It must be remembered that the governments alone cannot tackle the issue. Active cooperation of the people is as important as efforts by the Central and the State governments.

Water harvesting is compulsory as per a Central Act. On the use of canal/river water or underground water, efforts are afoot to create awareness among the users. But, do we care? Enacted laws are flouted.

The emergency plan to meet future water crisis could not be a magic wand. Concerted efforts are called for. Let us work in that direction seriously.

RJ Khurana: Yes, that is the most obvious answer to the water crisis that is looming large on the horizon. No growth is possible without water. All life, human, animal and plant, indeed everything living and even non-living imaginable will disappear in the absence of water. First the human beings will fight among themselves over water and one by one every sign of life will vanish- an apocalypse of the worst order. It will, therefore, be wise to understand the need for conservation of water is recognized in time and all emergency measures are taken to ward off the catastrophe because the looming crisis overtakes the humanity.

Sushmita Shrivastava: Yes, the government must chalk out emergency plans to tackle future water crisis. India's huge and growing population is putting a severe strain on all of the country's natural resources. Most water sources are contaminated by sewage and agricultural runoff. India has made progress in the supply of safe water to its people, but gross disparity in coverage exists across the country. Although access to drinking water has improved, the World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. In India, diarrhoea alone causes more than 1,600 deaths daily. Hygiene practices also continue to be a problem. The earlier use of rainwater and floodwater has declined in our country. In its place, there is a growing reliance on surface water (primarily rivers) and groundwater. Thus water availability, both in terms of quality and quantity, has declined to such an extent that many parts of country, rural and urban, today face a drought-like situation. And when drought actually sets in, scarcity takes on a frightening visage. An already bleak reality seems even grimmer. But instead of hanging our heads, all we have to do is look up for the solution. The government and the people must act immediately.

SS Chitwadgi: Global warming threat is hanging on everybody's head as a Democlese sword. Every natural phenomenon is almost disturbed. Floods and drought are almost expected any time. Agriculture and forestry are upset in production. Climate change is by now understood as high temperatures go higher, lower still low. Of all natural resources drinking water is a casualty all over the world. More so in India. Ice covered more than 100 mountains of Himalaya melt ice three times elsewhere. What crisis we face due to drying of rivers flowing from Himalayas? Similar threat elsewhere in the Indian continent. Water is a crisis, sanitation is a failure. Life is threatened by new pathogens. No new cure is in view. How to live? Unless we plan to mitigate causes of crisis of water.

Creation of more biodiversity to decrease Co2. Methane control by livestock management. Other greenhouse gases addressed to be controlled. Now scientists are prepared but political will need to be created to control global warming. Hopefully we succeed to plan to meet water crisis.

Jaskaran Singh Dhami: The wording of this question (whether deliberate or otherwise) is an endorsement of the fact that there is going to be a water crisis in future. There is not even an iota of doubt that if no substantial steps are taken by the govts water crisis in foreseeable. What I feel is the govts should not chalk out plans to meet future water crisis but the policies should aim at keeping the crisis at bay. If sound policies are formulated and not kept confined to the papers or allowed to become 'dead in the water' but implemented an effective manner the looming water crisis can be stopped.

Many surveys conducted by govt, semi govt and NGOs on the scarcity of drinkable water have failed to jolt the govt from its slumber. The water table in our country is going down at an alarming pace. Alarm bells are already ringing but our ears are deaf and are used to hear not the sound of bells but explosions.

It is high time that the govts must wake to the reality and come out with effective plans to not only deal with the impending water crisis but to stop it from taking place.

Ab Mehta: When we talk of shortages that the world has to face, usually one talks of Oil or Coal but not of water. However fresh water availability to quench the thirst of billions in the world is going to be the most serious problem. India is comparatively lucky as it has a countrywide network of rivers. The grand canal project was planned to utilise the large amount of water during monsoon and also save vast areas from flood. This project has yet to be really analysed from technical feasability but interconnecting the rivers or diverting water through canals are being studied for implementation.

