Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
7. 22 out of 32 major Indian cities deal with daily water
shortages. 29
8. Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad – will be
under water stress (cities that use at least 40% of all available
water from watersheds). 30
And here are some specific examples on the state of some of India’s
major rivers:
1. Ganga is one of the world’s 10 most endangered rivers. 31 A
scientific study published in August 2015 suggests that the
felling of trees and destruction of other vegetation to make way
for urbanization and road construction has dramatically reduced
the flow of water. The depletion of natural water sources in the
last few decades is estimated to be 45 percent from Kumaon
region, 39 percent from Garhwal region, 47 percent from
Yamuna catchment area, 37 percent of Byans catchment area
in Himachal, and 37 percent natural water resources of Teesta
river catchment area of Sikkim. 32
The Ganga is the most threatened by water over-extraction.
Barrages control all of the tributaries to the Ganga and divert
roughly 60% of the river’s flow to large-scale irrigation. 33 The
groundwater level in the Ganga-Brahmaputra is falling by 15-20
mm every year. 33
2. Indus is another one of the world’s 10 most endangered rivers.
It is the most threatened river by climate change. Himalayan
glaciers provide the Indus with 70-80% of its water. The Indus
basin has already lost over 90% of its original forest cover. 23
The Indus basin is the second-most overstressed on the planet,
its groundwater levels falling by 4-6 mm/year. The Indus and
Ganga basins support the livelihood of 370 million Indians in
1.2 million sq. km 23 .
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