By 2080, India could lose groundwater by 3 times the current rate: Study
New Delhi (PTI): The rate of groundwater depletion could triple by 2080, if Indian farmers continued to draw groundwater at the current rate, which could threaten the country's food and water security, according to a new study.
Warming climate has compelled farmers in India to adapt by intensifying the withdrawal of groundwater used for irrigation, the study led by the University of Michigan, US, found.
As a result, the reduced water availability could endanger the livelihoods of more than one-third of the country's 1.4 billion residents and thus, could have global implications, the study published in the journal Science Advances said.
"This is of concern, given that India is the world's largest consumer of groundwater and is a critical resource for the regional and global food supply," said senior author Meha Jain, assistant professor at the university's School for Environment and Sustainability.
The study analysed recent changes in withdrawal rates due to warming by looking at historical data on groundwater levels, climate and crop water stress to estimate future rates of groundwater loss across India.
Further, it took into account the farmers' potential need for increased irrigation under warming conditions, which would likely enhance water demand from stressed crops, the researchers said.
The farmers' adaptation strategy of intensified groundwater withdrawal had not been accounted for in earlier projections of groundwater depletion in India, the researchers found when they used temperature and precipitation projections from 10 climate models.
"Using our model estimates, we project that under a business-as-usual scenario, warming temperatures may triple groundwater depletion rates in the future and expand groundwater depletion hotspots to include south and central India," said lead author Nishan Bhattarai.
Most models looked at increased temperature, increased monsoon (June through September) precipitation and decreased winter precipitation in India over the coming decades, the researchers said.
For this analysis, the researchers' dataset consisted of groundwater depths of well across India, high-resolution satellite observations of crop water stress and temperature and precipitation records.
They found that warming temperatures, coupled with declining winter precipitation, accelerated groundwater declines at a rate far greater than that of groundwater recharge from increased monsoon precipitation.
Across various climate-change scenarios, their estimates of groundwater-level declines between 2041 and 2080 were more than three times current depletion rates, on average, they said.
"Without policies and interventions to conserve groundwater, we find that warming temperatures will likely amplify India's already existing groundwater depletion problem, further challenging India's food and water security in the face of climate change," said Bhattarai.
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SC asks Centre to consider amending law on terminating pregnancy of rape survivors
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday took strong exception to a plea by AIIMS seeking to set aside its order allowing a 15-year-old girl to medically terminate her 30-week pregnancy, and asked the Centre to consider amending the law to permit rape survivors to terminate unwanted pregnancies even beyond 20 weeks.
The top court said when there is pregnancy due to rape, there should not be a time limit.
Law needs to be organic and in sync with evolving time, it stressed.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said this is a case of child rape and the survivor will have a lifelong scar and trauma if termination is not allowed.
The top court said if the mother does not have permanent disability then it should be carried out.
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It asked AIIMS to counsel parents of the survivor over the issue and said the decision has to be of the person concerned.
"There are children for adoption. In this country we have lot of sympathies...There are deserted, abandoned children on the streets and even mafias on it. We have to look at them. This is an unwanted pregnancy of a 15-year-old child.
"This is a curative petition. Unwanted pregnancy cannot be thrusted on a person. Imagine she is a child. She should be studying now. But we want to make her a mother. Imagine the pain, the humiliation the child has suffered in this," the bench said.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for AIIMS, mentioned the curative plea, and said the termination of pregnancy is not possible.
"It will be a live baby with severe deformities. Minor mother will have lifelong health issues and cannot reproduce. Minor mother will have lifelong health issues. This child can be given for adoption. It has been 30 weeks now. It is a viable life now," she said.
The top court said the decision on termination has to choice of the survivor and her parents and AIIMS may help them take an informed decision.
On April 24, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had allowed the girl to medically terminate her pregnancy of 30 weeks.
