Urban Drought Management Through Water Conservation: Issues, Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

Urban water conservation efforts have begun in times of water shortage due to drought or other calamities. Increasingly many cities in India are now drawing water through large diameter water pipelines by pumping from water sources further and further away from the city. The rate of augmentation works has been overtaken by the rapid increase in population in urban areas due to migration. Moreover, new supplies are now becoming increasingly difficult to find. Thus, to cater to the increasing urban population, demand reduction through water conservation as a long-term measure offers a way out of the present crisis. The poor living in slums are already managing with limited water and so the population having access to piped water and bathrooms are the target group for urban water conservation measures. The various water conservation measures, viz: water conservation devices, leak detection and repair, water reuse, metering and incremental rates are briefly described and discussed. Two applications of rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse in Thane city in Mumbai Metropolitan Region have been described as an outcome of drought/water shortage.