Sustainable development is defined as progress that satisfies the requirements of the current generation without endangering future generations’ potential to fulfil their necessities. Sustainable management of natural resources is the conscious use of resources, preventing pollution of the environment  and taking steps to preserve the resources. Water is a necessary natural resource for life on Earth. Conscious water use without wasting it and preserving all the water from natural sources is essential for sustainable development. One of the ways of preserving water is through building Dams. They help in water harvesting and provide stored water during scarcity.

Sustainable Management of Water

Sustainable Management of Water involves using water in ways that fulfil present, environmental, social  and financial requirements without risking the capacity to meet those needs for the future.

Water Conservation

• Human intervention could change the availability of water in various regions worldwide
• Generally, regions of water scarcity are nearly identified in the regions of acute poverty
• Rains in India are primarily due to the monsoons and falls in certain months of the year
• Despite nature’s monsoon bounty, failure to sustain water availability has mainly resulted in:
• Loss of vegetation cover
• Diversion of water towards high demanding crops
• Pollution from industrial effluents and urban wastes
• Irrigation methods like dams, tanks and canals have been utilised in various parts of India since the past
• The maintenance of those irrigation systems was an area affair. This system changed when the British arrived
• These mega-projects eventually led to the neglect of local irrigation methods that have been in practice since our past
• Further, the government also took control over the administration of these systems leading to the loss of control over the local water sources by the local people

Dams

• Large dams can ensure adequate water storage not only for irrigation but also for generating electricity
• Canal systems leading from these dams can transfer large amounts of water over great distances
• Indira Gandhi Canal Helped information of greenery in considerable areas of Rajasthan
• However, the advantages are cornered by a couple of people as there’s no equitable water distribution
• People on the brink of source grow water-intensive crops like sugarcane and rice, while people farther downstream don’t get any water

Issues related to large dams

• Social problems: Dams immerse many peasants and tribes without adequate compensation or rehabilitation
• Economic problems: Dams immerse vast public money without generating proportionate benefits
• Environmental problems: Dams contribute enormously to deforestation and loss of biological diversity

Water Harvesting

Watershed management emphasises scientific soil and conservation of water to extend biomass production. The aim is to develop primary resources of land and water, to supply secondary resources of plants and animals to be used in a manner that would not cause ecological imbalance. 

• Watershed management extends the production and income generated by the watershed community
• It mitigates droughts and floods and increases the lifetime of the downstream dam and reservoirs
• Many organisations are rejuvenating ancient water harvesting systems, which can act as alternatives to the megaprojects like dams

Some indigenous water saving methods are:

1. Dug small pits and lakes
2. Simple watershed systems
3. Built small earthen dams
4. Sand and limestone reservoirs
5. Set up rooftop water-collecting units

Pollution of the River Ganga

The Ganga runs over 2500 km from Gangotri within the Himalayas to Ganga Sagar in the Bay of Bengal.

• It is being drained by more than 100 towns and urban communities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal that empty their trash and excreta into it
• Largely untreated sewage is unloaded into the Ganges daily
• Industries contribute chemical effluents to the Ganga’s pollution load and therefore toxicity kills fish in large sections of the river 

Initiatives Taken To Clean The Ganga

• Ganga Action Plan: This multi-crore project came about in 1985 because the water quality in the Ganga deteriorated with a high presence of coliform count. Coliform is a rod-shaped bacteria found in human intestines, whose presence in water indicates contamination by disease-causing microorganisms
• Namami Gange Programme: It’s an Integrated Conservation Mission approved as a Flagship Programme by the Union Government in June 2014
• It was dispatched to achieve the vitally double targets of powerful reduction of contamination preservation and revival of River Ganga
• The National Mission for Clean Ganga is the implementation wing brought in October 2016

Conclusion

Water is an essential need for all terrestrial living forms. Water bodies are polluted as a result of human interference. Human activity also alters the availability of water in different areas. Despite adequate monsoon, the inability to maintain underground water supply has been caused mainly through loss of plant cover and contamination from untreated wastewater. Dams and canals have been utilised for irrigation in various areas for a long time. Large dams can offer enough water storage not just for agriculture but also for electricity generation. Canal systems connecting these dams may transport significant volumes of water across long distances. Sustainable management of natural resources (water) is a necessity of the present to prevent water scarcity in the future.