India’s water policy: Between scarcity, reform, and a sustainable futureIndia’s water paradox is stark. Each year, nearly 4,000 cubic kilome...

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India’s water policy: Between scarcity, reform, and a sustainable futureIndia’s water paradox is stark. Each year, nearly 4,000 cubic kilome...
India’s water policy: Between scarcity, reform, and a sustainable future
India’s water paradox is stark. Each year, nearly 4,000 cubic kilometres of rain falls, but most of it arrives in a few short monsoon weeks and quickly runs off. Groundwater, which sustains over 85% of rural households, is being depleted at alarming rates. NASA’s GRACE satellites show water tables in northwestern India sinking by up to 4 cm annually. Already, nearly 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress. If demand continues unchecked, it will double by 2030—potentially cutting India’s GDP by 6%. This makes water governance not just an environmental issue, but a question of economic resilience, food security, and public health.

India, a country that holds just 4% of the world’s freshwater resources but sustains nearly 18% of the global population, finds itself at a critical juncture. With a growing population, rapid urbanisation, and rising climate variability, the nation is grappling with escalating water stress. The recent paper ‘Review of India's water policy and implementation toward a sustainable future’ by Shekhar Singh and Manish Kumar Goyal of IIT Indore published in the Journal of Water & Climate Change highlights both the progress and persistent gaps in India’s water policies, underscoring the urgency of adopting sustainable and technology-driven approaches.

How water policies have evolved
Water has shaped India’s civilisation from Indus Valley hydraulic systems to colonial canal irrigation. Yet modern policies have struggled to keep pace with rising demand and climate variability.

National Water Policy (1987): The first attempt at a comprehensive strategy, focused on expanding irrigation and universal drinking water access. It faltered due to weak state cooperation.

NWP (2002): Marked a shift recognising water as an economic good, emphasising decentralisation, and promoting participatory approaches.

NWP (2012): Went further by embedding the Public Trust Doctrine, treating water as a shared resource, and advocating integrated management.

Recent schemes: AMRUT (2015) to expand urban supply, Jal Jeevan Mission (2019) to deliver tap water to every rural household, and Atal Bhujal Yojana (2019) to promote community-led groundwater management.

Despite these milestones, the governance landscape remains fragmented, split across ministries, agencies like the Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), and states with their own patchy water policies. Furthermore, while 13 states have their own State Water Policies, the lack of coordination often results in duplication or contradictory approaches. The absence of strong River Basin Authorities has also limited basin-wide planning, despite its repeated recommendation.

What the evidence shows

Singh and Goyal’s review draws on government and satellite data to expose three persistent gaps in the policy:

Over-optimistic availability estimates: Policies often assume more water than actually exists, leading to unsustainable irrigation expansion.

Weak enforcement: The Water Cess Act aimed at curbing industrial pollution, but low rates and lax compliance undermined it.

Equity gaps: Women, marginalised groups, and small farmers remain excluded from water governance, even though they bear the greatest brunt of scarcity.

Groundwater data from the Central Ground Water Board (2017 vs 2020) highlights the danger: in states like Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana, extraction outpaces recharge, creating long-term deficits. Meanwhile, river basin agencies remain stalled, interstate disputes intensify, and urban water bodies shrink. Additionally, groundwater legislation remains patchy across states, even though this resource underpins drinking water for nearly 80% of rural households.

Attached link

https://www.indiawaterportal.org/governance-and-policy/indias-water-policy-between-scarcity-reform-and-a-sustainable-future

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