Nearly 80 per cent of India’s freshwater is utilized for agriculture, water-intensive crops like rice, wheat etc. Groundwater accounts for 63 per cent of water used for irrigation by farmers. “We need to change farming practices to see improvements,” says Rishi Agarwal.
Sixty per cent of India’s districts have been declared critical on groundwater. India’s depleting groundwater reserves is impacting the overall drinking water availability drastically and India is ranked 120 out of 122 countries in the global water quality index.
Rishi Raj Agarwal is the founder of “Save Water, Save City” which focuses on the water crisis the world is facing. SWSC has worked to promote clean, safe & sustainable use of water. “I have aimed at reducing the number of problems faced by various states in India by not only working at the ground level but also creating polls and campaign to know where and what are the main issues that are causing water stress and tackle the situation,” says Agarwal.
Most of India’s population has access to only 4% of the world’s water resources. A NITI Aayog report states that at least 40% of the Indian population will have no access to drinking water by the year 2030, also 21 major cities (including New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad) are expected to run out of groundwater shortly.
“The importance of keeping oneself hygienic during this COVID-19 pandemic has made matters worse,” says Rishi Raj Agarwal. The coronavirus pandemic has led to more usage of water than before due to the requirement of washing hands constantly. So the pace of water shortage has increased drastically. This makes water conservation even more important.
“Water has to be everyone’s business and all village heads must join hands to construct dams and embankments along the river,” says Rishi Agarwal. He has initiated “SavewaterSavecity.com” which has a mission to promote free piped water to every household in the world and save 100 top cities of India and the world from the inevitable water scarcity of “Day Zero” It aims at reducing the number of problems faced by various states in India by not working at the ground level but also creating polls and campaign to know where and what are the main issues that are causing water stress and tackle the situation accordingly.
Apart from his passion and involvement in Save Water Save City, Rishi Agarwal is also a great philanthropist and environmentalist and has planted almost 20,000 trees and is also involved in various charitable works. He is also CERA’s (Construction Equipment Rental Association) Regional head for Maharashtra. CERA is India’s largest construction equipment rental association
“We all human beings worldwide are soon going to face a “Water Apartheid” scenario where only the rich would be able to afford water while the rest are left to suffer. We have to focus on building infrastructures, such as dams, canals, minor irrigation structures, and water pipes. India’s water story starts and ends in her farms and people. India needs to create better policies and movements to help farmers and people use water with precautions. This holds the key to a water-secure future for the country and an end to stories of distress,” says Rishi Agarwal.
Save water issue is not for some people but all people must cooperate and share to make and save every drop of water for generations and we must teach people how water consumption begins at home first and then the planet at large.