New Delhi: Parliament's Standing Committee on Environment and Climate Change has requested that the government launch a study to determine the extent to which climate change is exacerbating water scarcity, given that the warming of the planet has profound effects on water supply.
The standing committee report on water resources was presented to Parliament on Monday, and it noted that extreme climate events, such as heavy rainfall in a short period of time that leads to flooding and increased runoff without enough water being seeped into the ground and leading to a decline in the water table beneath the ground, are already having serious repercussions on water balance.
Yet, it also stated that long periods of summer with increasing temperatures leave the land parched without sufficient water storage in the face of diminishing water bodies owing to human encroachments.—Inputs from Agencies