The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has recently issued an advisory to state governments. The advisory emphasizes the need for ensuring a safe drinking water supply during the extended nationwide lockdown, lasting until 3rd May, 2020.
Details of the Advisory
The central government has requested that state governments assess their requirements for water-purifying chemicals. These include chlorine tablets, bleaching powder, sodium hypochlorite solution, and alum. The advisory states that these chemicals should be used wherever necessary, as they have been classified as essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
In addition, the advisory suggests increasing water supply hours for maintaining social distancing norms. This step is proposed particularly when demand spikes, causing many people to fetch water from public stand posts simultaneously.
Reasons for the Advisory
The advisory results from urgent needs to provide all citizens with safe drinking water. This need is especially acute in rural areas, where medical sanitizers may be scarce. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the most effective preventative measure against virus spread is frequent handwashing with soap. Access to clean water is thus crucial.
The Indian Water Crisis
India has battled issues related to water scarcity for several years. Causes include falling groundwater levels, drought, pollution, and increasing demand from agriculture and industrial sectors. Water management has been ineffective, and these issues are expected to worsen due to climate change.
As per 2017 data from the Ministry of Water Resources (which merged into the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2019), average per-capita annual water availability decreased from 1820 cubic meters in 2001 to 1545 cubic meters in 2011. Projections indicate that it may fall further to 1341 and 1140 cubic meters in 2025 and 2050, respectively. The ministry also stated that water availability in stressed or scarce regions is significantly below the national average due to precipitation variations.
Water scarcity is defined as having annual per-capita water availability below 1000 cubic meters while stress is when this figure is less than 1700 cubic meters.
According to the Global Annual Report 2018 by WaterAid, India ranked first among 10 countries for lack of access to clean water, with 16.3 crore people deprived.
Government Initiatives
However, the government’s efforts, such as the Jal Jeevan Mission, are commendable in tackling the water crisis. Even though India has multiple challenges, it ranks as one of the most improved nations for providing clean water access to its people.
Water and the Constitution
Within India’s Constitution, water is included under Entry 17 of List-II, also known as the State List. This listing is subject to provisions of Entry 56 of List-I, or the Union List. Article 246 of the Indian Constitution divides the responsibilities of the states and center into three sections: The Union, State, and Concurrent Lists.
Regulating and developing these waters often give rise to inter-state disagreements, which are mentioned under Article 262.
