New Delhi to run out of groundwater in two years as India faces ‘day zero’ crises

NEW DELHI: An Indian government think tank has warned that New Delhi is set to run out of groundwater within two years as climate change and dramatic population growth hit supplies, The Telegraph reported.

Based on data collected from 24 of 29 Indian states, the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) warned that the country’s worst ever water shortage is likely to adversely impact some 600 million people. It said that by 2020 some 20 Indian cities besides Delhi, including global information technology centres like Bangalore and nearby Hyderabad, were also likely to run out of groundwater, impacting over 120 million residents or nearly twice Britain’s population.

The report estimates that by 2030 India’s water demands would double and the resultant scarcity could trim six per cent off its annual gross domestic product, besides gravely impacting food security, as agriculture consumes some 80 per cent of water. 

Groundwater levels in Bangalore have plummeted in recent years. In 2012 water could be found at a few hundred feet below the ground, compared with 1,500 feet now. To make matters worse much of the remaining water is badly contaminated by industrial effluents and sewage that seep into the ground.  

The report said that climate change, deficient rainfall, the onset of early and extended summer and rising populations across India were collectively making it impossible for urban municipalities to meet rising water demands.