ABSTRACT
India is home to 17 per cent of the global population, but has only 4 per cent of its renewable water resources (MOWR 2012). With rapidly declining fresh water availability, it is likely to face a colossal water crisis. Unremitting degradation of the finite resources of fresh water has engendered a major challenge to India's water security (ADB 2007; WSP 2011; Wyrwoll 2012). There are ominous portents of India soon joining the band of water-stressed countries not having sufficient water to maintain their burgeoning population and requirements of economic, industrial and irrigated agriculture. 1 While exploring the overarching sways of water scarcity, the present chapter posits the unremitting depletion of ground water resources as a major risk to India's water security. It argues for the securitization of the issue so that the concerned stakeholders could work in concert and in emergency mode to save the situation before it is too late.
