English Quiz for Bank Exams 2015 – Set 25 – Reading Comprehension

Water touches every aspect of
life, and in India uncertainty over access to and the availability of this
basic resource may be reaching crisis levels. As India continues to undergo dramatic shifts caused by a
growing economy and population, competing demands for this limited resource
coming from households, industry, and agriculture have wide-ranging
implications for the country’s future. India’s water crisis is rooted in three
causes. The first is insufficient water per person as a result of population
growth. The second cause is poor water quality resulting from insufficient and
delayed investment in urban water-treatment facilities. The third problem is dwindling groundwater supplies due to
over-extraction by farmers.

Water scarcity is fast becoming
urban India’s number one woe, with government’s own data revealing that
residents in 22 out of 32 major cities have to deal with daily shortages. For
example, in Delhi approx 3,156 million litres of water (MLD) is supplied
against the requirement of 4,158. But around 40% of the supply is lost in
distribution resulting in a much wider gap between demand and supply than
what’s recorded. The worst-hit city is Jamshedpur, where the gap between demand
and supply is a yawning 70%. The
crisis is acute in Kanpur, Asansol, Dhanbad, Meerut, Faridabad, Visakhapatnam,
Madurai and Hyderabad – where supply fails to meet almost 30% of the demand –
according to data provided by states which was placed in the Lok Sabha during
the recently-concluded Parliament session by the urban development ministry.

The figures also reveal that in
Greater Mumbai and Delhi – which have the highest water demand among all cities
– the gap between demand and supply is comparatively less. The shortfall is 24%
for Delhi and 17% for Mumbai. However, the situation is worse than that.
India’s future economic growth is also a concern. If the country cannot expand
irrigation or increase agricultural productivity by other means, economic
growth will be restricted. Government of India have made a comprehensive plan for creating a unique platform for deliberating
the issues involving all stakeholders including decision makers, politicians,
researchers and entrepreneurs of water resources not only from Indian arena but
also from International avenues for getting benefited mutually. There is
emphasis throughout the country on watershed development.

This involves leveling land and
tapping rainwater in small ponds created by building small dams in the streams
(called check dams). Since Water is the most precious gift of nature can be
made to beneficial use to the mankind only if; all the stakeholders are fully
involved in its development and management. By understanding the importance of
building public awareness, as it is vital in getting support in implementation
of the objectives, efforts will be put in through national portals and media
engagement for effective civil society involvement too in the consultative
processes of India Water Week 2013 (IWW-2013).

As a part of this endeavor, the Ministry of Water
Resources has decided to host an International event “India Water
Week” on an annual basis. The first event of this kind India Water Week-
2012 (IWW-2012) has recently been organized during the period from 10 to 14
April, 2012 with the theme “Water Energy & Food Security: Call for
Solutions”. The Conference was attended by about 1000 national and
international delegates and an exhibition covering an area of 3000sq.m as well
as 5 specialized add-on events were the highlight of the event.