Water Crisis- Time to consider water footprints
On 29th March WaterAidIndia @WaterAidIndia conducted a Tweetchat on – Water Crisis: Time to consider water footprints.
The discussion began by asking the question that in spite of being the highest groundwater extractor, India still suffers from water crisis, and whether it was time to be alarmed. The audience agreed that alarm bells have been ringing for a while now given India’s serious depletion of ground water, and it is time we start focusing on measures to improve the condition. The next question raised was do people in India understand their water footprint and how is virtual water or water footprint related to the ongoing water crisis. The audience discussed that even though the extent of virtual water footprint is communicated to people they have a hard time understanding it, not just the commoners but our politicians as well. This results in export of water-intensive crops such as wheat and rice in large quantities. Also, water is being exported in form of other crops, and which results in indirect export of the resource which is scarce. The next topic discussed was whether bringing efficiency in India’s agricultural practices would help in reducing water crisis and what would be the best practices. Various measures suggested included control on export of virtual water, water recycling, revival of open wells, etc. The chat ended by asking the audience their suggestions on reducing water footprints and the immediate steps that government can take on reducing water footprint.
A tweetchat by WaterAidIndia!
