• Cherrapunji is today short of drinking water even after getting more than 11 meters of rainfall annually.
• Only  (+/-) 19% variation in average rainfall causes Flood & Drought.
• Less than 1% of the world's fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human uses.
• Even after implementation of various RWH systems less than 18% of the rainwater is harvested.
•  The SGW (fresh groundwater available in aquifer zones below the zone of water-table fluctuation) reserves have also being exploited in some parts of the country, due to extensive groundwater mining.
• Water-borne disease is the single greatest threat to global health, with diarrhoea, jaundice, typhoid, cholera, polio, and gastroenteritis spread by contaminated water. According to a 2007 United Nations report, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-borne diseases. In India, such diseases cause more than 1.5 times the deaths caused by AIDS and double the deaths caused by road accidents.
• In India there are 128 million people without access to improved water source (2007 est. Source- World Development Indicators)
• Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use.

IN INDIA, more than 90 percent of the groundwater is consumed for agriculture. Of this a large percentage of water is used on that land which requires constant irrigation. This water is also primarily drawn from the land.

However, we Indians are not still ready to accept the reality of depleting groundwater reserves. This condition has caused a major water crisis.

According to the UNICEF report on water, there will be constant competition over water, between urban dwellers, farmers and industrialists. Even the World Bank report shows alarming results.

These reports show that in 1997, the available underground water was approximately 600 cubic kilometers per annum and the demand was also almost equal to the availability.
But by 2050 the level of ground water will be below 100 cubic kilometers per annum mark and the demand will rise to 1200 cubic kilometers per annum.

We need to take rational steps to manage water in India before it becomes an international crisis, as this will affect the nation's economy and will also lead to various water-borne diseases. There would also be a sharp decline in agricultural production, which will negate all of the previous efforts at food security.
India will become a net importer of grain, which will have a huge effect on global food prices, as well as the global supply of food. A rise in food prices will aggravate poverty because people will have to spend larger portions of their income on food.
In addition to devastating the agricultural sector of India’s economy, the water crisis will have a big effect on India’s industrial sector, possibly stagnating many industries.

India has the power to avoid this dark future if people take action immediately: start conserving water, regulate how much water can be drawn out of the ground and begin to harvest rainwater but also in right way.