Water crisis hits U'khand as summer marches ahead

A number of natural water bodies across Uttarakhand have dried up leading to a crisis in villages, especially in the summers. Residents fear their water woes will only increase as summer marches ahead. The state is also a witness to overexploitation of groundwater, land use change, deforestation and drying up of water resources like springs and ponds.

Dehradun:The summers have arrived and with it have brought water crisis as several areas in the state are already witnessing a shortage of water. Residents fear their water woes will only increase as summer marches ahead.

As per the 2018 report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Uttarakhand is among the states where less than 50 per cent of the population had access to adequate quantity of safe drinking water.

Besides lack of water facilities, the state is also witnessing overexploitation of groundwater, land use change, deforestation and drying up of water resources like springs and ponds.

An urban resident needs around 135 litres of water per day while the demand is at least 70 litres in rural areas.

Out of 39,311 villages, only 22,453 villages have drinking water facility. The remaining 16,843 villages face severe water shortage either due to the dried up water sources or the failed drinking water projects. More than 2,000 villages do hot have water facilities and have to fetch water from far off places.

The problem of water shortage is not new to Uttarakhand. In early 2018, a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had found that the state is facing an acute water crisis.

Water is also a major reason because of which farmers of the state are migrating and selling their lands to outsiders.