NEW DELHI — Excessive irrigation and the unrelenting thirst of tens of millions of people are causing groundwater levels in northern India to drop dramatically, a problem that could lead to severe water shortages, according to a study released Wednesday.
The study comes as India's struggles with water have become a major political issue. The problem reaches across the country's vast class divide, touching everyone from residents of elite neighborhoods where the taps regularly go dry to poor farmers in desperate need of irrigation to grow their crops.
A man cups his hands to drink water from a roadside tap, near Gahroh village some 125 kilometers (78 miles) from Amritsar, India, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. Excessive irrigation and the unrelenting thirst of tens of millions of people are causing groundwater levels in north India to drop dramatically, a problem that could lead to severe water shortages, according to a study lead by Matthew Rodell of the United States' NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, released Wednesday. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The study comes as India's struggles with water have become a major political issue. The problem reaches across the country's vast class divide, touching everyone from residents of elite neighborhoods where the taps regularly go dry to poor farmers in desperate need of irrigation to grow their crops.
A man cups his hands to drink water from a roadside tap, near Gahroh village some 125 kilometers (78 miles) from Amritsar, India, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. Excessive irrigation and the unrelenting thirst of tens of millions of people are causing groundwater levels in north India to drop dramatically, a problem that could lead to severe water shortages, according to a study lead by Matthew Rodell of the United States' NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, released Wednesday. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
No comments:
Post a Comment