INTRODUCTION:

The social consequences of modernity have attracted sociologists ever since the emergence of the discipline in 1838.Some of the pioneers in the field of nascent sociology viz. Weber ([1904-5] 1958), Tonnies ([1887] 1963), Durkheim ([1893] 1933), and Marx (1889 focused their attention and energies to the study of social change. With the advancing of the subject, the nature of the interest has gradually changed in recent decades. The magnitude of the social, economic, and technological changes have given birth to two types of transformations First, sociologists focus on the social structure of "advanced capitalist states, using terms like post industrialization”¹, “advanced capitalism”² (Habermas 1970, 1975, 1998), or new modernity³ (e.g., Beck 1987, 1995, 1997, 1999; Beck et al. 1994). Second, there has been a growing awareness and focused attention on studying the effect of biophysical infrastructures of the advanced capitalist states.

Relationship between societies and the natural environment is gaining relevance with the proliferation of worsening environmental problems around the globe. Making a concluding remark after finishing his noted book “Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”Weber⁴ said that the "iron cage of capitalistic systems might well last until the last ton of fossilized coal is burnt" (Weber [1904-5] 1958:181).This comment of Weber emphasized on the possibility of the metaphorical cage continuing for an indefinitely long time. But the changes taking place in the modern society were extremely drastic and dramatic. Consequently, in 1972 Stockholm Conference, the entire world’s attention was drawn on the various aspects of the environment and the judicious use of natural resources in the society was advocated. The coining of the term Sustainable Development was brought into practice. The prime idea behind it emphasized the judicious use of natural resources in a manner that the forthcoming generations are not deprived of its privileges. The notion of sustainable development thus emerged. Since then, environment has always been on the agenda of the big nations. With the increasing industrialization, present-day industrial societies are significantly getting more dependent on oil, coal, water, gases and other natural resources. World Resources Institute⁵ has forecasted in 1994 that the world oil reserves have limited capacity to supply global petroleum needs for another forty years only. Environmental threats to sustainability are ... principally due to population growth and economic growth. This forecast highlights the severity of global environmental conditions.Habermas⁶ (1975:42), opined that "The exponential growth of population and production ... must some day run up against the limits of the biological capacity of the environment" (see Grant⁷ et al. 2002). Anthony Giddens⁸, opines that “environmental protection is becoming a source of economic growth rather than its opposite" (Giddens 1998:19)., Some other sociologists call for the emergence of an environmental state⁹ (Moland Buttel 2002;Buttel 2000a; Frank et al. 2000a, 2000b; Goldman 2001). Environment issues are primarily dependent on three factors reflexive modernization, ecological modernization, and post materialism–The probability of the advanced or industrialized nation-states to treat environmental protection as a basic state responsibility¹⁰ (Frank et al. 2000b: 96) is an issue to be deliberated upon. Environmental protection is mandatory. It should be carried out in economically beneficial ways. All the nations should embrace the responsibility for sustainable development in a matured manner.

Emergence of the field of environmental sociology stood in sharp contrast to the main body of the subject of sociology. Proponents of the subject highlighted the environmental regulations. These regulations were ignored in the process of continued economic growth which were harmful to the society. Scholars working within the environmental sociology tradition have proved that state constraints on business/economic autonomy as relatively problematic and highly unlikely¹¹ (e.g., Alario and Freudenburg 2003; Dunlap and Mertig 1992; Schnaiberg 1980).Some other scholars warned to stop the expansion of capitalism and processes of industrialization because of the risk of" overshooting" of global carrying capacity¹² (Catton 1980), The potential collapse of economic activity may result from the self-exhausting tendencies of a treadmill of production¹³ (Schnaiberg 1980), or of the second contradiction of capitalism¹⁴ (Foster 1992; O'Connor 1991).

