It seems as if India is bent to make mistakes that the developed world made years back and is repenting now. Instead of learning from their mistakes we are following their footsteps to destruction. I am taking about the water and bottled water issue in India. Let’s see if we are really moving forward or going backwards?

Best available information through articles and reports suggests that bottled water became a product in the west in the 1920’s. In spite of westerners being quality conscious as well as brand loyals, they are facing problems concerned with the decreased safety of water, lack of recycling as well as the groundwater tables going really low. India, lacks on accounts of both quality as well as brand loyality amongst consumers. Yet again, the Indian bottled water industry has nearly tripled between 1993-2004 and is growing at the rate of more than 40% per annum. US and other developed countries have over the years of usage of bottled water realized many harmful effects of bottled water. Instead of setting alarming bells here, this is seen as growth for the country. This is where lack of awareness and perspective can cause havoc for the country in future. We should not be repeating the mistakes that the developed world already did.

Lack of regulations for bottled water is a big issue in our country and has been overlooked for quite long time. Indian consumers assume that bottled water is safe water but this might not be the case as there are hardly any standards in place in our country for these companies. India has about 200 brands in its bottled water industry, 80% of which are local. This industry works as cottage industry in our country as well.

Reality Check:

India was a water rich country. With the increasing corporate control over water as well as increasing population, water insecurity in our country is increasing and we are close to exhausting our ground water resources.
India is the 10th largest consumer of bottled water and the rapid pace with which the overall consumption is increasing is significant as it is now the most thriving industries in our country,
With most of the plants in south India, problems of low water table, increasing amount of unnecessary plastic bottle waste, due to lack of recycling is increasing as well.
Bottled water over the long run costs 10000 times more than tap water.

The Government has perhaps realized the lapses on its part to check the water quality in the country and there are proposals of creating water regulatory authority for the same.
India is headed for tough times if it does not look into its water management practices and change them soon. “India’s water economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future”- a World Bank report says that India’s water demand would increase its supply sources by 2020, unless the country changes its water management practices. There are forecasts of various kinds of water problems arising due to interconnected issues the country is confronted with. With the climate change projects, there are chances of increase in droughts as well as floods. Also, due to lack of water storage facilities in the country and rain water harvesting, this could lead to acute water shortage in our country in the future. There are yet again battles on water control management between rural areas and the cities in the country existing even now.

Action:

There is an urgency to act in respect to water crisis that we are going to face in the near future. We need huge investments in water infrastructure as well as better standards and regulations in place to check the reckless use of water resources of our country. Big Multi-purpose projects as well as increased community levels rainwater harvesting and watershed management projects are required. Active public private partnerships by adopting a sustainable approach is important to manage these crisis before its too late and we too have to repent. Bottled water companies could also make a huge impact here if only they would check the measures adopted by them and not focus on reckless profit making at any cost.