Explain any three causes of water scarcity.
Water scarcity means shortage of water. It is usually associated with regions having low rainfall or drought prone areas.
There are many other reasons which lead to scarcity of water:
- Large growing population means more water required for domestic use and also to produce more food.
- In the agricultural sector, water resources are being over-exploited to expand irrigated areas and dry season agriculture.
- More water is required for irrigation purposes to facilitate higher food production
i.e. for doing multiple cropping and for HYV seeds. - There is greater demand for water with growing urbanisation and industrialisation.
- An unequal access to water among different social groups.
- The quality of water is deteriorating i.e., getting polluted by domestic and industrial wastes, chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture.
- Excessive use of water by industries which also require water to generate hydroelectric power to run them.
- Over exploitation of water in the urban areas. Housing societies and colonies have their own ground water pumping devices. This causes depletion of fragile water resources in the cities.