Indian journalist Darryl D Monte said “climate change… this is not a problem India is going to be worry about because we have already experienced that. We have been experiencing droughts for a long time. We have been suffering famines. We know what change is all about. Nobody can threaten us with any greater change than we have already have”(Chapman, 2009). Early man had limited requirements, but with the advancement of technological innovation and industrialization, man’s requirement changed significantly with times. Increasing demand for water with rapidly growing rate of population, inadequate rainfall, uncontrolled use of water and climate change are some of the reasons behind it. Water scarcity in India is predominantly a manmade problem; The issue of water scarcity in India is growing at the same rate as the population of the country. India has had success with water infrastructure development, which allowed the country to take advantage of its water resources in the first place and achieve food security. “India is facing a worsening water crisis that threatens to curtail food production while taking a heavy toll on the region's economy¹⁵. It requires adequate measure to stop the wastage of the precious resource shortage.¹⁶.

No life on earth can be conceived in the absence of water-- be it plants and animals. Water is needed to ensure food security, feed livestock, and take up industrial production and to conserve the biodiversity and environment. “Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environments and supports livelihoods – but it is also a source of risk and vulnerability.”(Report, 2006)The United Nations Development Programme's 2006 Human Development Report focuses on the world's most precious natural resource: fresh, potable water. The report observes that “throughout the world millions each day go without the water they need”¹⁷. “In a world of unprecedented wealth, almost 2 million children die each year for want of a glass of clean water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and young girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities and their choices. And water-borne infectious diseases are holding back poverty reduction and economic growth in some of the world’s poorest countries”(Bank, 2005)¹⁸.The report further indicates that the scarcity at the heart of the global water crisis is rooted in power, poverty, and inequality, not in physical availability.¹⁹

India, is faced with poor water supply services. Farmers and urban dwellers alike resort to help themselves by pumping out groundwater through tube wells.²⁰ India's water needs are met by the groundwater. Due to increasing human population, neglect and over-exploitation, water is becoming a scarce commodity in our everyday life. India’s vulnerability increases because of the growing demand and in-disciplined lifestyle. Scarcity and degraded water quality are colliding with growing populations. In India, at present we can see water riots taking place in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi. We can also see water fights and in extreme cases leading to murder for trivial issues such as water distribution for agricultural purposes. Conflicts over water are intensifying, with the rural poor losing out. The potential for tensions between countries is also growing.²¹

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence including war. in need of more and more water for drinking, sanitation, agriculture, and industry. On current usage and availability trends, this would lead to a 40 per cent gap between water demand and supply in Asia by 2030 on food production and energy sector²²"(Thapan, 2010) Thapan strongly believes that this crisis will impact on overall economic growth." ²³ Among the region's largest countries, the ADB estimated India would have a water deficit of 50 per cent by 2030 while China would have a shortage of 25 per cent.²⁴ The heaviest impact of the water shortage is apparent in terms of food and energy production as well as ecological damage. ²⁵Almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. This poses unprecedented challenges for a rapidly growing number of communities and ecosystems around the globe. Depending on the lifestyle and extent of industrial development proportion of water usage varies from country to country. Table 1 highlights the water usage in the different continents of the world.

Table 1. Per capita water use across continents

Continents	Per Capita Water Use (m³/yr)
Africa	245
Asia	519
North and C. America	1861
South America	478
Europe	1280
USSR (Former)	713

Source: Quoted from “Water scarcity and security in India”, Narayan Hegde, BAIF at the Indian Science Congress 2012²⁶

The strength of a nation is determined by its capacity to utilize and conserve natural resources. The developing countries produce large fractions of the world’s raw materials but control an insignificant fraction of international trade in finished goods. These countries use 80-90% of the water for agriculture and only 5-12% of the water for industrial use. With rapid urbanisation and incessant industrial development, the water usage is projected to increase in the coming years. It will increase from the current level of 99 litres per day to 167 litres per day in 2050. The developed countries use less water for agriculture and more for industrial and domestic purposes.

This natural resource has been subjected to constant exploitation through the market mechanisms of the developed countries. Over utilization of natural resources by the developed nations gets reflected in the adverse shift of ecological balance of the world. The less developed countries are still living under the conditions of severe poverty as they lack adequate technology to harness those resources.

