India's Water Shortage
We read an excellent article recently – the punchline being “the decline in water availability in India has been catastrophic over the past 75 years: from 6,042 cubic metres per capita in 1947 (the year of Independence) to just 1,486 cubic metres per capita by the end of 2021”.
One of the best ‘scare’ tactics we have seen!
In reality all of this decline per capita is directly attributable to India’s rapidly rising population which essentially quadrupled between 1947 (340mn) and 2021 (1,340mn).
The volume of underground water is, therefore, essentially unchanged. The ‘problem’ lies with India’s powerful demographic profile. Seen, correctly, by investors as one of the most powerful drivers of the current rapid economic growth in the country and a profile which sits in stark contrast to that of Northeast Asia. However, this is changing. India’s fertility rate dropped to 2.03 in 2021, below the 2.1 rate required for population growth.
By 2026 more than three million farmers in India are expected to be sourcing their water needs from groundwater sources pumped to the surface using solar power. With the ability to extract water all day long (and at zero cash cost) the technology has helped to improve food security in more arid regions while negating the need for more costly and emissions-heavy diesel alternatives.
Sadly, this is not the entire picture. In parts of Rajasthan (where some 100,000 farmers are already using solar powered pumps to irrigate over a million acres thanks to a government subsidised programme) groundwater sources are being driven to a critically low level. In what one might describe as a race to the bottom, wealthier farmers are seeking to purchase ever more powerful solar powered pumps and extract from ever deeper levels and, in consequence, forcing their less wealthy neighbours to purchase water from them directly.
However, blaming the introduction of solar powered pumps for the decline in cubic metres of underground water per capita is not entirely helpful.
Solar has no emissions and must be a better alternative to diesel or electricity supplied by the national grid (mainly generated by coal fired plants)!
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