Increase In Human, Cattle Population Causing Water Decline: Minister

Minister Prakash Javadekar said efforts should be made in the field of agriculture to save water as it was consuming nearly 85 per cent of the water.

There has been a decline in availability of water due to an increase in human and cattle population, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Friday, emphasising on the need to save water. In his keynote address at the curtain raiser event of TERI's World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2022 and discussion on sustainable, equitable and resilient water use, Mr Javadekar said new technologies must be used to ensure zero wastage of water. The event comes ahead of the World Environment Day, which is celebrated on June 5. "India has only four per cent water share of the world's fresh rain water resources. So, there is a basic necessity to save, reuse and repurpose. When India became independent, the availability of water was 5,000 litres per capita now it has become 1,100 litres. There is a basic decline in availability of water due to human and cattle population growth," he said.