DNA Edit – Celebrating dry holi: India is staring at a drought this year

India is the throes of a severe water crisis this year and wasting water in Holi will aggravate the woes in both urban and rural areas. According to a NITI Aayog report released last year, some 600 million people are facing acute water shortage. Twenty four out of 29 states need to take drastic measures while 21 cities may run out of groundwater despite a surge in demand. When every drop matters, Indians will have to use water judiciously. Erratic monsoons, scorching summers, deforestation, rampant extraction of groundwater and faulty agricultural practices have contributed to this gargantuan crisis. While it is impossible to tell how much water is wasted during the festival of colours, a small town’s profligacy can run into millions of litres. The shortage of clean water is another point of concern. The NITI Aayog report stated that around 200,000 Indians die every year as they have no access to clean water. The crisis is not restricted to India as global water shortages are threatening the existence of mankind. A dry holi this year will give us some sort of reprieve till the monsoon, especially for drought-prone states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The future looks dry as a bone and unless India undertakes sustainable water management, it will be hit by food crisis. The looming water crisis poses a serious challenge to agriculture, which consumes about 78 per cent of the freshwater available in the country. India needs to adopt water-saving technologies with modern irrigation techniques such as sprinkler and drip irrigation systems. This Holi, let’s take a solemn pledge. It’s the collective responsibility of the people to enjoy responsibly. We cannot allow a day’s pleasure to endanger the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.