In spite of the widespread belief, India is not facing a water crisis because of actual physical scarcity of this resource. It is facing a serious water crisis because of continuing poor management practices. In the absence of functioning water institutions and proper water management practices at central, state and municipal levels and lack of political will to take long-term decisions at all political levels, water problems in India, in terms of quantity, quality and equity, will become increasingly more difficult to resolve.
By Asit K. Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada, Chapter of the book: Insights on Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Century Ahead, edited by V. Dashavantha Reddy, K. Venkateswara Rao and K. Rama Krishna, 2017, BS Publications, Hyderabad, pages 169-175.