Growing Concern Over India’s Diminishing Groundwater Supply
A new study led by researchers of the University of Michigan delved into India’s diminishing water availability as a result of groundwater depletion and climate change. The study found out that Indian farmers had intensified drawing out of groundwater as a means of adapting to warming temperatures.
The researchers fear that if the circumstance continues, the rate of groundwater loss is bound to triple in 2080.
Why India’s Groundwater Supply is of Serious Concern to the World
Meha Jain, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan, said that their findings are of great concern. Mainly because groundwater is a critical resource for India, being a major supplier of food both locally and globally.
Groundwater depletion could be devastating for the people of India because it will jeopardise the security of food and water in the country. Yet the intensification of agricultural groundwater irrigation has paid off, because India is now the second-largest producer of common cereal grains, rice and wheat, on a global scale.
Still, groundwater shortage could adversely affect the living conditions of more than a third of India’s 1.4 billion residents. Moreso now that the country is already the world’s most populous nation.