Water crisis: 'Employees don't come to office and work from home'

New delhi date. 14 June 2020, Sunday

According to a recent FICCI survey on water and economic development, 60 per cent of the country's companies believe that their businesses have been adversely affected by the water crisis. The survey needs to be linked to the guidelines issued by Chennai-based companies to their employees last year. Companies in Chennai had instructed their employees to work from home without coming to the office due to water crisis.

If there is water then there is future

In 1962, India's per capita GDP was twice that of China and China's per capita share of clean groundwater was 75%. Then in 2014, India's per capita share of clean groundwater was 54 per cent, and at that time China's per capita GDP was three times that of India.

The future of the whole region depends on water

According to a 2016 World Bank study, India's GDP growth rate could fall below six per cent by 2050 if it does not use its water resources properly. Cities with many of the country's industrial centers could reach zero groundwater levels by next year, according to a 2019 policy commission report. With industries like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, Abad states are able to ensure water supply to only 53-72 per cent of their urban population.

Poor condition of industries

In the year 2018, Shimla's daily water supply fell from 44 million liters to 18 million liters and tourism was hampered due to water scarcity. Without water, without tourism, industries cannot produce their own raw materials and the country's dream of becoming a લાખ 500 billion economy cannot be fulfilled.

Need to learn irrigation from Israel

Agriculture contributes 17 per cent to the country's GDP. While Punjab's contribution to wheat and rice production in the country is 60 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, the groundwater level is declining by half a meter every year. Currently most of the farming in the country is done by submergence method in which the farm is flooded with water which is unnecessary.

It is imperative that a drip and sprinkler system be developed as extensively in Israel as possible to deliver water to plant roots, and only then will we be able to prove 'on drop bloom crop'. Except for those who need less water, the consumption of crops and species needs to be increased. 4,500 liters of water is used to produce one kg of rice while the figure is 2,000 liters for wheat.