With an increase in the world’s population use of water is also increasing. As per the latest reports by WRI (World recourses institute), 17 countries fall under the risk of extremely high water stress.
“Water stress is the biggest crisis no one is talking about,” said Dr. Andrew Steer, president, and CEO of WRI.
Water risk is one of the major threats to the environment which needs to be resolved soon. Its consequences are clearly visible in the form of drought and shortage of food.
According to the above map, countries marked with pale yellow color shows a low level of water risk whereas the countries with dark red color indicate the countries with an extremely high level of water risk.
Almost a quarter of the world’s population lives in the region with high water risk. Around 80% of water is used by agriculture, industrial areas, and cities.
According to the above image by WRI 44 countries are facing high water stress, out of which 27 countries fall under the risk of high baseline water stress, starting with Chile and ending with Italy. There are 17 countries that fall under extremely high baseline water stress. The very first country is Qatar and the last country in Botswana.
India is ranked 13 in the list, but India has three times the total population of the other 16 countries. Apart from that, the Chennai water crisis is at its peak. “The recent water crisis in Chennai gained global attention, but various areas in India are experiencing chronic water stress as well,” says Shashi Shekhar, former Secretary of India’s Ministry of Water Resources, and Senior Fellow, WRI India. India can manage its water risk with the help of reliable and robust data pertaining to rainfall, surface, and groundwater to develop strategies that strengthen resilience.
