Abstract

India with an area of 3 287 263km2 is the seventh largest country in the world and by population it ranks at number two after China. About 17 % of the world population lives in India and it has achieved all- round socio-economic progress since independence. In recent decades due to the tremendous increase in the human population in India from 361 million in 1951 to 1210million in 2011; the per capita availability of fresh water in the country has come down from 6371m3 a year to 1902m3 a year that is by 70percent. This paper provides an overview of freshwater availability from rainfall in India as also in its different states under the impact of the population growth. Of the 28states, the availability of fresh water per capita in the four contiguous states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal has been estimated to be less than 1000m3 a year. These four states are water stressed which may experience severe water supply instability. The solution to heal the water scarcity problem in these four states lies in the adaptation of an efficient and integrated policy for water use and application of relevant water conservation techniques.

Keywords

monsoon, rainwater, water quality, groundwater, surface water