Given the increasing scarcity of water, the planning and management of water resource and its optimal use has become a matter of the utmost urgency, and the state governments are expected to play a greater role in this, Vice President Hamid Ansari said here on Tuesday."India is facing an acute water crisis due to large population leading to a stress on available water resources, poor water quality and dwindling groundwater supplies due to over-extraction," Ansari said while speaking at the centenary celebrations of Central Water and Power Research Station.He said that since water is a state subject under our Constitution, the state governments are expected to play a large role in these efforts, he added.
"Water stress has a bearing on various sectors of Indian economy including the agricultural, industrial, domestic and household, power, environment, fisheries and transportation sectors. The interplay of various factors that govern access and utilisation of water resources need to be considered and it becomes incumbent that we look for holistic and people-centred approaches for water management," Ansari said."The biggest concern for our water-based resources in the future is the sustainability of the current, and future, water resource allocation as water becomes more scarce," he added.Ansari said that in the coming years, the impact of climate change on hydrological cycle and the water availability in our country is likely to become a central question before national planning agencies.