Natural Resource Management in South Asia

5

Water

Introduction

If we could collect all the water on this planet in a one-litre bottle, freshwater would represent about two drops; barely 2.5 per cent of world’s water is freshwater. Out of this, 70 per cent is frozen in the Antarctica and Greenland ice caps. Barely 1 per cent of total freshwater is available for human consumption. These are stored in lakes, ponds, underground aquifers, streams and rivers—easily and cheaply accessible. In South Asia, agriculture accounts for 86 to 98 per cent freshwater withdrawal, domestic use accounts for 2 to 8 per cent withdrawal and 0.6 to 5.4 per cent is attributed to the industrial sector. Thus, agriculture is a major user of freshwater.

Freshwater resources are getting scarce in terms of quantity, ...