A few years ago, while conducting a research study in a semi -arid region in India, we visited several remote village schools. At first, everything seemed normal: students in classrooms, lessons in progress, but a closer look revealed rows of empty desks, and most missing students were girls.
The conversations with the teachers and the parents confirmed the heartbreaking reality: the young women had to leave school because their families needed them to collect water and had to walk every day to do exactly that. For these children, education was not a priority; The survival was.
Lost childhood
Almost at the same time, we find a news report from a drought in southern India that had led to generalized crops and several farmers suicides, emphasizing the devastating human cost of water shortage. These are not isolated incidents. Throughout India and the world, water scarcity is more than droughts, the exhaustion of water tanks and empty tanks. It is also about stolen childhood, lost opportunities and violence against the most vulnerable. The struggle for water has become a serious crisis, shaping the lives of millions, and their stories go far beyond thirst.
In a single water collection trip, residents in sub -Saharan Africa or spend 30 minutes more than an hour (UNICEF/WHO data). In India, after the drought of 2012, it was seen that women spent an average of 2.2 hours per day collecting the duration of normal years, which increased to approximately 4.0 hours in years of drought due to scarcity (as a study published in La Ratuita, the livelihoods in vulnerable areas.
Health risks
In addition to this, worldwide, inappropriate water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) services contribute to 1.4 million deaths and 74 million years of life adjusted for disability (DALYS) annually, with diarrheal infections). Beyond time limitations and health risks, water shortage also interrupts the livelihoods that lead to financial crises and job losses.
These challenges lead to social conflicts and disturbances about water, and ashes in case of conflict, marginalized groups are disproportionately affected. This also leads to water theft, especially in urban areas, which further intensifies the problem of scarcity.
In Mumbai, 1,400 million liters (ML) or water are lost every day due to leaks and robberies. This constitutes 34 percent of the water supplied by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
Similarly, Delhi loses about 50 percent of water to unimported sources, which means that half of the water flowing through its pipes is stolen or wasted through leaks.
Global lessons
Worldwide, several innovative water management strategies offer valuable lessons. Singapore has built a sustainable water system by combining advanced recycling technologies and public behavior changes, reducing dependence on external sources.
Kenya has an automatic water cashiers that provide affordable access, payment for use to clean water, ensuring equitable distribution in urban and unattended areas.
Over the years, the Indian government has also launched several programs focused on access to safe water, groundwater management and climate -resistant agricultural practices.
Consider, for example, the Jal Jeevan mission, which was launched in 2019 to supply tap water to all rural homes by 2024. Despite the impressive mission achievements, which saw the coverage of 16.67 percent in 2019 to 75,89 in 2019 to 75.89 the delivery of Perioil remained a problem, with infrastructure and logistics gains that decreases the final section.
Another example is Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sonchai Yojana 2.0. With the slogan “more harvest per drop”, this scheme was launched to promote drip irrigation, efficient agriculture in water and the development of reception. He hopes to help millions or farmers to deal with water shortage.
But challenges such as unequal adoption rates, high initial costs, lack of awareness and patterns of continuous fragmented land tenure to interrupt the change to smarter irrigation.
Homemade models
India also has several models of its own harvest conservation that combine traditional wisdom with modern technology. The Chauka system in Rajasthan, a pioneer by Laxman Singh, uses mud ridges to delay water flow and improve groundwater.
In Maharashtra, Nano Ganesh empowers farmers with remotely controlled irrigation systems, allowing them to administer water efficiently using mobile phones.
Bright Althegh, this traditional wisdom and global best practices are still efforts in a fixed ecosystem that fights to climb effective. Complex issues such as various geography, inconsistent community participation, technological and financial barriers, application of weak policies and inappropriate monitoring data are becoming well into fragmented efforts.
Data LED solutions
The lesson is clear: water scarcity is no longer a resource problem, but rather a data, governance, implementation and intentions. That is why our solutions must also go beyond isolated interventions and policies and be more based on the data lever, strengthen multilateral cooperation, the integration of technology and the change in encouraging behavior.
The technological revolution has given us some powerful solutions, from the IA -based monitoring, and IoT -based smart meters to advanced salination techniques that can take advantage of our fixed seawater reserves. However, its limited Willain potential without real -time data integration, a strong application of large -scale policies and collaboration.
We also have avant -garde monitoring solutions to tell us exactly how water resources are changing. Satellite monitoring, predictive analysis and data panels can help us move from reactive crisis management to proactive water security. But without adequate data exchange systems and practices between governments, industries and communities, these solutions will continue to be impressive in theory, but ineffective in the result.
We must also make investments in community -led initiatives and behavioral changes in addition to data and technology. In the case of urban water theft, the strictest laws and intelligent measurement can help, but without the acceptance of the community and a change in the mentality, the problem will persist.
We need to work to encourage responsible water consumption, strengthen local monitoring and empower governance by women (since women play a fundamental role in the management of domestic and community water).
Only when communities see water as a limited and valuable resource and conservation becomes a collective responsibility, we can move from regulation to a real change.
There are solutions: what is missing is the urgency and coordination of implementing them at scale. Water scarcity is not just a distant threat; It is a marked clock, and the choice is simple: it acts decisively now or in front of a future where water is a privilege, not a right.
Basu is Vice President Vice President – Research and Communication; Sharma is vice president Vice President of Research at Sambodhi Research & Communications, a social impact notice
Posted on April 15, 2025
