India’s water management has been on an unsustainable path for centuries. Its record on wetlands management has been even worse. Over the past 500 years, India’s water management practices have improved slowly and at best incrementally, even though its water demands have grown exponentially. Not surprisingly, India’s water situation has deteriorated steadily with time. It is now precarious. India is now facing a water crisis that no earlier generation ever had to face in its entire history.
By Asit K. Biswas, 2022. Article published in Sarovar, Newsletter of Wetlands International South Asia, February 2022, Issue VIII, World Wetlands Day Special Issue – Wetlands and Water Management.