
Many countries have water shortage problems also India was very serious. Macau’s government should take financial and educational actions to contribute solutions. Households building the rainwater harvesting system cost between 100 US dollars to 1000 US dollars. Macau government can donate 10 million to India to develop the rainwater harvesting system. That can build more than 10 thousand rainwater harvesting systems in households. It can provide drinking water to 10 thousand families. Besides, Macau should send some teachers to promote social awareness about the effective usage of water in India. For example: the teachers can teach them to use rice water and boiled water to wash dishes which can save water and reduce the pollution of detergent.
In conclusion, to reach the sustainable development target 6.4, India is taking action to decrease the shortage of water through seawater desalination, and rainwater collection and implementing the project PMKSY. Desalination converts an endless stream of salt water into usable fresh water, drip irrigation in PMKSY can save water fundamentally, rainwater harvesting is a low-cost solution. Although these methods take time to implement, the results are good. In addition to learning some good methods from other countries, they can also solve problems through local subsidies. For example, Macao can provide funds to help them build facilities and achieve their goals as soon as possible. After the initiatives, I believe that India can reach the target of 6.4 by 2030, as well as the 17 sustainable development goals.
References
- Manju, S., Sagar, N. (2017, June). Renewable energy integrated desalination: A sustainable solution to overcome future fresh-water scarcity in India. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032117301764
- Nayar, K. G., Sundararaman, P., O’Connor, C. L., Schacherl, J. D., Heath, M. L., Gabriel, M. O., Shah, S. R., Wright, N. C., Winter, A. G. (2017). Feasibility study of an electrodialysis system for in-home water desalination in urban India. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352728516300045#!
- Selvakumar, S., Chandrasekar, N., Kumar, G. (2017, June). Hydrogeochemical characteristics and groundwater contamination in the rapid urban development areas of Coimbatore, India. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212371716301639
- RFS Division, DAC&FW, Ministry of Agriculture, Farmers Welfare, & Government of India. (n.d.). Pradhan mantri krishi sinchayee yojana. Retrieved from https://pmksy.gov.in/default.aspx
- Gupta, S. (2018, June 15). India facing its worst water shortage in history. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/15/health/india-water-shortage-crisis-intl/index.html
- Ayyar, K. (2018, June 6). The global water crisis: why are India’s taps running dry? Retrieved from http://time.com/5302661/water-crisis-drinking-india-drought-dry/
- Rainwater Harvesting in Developing Countries? Need, Initiative, and Methods. (2018, June 27). Retrieved from http://www.chaitanyaproducts.com/blog/rainwater-harvesting-in-developing-countries/
- Pink, C. M. (2016, November). Rainwater Harvesting: Water Security for Marginalized Communities in India. Retrieved from https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/rainwater-harvesting-water-security-marginalized-communities-india/
- Rainwater Harvesting Solutions: Which Countries Lead the Way? (2015, December 4). Retrieved from https://cleanawater.com.au/information-centre/rainwater-harvesting-solutions-which-countries-lead-the-way
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