Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

11
Women and Water Policy
Issues and Alternatives
Seema Kulkarni
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, there has been a global recognition of the crisis in the
water sector. Different national and international fora are now voicing
their concern about the challenge of meeting the growing demands for
water while maintaining the sustainability of the environment. Increasing
conflicts over water have now reached alarming levels due to scarcity, pollution
and the priority accorded to industrial as against agricultural use.
Fragmentation in water resource planning is an important factor
responsible for the crisis. In the first two or three decades after independence,
the thinking that dominated the irrigation sector in India was largely
that of making water available for increasing agricultural production to
overcome food shortages. This led to massive investments in large dams,
storage structures and canal networks. The post-1970s period saw a spurt
in groundwater resource development. The number of borewells and
dug wells grew, and so did the extraction of groundwater for irrigation.
Today, about 60 per cent of the irrigated area is fed by groundwater.
Though the expansion of irrigation has undoubtedly been rewarding, it
has also brought to the fore the issues of sustainable and equitable use
of water.
For example, overemphasis on large storages has led to problems
of displacement and environmental sustainability. Overdrawing of
groundwater has led to the depletion of the water source and problems