Water crisis by 2020 may add to Gurgaon's woes

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Daljit Singh Bhatia

23 May, 2011

A study conducted by a Bengaluru-based research firm states that Gurgaon may face its worst water crisis by 2020. The population, which will see a considerable rise will also see water consumption taking reducing, much lesser than the global average.

CURBING YOUR daily water consumption may feature on your daily to-do list, a few years down the line. A study conducted by a Bengaluru-based research firm has made some startling revelations that Gurgaon will face some serious water crisis in the next ten years. The study also clearly states that there will be a considerable downfall in the per capita water consumption if curative measures like rain water harvesting are not adopted. The official consumption marker states that Gurgaon consumes 200 million litres of water per day.

Out of the 200 million litre per day, which is consumed, 144 million is supplied through canals and 55 million litre is hauled as groundwater. For an estimated population of 25 lakh people, the available water from its repositories is used at 89 litre per day by a family.

The population graph is also expected to see a surge by 2020. With the population set to grow to 43 lakhs, the average water consumed per day would take a deep plunge by 48 litres per day, which is disturbingly low from the global average. The global average for per person consumption stands at 130 litres per day per person.

As reported by a leading media house, Dr Megha Shenoy, of the research firm, said that the only solution to the existing situation is an integrated urban water management system, which includes recycling of waste water from households, buildings and industries; revival of lakes and catchment areas and rainwater harvesting. This could also involve systems like a Membrane Bio Reactor as set up in some countries abroad.

Taking into account Gurgaon’s geographic area, Dr Shenoy further mentioned that "If we take the average annual rainfall to be 550mm, the ground watertable can be recharged by 500 million liters annually if just 50 per cent of the rainwater could be harvested in the city.