Coming to the urban water requirement, the population in urban areas has increased a number of times during the last 50 years. The urban water requirement problem is both about the total water need as well as its distribution to large clusters of population in small areas. So it boils down to (1) the minimum possible need in the summer when the water resource is at its lowest in lakes and rivers and (2) its wasteless distribution usually at one and the same time all over the city and (3) Ensuring that water is NOT WASTED at the user end. All these require equal attention. The urban municipal bodies are responsible for the first two with the assistance of the State Govt. The third point concerns the actual user where most of them only see their personal need and do not bother about saving wastage. This is specially so in arrangements, as in Bhopal, of equal charge to every household irrespective of the usage. Political compulsions do not allow the municipal bodies to levy sufficient rates to cover expenses.

With the diversion of water to hydroeletric projects and dams, the rivers in summer become drained out of water. This can easily result in water crisis in the upper stream fed urban areas. The recent initiative to store water in locally constructed tanks in the rainy season is a practical idea that needs to be executed on war footing. Rain water harvesting combined with meter based water charges would force the users to conserve this vital resource. With the increasing population and its concentration in urban areas that time is not very far when water shortage turns into water crisis. The government would have to seriously plan for this and the political parties would have to rise above narrow agendas to cooperate with each other in the Centre and states and more so in the local administrative bodies.

Dr Visal A Khan: Emergency Plan to meet water crisis will never suit to the country like India, since sudden water floods, or drought in continuation will surely fail any plan in the land of India. Water storage capacity planning is the major subject to combat water crisis, although India had many five year plans for water Resources Development, but still we need more master plans for attention to run successfully in future.

Another factor for planning is the proper use of water in the fields and towns. The study conducted at Central level for use of water, states that people of India have no proper knowledge of it, either in villages or towns, how to use a single drop of water in time of emergency?

Instead chalking out an emergency plan to meet future water crisis, the people of the country should be trained to use even a single drop of water properly since it is said that saving is earning and if man can save some water either from his field or domestic use it will be another development programme of water resources.

When there are floods the people cannot use these floods to meet their requirements by temporary local storages in their fields since they have no knowledge of the area of store of water. Forming nalahs to save costly flood water and utilizing it in the correct direction use may change the face of flood loss of property and lives to boon their lands and energize lives of rurals.

The rural water development contour bunds training program through panchayat funds will certainly prove useful to agricultural development during floods of rivers to divert the surplus water for land use. Similarly if there are continuous drought years, these man- made local storages will not only quench thirst of man but the thirst of land too for fields health and saving lives of human beings in the days of scarcity of water.

So in brief Govt. should chalk out plan to train villagers for self contour bunding programmes and proper use of a drop of water, to meet their future water crisis instead of imposing emergency plan.

RK Kutty: Government should have started an emergency plan, looking to the crisis like situation, developing in this part of the country due to below normal rainfall this year. Water crisis is real and the lack of understanding by most of the people, both in the upper echelons as well as the lower, where reckless use, misuse and even abuse of this precious commodity occurs. How long even government can educate the people? When most of the sensible people in the middle and upper middle class understand it, as they bear most of the burden of the water cess, while those in high society and the ones who are accommodated by the ruling class in so called jhuggi-jhopadi (slums in the urban jargon) enjoy it freely. That is the reason they never understand the seriousness of the problem. Anyone who enjoys anything freely can never understand its value. Therefore, it is time government must think of introducing compulsory water cess to one and all, irrespective of the fact of rulers or the ruled.

