Question

Answer the following question in about 150 words.

The depleting water resources may lead to social conflicts and disputes. Elaborate on it with suitable examples.

Answer 1

Water scarcity poses a massive global and national challenge due to increasing demographic demand, overutilization, and rising pollution. Since freshwater constitutes only a tiny fraction of Earth’s total water, its availability varies drastically across space and time. This shrinking supply transformed water into a highly contested resource, frequently triggering severe socio-political tensions, local riots, and legal disputes among communities, regions, and states.

In India, these conflicts are highly evident at both national and international levels. For instance, the uneven seasonal flow of southern rivers has caused a bitter, century-long interstate dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing the waters of the Kaveri River. Similarly, proposed river-linking channels aimed at diverting surplus monsoonal water to dry areas often trigger deep political resistance from regional communities. Internationally, the management of the Brahmaputra River remains a major source of geopolitical conflict between India and Bangladesh, further complicated by China’s controversial plans to build upstream mega-dams that directly threaten lower-riparian water security.