NEW DELHI: An analysis shows that at least 200 cities across the world are facing a severe water crisis while 10 metropolitan cities, among them Bengaluru, are fast moving towards ‘Day Zero’—a situation where taps start running dry.
The assessment by Down To Earth, a magazine published by green think-tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), sounds alarm bells for many cities across the globe, a day ahead of the World Water Day which is observed every year on March 22.
The report says Bengaluru could go the Cape Town away. Cape Town, one of the richest cities of Africa, has been reeling under one of the worst ever water crisis with many reports estimating that the city’s taps will run dry this year, within the next few months. The city has recently introduced the idea of ‘Day Zero’ to cut water use substantially when most of the city’s taps will literally be turned off.
“Be it Cape Town, Bengaluru or Chennai, there isn’t much difference between these cities. They are all witnessing a common present. The important question to ask is whether these cities can create and move toward a common future that is water secure because it is waterwise,” said
Sunita Narain, director general of the CSE.
As far as Bengaluru is concerned, the analysis shows that the total number of extraction wells in the city has shot up from 5,000 to 0.45 million in the past 30 years. “Recharge of groundwater is minimal due to unplanned urbanisation. The city only uses half of its treatment capacity to treat the waste and as a result a substantial amount of waste is dumped into the water bodies”, it said.
Besides Bengaluru, the list of 10 cities facing ‘Day Zero’ include Beijing (China), Mexico City (Mexico), Sanaa (Yemen), Nairobi (Kenya), Istanbul (Turkey), Sao Paulo (
Brazil), Karachi (Pakistan), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Kabul (
Afghanistan).
The report analysed the findings of several global studies on water use and availability of resources and noted that 36% of the cities across the world will face water crisis by 2050 and the urban water demand is expected to go up by a whopping 80% from current level by 2050.
