The Indian subcontinent is officially in the midst of the 2021 cyclone season and rapidly heading towards the peak monsoon period, a few weeks ahead of schedule. Indian monsoons have already witnessed a mammoth change in weather patterns in the face of climate change, making the season which delivers nearly 80% of the country’s annual rainfall, much more chaotic and intense which will steadily worsen India’s agricultural base and hunger problem. As monsoon rains grow heavier with every year and the states of Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal reel from the damages sustained in the extended periods of rain and flooding in the after of cyclones Tauktae and Yaas; it might seem ironical to even mention the issue of water shortage.
Tauktae impacted the entirety of India’s western coast with 91 people losing their lives and infrastructure damages worth crores. Furthermore a second cyclonic depression during a COVID-19 second wave only unleashed havoc within the country as governments geared up to execute evacuation services due to fears of downpour and deluge. In the month of May, India’s rainfall was 74% more than the longest period average according to the Indian Meteorological Department. It was the highest in 121 years. These are just a few recent examples of vast divergence from the normal weather conditions. Neither is it unusual these days to observe wild fluctuations in weather in a matter of hours. So how exactly does water shortage fit into the scenario?
Around 120 kilometres away from the state capital Kolkata, a small village called Bankra is the last settlement on the banks of the river Ichamati in West Bengal. Emboldened by the cyclone Amphan in 2020, the river flooded the village leaving behind only the ravages of destruction. Following the storm Bankra went dry for days without any water to drink. The Ichamati river water is saline and has destroyed other water bodies in the village while the ground water is filled with arsenic. Cases similar to Bankra are widespread in India. As climate change wreaks more desolation in India on natural resources, access to basic drinking water becomes a luxury especially in the aftermath of a weather disaster involving water.
Anybody who grew up in Chennai, or in any other township along India’s cyclone-plagued coasts, knows the plan of action when a storm warning comes: fill the buckets. Early relief measures in the aftermath of cyclone Fani involved emergency supplies of clean drinking water to the villages in Odisha wrecked by the harsh gales. The storm may bring rain, but is also likely to dry all the taps. The Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove delta, has becomes a ground zero for the fresh water crisis with increasing water salination due to rising sea levels and destroyed pipelines in the event of cyclones like Amphan.What is of particular concern is the shift in geographical areas from flood-prone to drought prone areas and vice versa. Such shifts in a matter of years have caused massive human dislocation and accelerated India’s unfolding water crisis. Successive governments now face an uphill battle when it comes to disaster management and relief which cannot look at these events in lens of stop-gap solutions. Long term answers in rain water harvesting and technology driven approaches can hold certain remedies; however intensifying monsoon conditions in the subcontinent are a constant source of worry for successive generations who must navigate such hazards as a part of a new normal.
(Image credit: The Economic Times)
