Context
To focus on the importance of freshwater, the United Nations marks March 22 every year as World Water Day to celebrate water and raises awareness
World Water Day
- The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution in 1992 by which March 22 of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993.
- Associated events: The celebrations and events were added-
- The International Year of Cooperation in the Water Sphere 2013
- International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028.
- Focus: A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
- World Water Day 2021 Theme: “Valuing Water”.
Water Status in India
- Water availability: According to the Ministry of Water Resources the average annual per capita water availability fell from 1820 cubic meters assessed in 2001 to 1545 cubic meters in 2011.
- It could reduce further to 1341 and 1140 in the years 2025 and 2050
Some Terms
- Water stressed condition: Annual per-capita water availability of less than 1700 cubic meters is considered as Water stressed condition.
- Water scarcity condition: Annual per-capita water availability below 1,000 cubic meters is considered as a water scarcity condition.
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- Due to high temporal and spatial variation of precipitation, the water availability of many regions of the country is much below the national average and can be considered as water-stressed/water scarce.
- In a 2018 report, the water and sanitation advocacy group WaterAid ranked India at the top of 10 countries with the lowest access to clean water close to home, with 16.3 crore people not having such access.
Constitutional provision for Water
- In the Constitution, water is a matter included in Entry 17 of List-II i.e. State List.
- This entry is subject to the provision of Entry 56 of List-I i.e. Union List.”
- Under Article 246, the Indian Constitution allocates responsibilities of the States and the Centre into three lists– Union List, State List, and Concurrent List.
- Water is under Entry 17 of the State List, which reads: “Water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power subject to the provisions of entry 56 of List I.”
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