This year, one of Bhopal's main water reservoirs "the upper lake, the level is only static as per latest reports. Rain is still eluding and there is less hope of any torrential rains so as this lake and other rain fed water storages could be filled. While this deficiency would have a cumulative effect viz problem for providing drinking water to citizens up-till next rain comes and water for irrigation purposes in coming kharif season. Now, the question is how government can chalk out any emergency plan. What they can at the most do is introduce restricted water supply and that can affect only those who are provided with the municipal/piped water supply. Then, again, the people who are already burdened with the water cess will be further over-burdened. The upper/slum-dwelling class will again be in an advantageous position, as they help each other- you scratch my back and I will scratch yours ideology. Instead, what the government must do is to find out places where this precious commodity is over-used, misused and grossly abused. Is there anyone in the PHE/Municipal Corporation to take on those authorities who maintain kitchen gardens, flower gardens for their comfort/pleasure, while people at large are in despair to quench their thirst? Government will come up with only such emergency plans to squeeze those who are already being squeezed, day in and day out.

Krishna Chander Mouli: We as people and our governments we elect have not learnt any lessons since the last over six decades when we started planning things governing ourselves. Where is the shortage of water or water crisis? India is a nation of poverty amidst plenty. At least it is so in the case of water. The situation has always been water water everywhere - not a drop to drink. During every rainy season the rivers all over the country are in spate.

To name a few the Godavari, Krishna in the south, the Narmada, the tapti in the west, the Mahanadi, Bangaga, Sone, Ganga, Yamuna, Gandak, Kosi, Gomti in the north and east. The Brahmaputra in the north-east, Ravi, Sutlej, Beas in the extreme north. There are also any number of known and unknown mountaninous rivers that flow full to the brim in rains and change their course too inundating many human habitations.

The grand old man who is no more amidst us, Dr KL Rao an irrigation engineer of eminence mooted the idea of linking all these rivers and he devised a technique also to accomplish this task. People who knew nothing about water conservation and proper harnessing just heckled at him then. Dr. Rao's vision and plan both died along with his death. Now our ministers who do not even know how to spell scarcity and conservation started broaching the same old idea for the moment utter chaos reigns all over about water crisis, a man made mess. where does all our water go - into the sea? after causing so much of destruction! what have all our visionaries and planners been doing all these decades ? draining out money in the name of conservation, storage and channelisation! adhocism in the name of crisis management should stop. No emergency plan is needed if people at the helm of governance can identify the right priorities and discharge their duties with commitment and accountability.

RK Gupta: Water is the monoxide of hydrogen or H.OH. It is colourless liquid and most convenient solvent. Water is akin to life. No life can survive without water. One can survive many days without food but cannot survive even a few days without water. In absence of water, the body dehydrates and a lot of complications arise and finally death is inevitable.

The first life on the earth origined somewhere in the ocean as per the evolutionary theory. The combination of some proteins gave rise to the first primordial life. Water has religious significance in almost all the religions. Before worship, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs take bath. Muslims also use water and wash before Namaz, Christians use water for the baptization of the new Christians. Many rivers are regarded as holy rivers in India.

All civilizations of the world flourished on the banks of the great rivers. All big cities of the world are situated on the bank of the rivers. On the ice covered Arctic, Antarctic, Alaska, Siberia, big deserts of Sahara, Arabia, Mongolia, Gobi, Atacama, Patagonia, Kalahari deserts practically human dwelling is almost impossible.

At present the population of the world is touching 700 billion and 1/5 of the world population lives in India. About 1.15 billions of people live in India. All the rivers have been polluted indiscriminately by the overgrowing population and the rapid industrialization of the country.

No serious efforts are being made to preserve the rain water. 90% of rain water is wasted and that goes to the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal. Agriculture, the backbone of the Indian economy, is totally dependent upon rain water. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, realized the importance off water storage, he built a number of big dams viz Bhakra Nangal dam, Hirakud dam, Koyana dam etc to improve agriculture in the first five year plan.

It is said that if the third world war will ever be fought, it will be fought on water. Every country is worried about the future need of water. There are myopic politicians who oppose building of dams, like Medha Patkar, Sunderlal Bahuguna, Arundhati Roy. To some extent they may be right in respect of protecting the ecology and avoiding earthquakes but the problem of storing rain water is of paramount importance for the human race. The human existence is impossible without water, hence govt needs to chalk out an emergency plan to meet the future crisis of water with full sincerity.