India’s most innovative cities are running out of water
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That’s not just a regional problem, but an issue for the country as a whole, and the world at large. The southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu account for barely more than 15% of India’s population, but they generate about a quarter of gross domestic product thanks to the strong performance of their technology and manufacturing sectors. The global economy is counting on that engine of growth to take over in the years ahead, as China slows toward stagnation.
Southern India lacks the huge reserves provided by the Himalayan snowpack in the north of the country, making water shortages a fact of life. Chennai in Tamil Nadu went through a comparable emergency in 2019, while the current drought is also biting in Telangana’s tech capital Hyderabad.
Existing policies aren’t helping, and fixing the problem will require making hard compromises with two of India’s most politically sensitive industries: agriculture and power generation.
The households struggling with water restrictions right now only consume about 7% of India’s water. The overwhelming majority, 85% or so, goes to farming.
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