In Beijing, poor air quality is not the only major problem for residents, so is the lack of clean drinking water. The city’s 2nd largest reservoir was shut down in 1997 because of pollution from agriculture and factories and has not been returned to use. With 21% of the world’s population, China has 6% of its water. This is going to get worse as it rains less in Northern China than a century ago, and glaciers in Tibet are receding faster than predicted. However rectification schemes such as switching from rice to corn which needs less water and fertilizers in areas around Beijing are improving the situation, for a while.
In Bangalore, problems are acerbated by a continuous urbanization programme. India’s urban population will grow from 340 million to 590 million by 2030, and the government will have to finance major investment in infrastructure to build new reservoirs and water pipes, which it is not doing. At the present time, as guest on this programme Dr. Bergkamp points out, there is almost no one place in India that has a 24/7 freshwater supply. It is estimated that half of Bangalore’s fresh water is wasted.
Dr. Ger Bergkamp, Executive Director at the International Water Association from the Netherlands, is actually quite optimistic about the problems as he thinks that solutions can be found.