In this era of globalization it is widely believed and accepted that those who have the state of the art technology are powerful. A technological advance comes at a price which the poor nations are unable to bear. As a result, they continue to live under conditions of severe poverty and are compelled to live in an environment polluted by the waste generating economics of the industrialized nations.²⁷ Creating a more water secure world requires addressing immediate needs while building the foundation for meeting future demands on water resources. The centrality of water for individuals, societies and the environment also means that water issues intersect with all other aspects of development.

As per the UN estimate, “water scarcity affects every continent. Around 1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world’s population, live in areas of physical scarcity, and 500 million people are approaching this situation.”.²⁸ While discussing issues relating to water crisis management at the World Economic Forum, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said, "The water supply-demand gap is likely to grow wider still, threatening economic and social development and environmental sustainability”..

The thirst of water for India’s rapid development is growing day by day. In spite of adequate average rainfall in India, there is large area under the less water conditions/drought prone. There are lot of places, where the quality of groundwater is not good. Another issue lies in interstate distribution of rivers. Former Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam expressing his concern over the shortage of power and drinking water, has opined." there were two important areas the country has to concentrate on -- shortage of drinking water and providing electricity to all,"²⁹ (APJ Kalam:2005).The country's need to focus its urgent attention on energy and Water, and water is a much bigger issue,. "Water crisis is a more serious issue than energy crisis,”³⁰(Ahluvalia: 2011).Water supply of the 90% of India’s territory is served by inter-state rivers. It has created growing number of conflicts across the states and to the whole country on water sharing issues.

The water supply in India is going to be a serious challenge due to various reasons. The urban population is expected to grow from 29.2% of the total population in 2007 to 55.2% by 2050.This will increase demand for more food-grains and allied agricultural produce. Rice, wheat and sugarcane together constitute about 90% of India’s crop production and are the most water-consuming crops. It will result in expanding area of land under the crops especially high yielding crop varieties. While the per capita consumption of cereals will decrease, the per capita consumption of sugar, fruits and vegetables will increase by 32%, 65% and 78% respectively, by 2050. This will create an additional demand for water. The requirement of water for livestock will also increase in times to come. Regions with the highest production of rice and/or wheat are expected to face groundwater depletion of up to 75% by 2050.³¹

Water management practices ignored water conservation, efficiency in water use, water recycling, and infrastructure. Mindset of the Indian people is that water is an unlimited resource that needs not to be managed as a scarce commodity. After independence India took to large scale economic growth in the form of industrialization and food security in the form of extensive agriculture. The planners completely disregarded water conservation. Indian law has no legislation on groundwater. Anyone can extract water: homeowner, farmer or industry as long as the water lies underneath their plot of land.³²Ex Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has warned against over-pumping of ground water in agricultural pursuits.³³ This phenomenon has drastically increased in India due to the development and distribution of cheap electricity equipments. To a large extent these have triggered rapid pumping of groundwater resulting in depletion of ground water. As per rough estimates there are approximately 20 million individual wells in India that are contributing to groundwater depletion.³⁴ India needs to keep boosting agricultural production in order to feed its growing population, but to do so without jeopardizing the amount of water available, farmers must switch to less water intensive crops. Farmers in India traditionally practice flow irrigation. Flow irrigation facilitates huge wastage of water, and causes severe soil erosion, leaching of fertilizers, increasing the infestation of pests, diseases and weeds and suppressing the crop yields. This pernicious practice has failed to attract policy makers attention. No effective measure for discontinuation of this unscientific practice has been taken. Immediate attention is needed to shift from flood irrigation to micro irrigation and to increase the water use efficiency, which can ease the water scarcity to a great extent (Rosegrant et al. 2002).

Climate change is expected to exacerbate the problem by causing erratic and unpredictable weather, which could drastically diminish the supply of water coming from rainfall and glaciers. India’s climate is not particularly dry, nor is it lacking in rivers and groundwater. But extremely poor management, unclear laws, government corruption, and industrial and human waste have caused this water supply crunch and rendered what water is available practically useless due to the huge quantity of pollution. In managing water resources, the Indian government must devise to strike equilibrium between urban and rural, rich and poor, the economy and the environment.

