At a time when major parts of the country are reeling under severe water crisis,  the data shared in Lok Sabha last week highlighting the states with over-exploitation of groundwater resources has placed Arunachal Pradesh in the ‘safe group’ which means that exploitation  of  groundwater  is within the prescribed limits as of now. Although it signifies that there is nothing much to worry at the moment for the state, given the way the problem of water scarcity is developing thick and fast in most parts of the country, it is time to take lessons from these  and  initiate pre-emptive  measures. 

According to this data, groundwater level in 16% of the taluka, mandal, block-level units in the country fall under the ‘over-exploited’ category, while 4% fall under the ‘critical’ category. But thenews that Chennai has virtually run dry has sent waves of apprehension all across the nation as who’s next in the queue. According  to experts, Chennai water crisis is more a man-made one withover-exploitation of groundwater  a major contributing  factor. But the reality is that, groundwaterforms the largest share of India’s agriculture and drinking water supply, making it  the biggest user of groundwater in the world,  more than  the combined  extraction of  China and  USA.  Overall, 50 per cent of urban water requirement and 85 per cent of rural domestic water need are met by groundwater. And  according to a  report by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) presented in 2018, this unceasing and unscientific  extraction  has caused a reduction in groundwater levels in the country  by 61 per cent between 2007 and 2017.

Water woes are nothing new for cities and villages  throughout the  country  and is  a regular visitor during each summer. But the story remains the same, that of untold suffering  triggered by  continuing neglect even if the reasons are starkly visible.  Unplanned infrastructural development  has resulted in  chocking and even vanishing of water bodies  altogether, thus  snapping  the  routes of replenishment  of  groundwater. Lack of  a strict  implementation mechanism of the  existing rules & regulations  has aggravated the problem manifold. That the situation  is  really grim  is apparent from  NITI Aayog  report  placed  last year which says that  as many as  21 Indian cities will run out of groundwater by 2020 if  the usage, or more precisely unplanned usage  continues at the current rate.   

In Arunachal, there are also trends of many rivers and streams drying up, which naturally raise the fear of a possible water crisis in near future.  No ad-hoc measure will perhaps serve the purpose and only a long term and sustained plan of action can help in avoiding  a Chennai-like crisis.