World Bank has warned India that it might have to grapple with severe water scarcity in the next two decades if the country fails to correct the way it manages its ground water resources.³⁵ In a draft report entitled India's Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future, the World Bank opined³⁶ "that unless water management practices are changed — and changed soon — India will face a severe water crisis within the next two decades and will have neither the cash to build new infrastructure nor the water needed by its growing economy and rising population."³⁷ (World Bank: 2006)

India’s population need access to clean drinking water. The demand for drinking water is divided between the urban and rural populations, Due to the amenities of urban life, (flush toilets and washing machines), people tend to lead more water intensive lives. The urban population has doubled over the past 30 years, and is expected to reach 50% of the total population by 2025.³⁸ Population growth is going to accelerate the water crisis in India, especially as more and more people move into the cities and become part of the middle class. The rivers are too polluted to drink. The government is unable to consistently deliver freshwater to the cities, many urban dwellers are turning to groundwater, which is greatly contributing to the depletion of underground aquifers. Rural citizens face a similar crisis. Most of the rural people demand less water for day-to-day living than people living in cities. Majority of their water demand comes from agricultural needs.

All of this will result in increased consumption of water. That is why there is urgent requirement to address the issue of water scarcity in India to make better policy decisions which will affect its availability in future. If the conditions remain same; water will turn out to be the world’s most precious resource soon. The challenges before the country's water sector had been examined “Though the country's past investments in large water infrastructure has yielded spectacular results with enormous gains in food security and in the reduction of poverty. The same is now crumbling,"³⁹

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15. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-10-12/news/27594792_1_water-crisis-water-shortage-adb

16. ArjunThapanhttp://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-10-12/news/27594792_1_water-crisis-water-shortage-adb

17. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2006/

18. World Bank Report, India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future (2005),

19. ibid

20. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2005-10-12/news/27492722_1_severe-water-water-crisis-water-supply

21. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2006/

22. ArjunThapanhttp://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-10-12/news/27594792_1_water-crisis-water-shortage-adb

23. ibid

24. ibid

25. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-10-12/news/27594792_1_water-crisis-water-shortage-adb

26. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/node/23240Water scarcity and security in India Narayan Hegde, BAIF at the Indian Science Congress 2012

27. Santra, S.C, 2011, Environmental Science, New Central Book Agency, London,pp 40-41

28. http:// ShaileshTelang for details visit greencleanguide.com/2011/07/19/water-scarcity-and-india/

29. APJ Kalamhttp://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2005-07-29/news/27500336_1_drinking-water-water-issues-space-programme

30. Montek Singh Ahluvaliahttp://articles.economictimes.india times.com/2010-11-15/news/27574868_1_water-policy-water-crisis-water-table

31. http:/ /ShaileshTelang for details visit greencleanguide.com/ 2011/07/19/water-scarcity-and-india/

32. Somini Sengupta. “India Digs Deeper, but Wells Are Drying Up.” New York Times, September 30, 2006

33. ibid

34. SominiSengupta. “Often Parched, India Struggles to Tap the Monsoon.”New York Times, October 1, 2006

35. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2005-10-12/news/27492722_1_severe-water-water-crisis-water-supply

36. ibid

37. ibid

38. “India’s Population to Reach 1.5 Billion by 2025”http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1109284

39. Ibid

40. Giridharadas, Anand. “Water-scarce India, too, Weighs a Return to Ancient Practices.” International Herald Tribune, 20 Aug 2005

Received on 25.08.2014 Modified on 02.09.2014

Int. J. Ad. Social Sciences 2(3): July-Sept., 2014; Page 151-155

Source: Quoted from “Water scarcity and security in India”, Narayan Hegde, BAIF at the Indian Science Congress 201226

Source: Quoted from “Water scarcity and security in India”, Narayan Hegde, BAIF at the Indian Science Congress 2012²⁶