Where the Rivers Run: The Struggle for Water in Central India

By Irina Das Sarkar (PhD) and Dr Madhu Verma

“All the water that will ever be is, right now.” – National Geographic

Water, once revered as a shared inheritance sustaining civilizations, has now become a contested, battled, and unevenly distributed resource. Globally, water insecurity reflects both scarcity and inequity. Approximately 2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, 3.4 billion face inadequate sanitation, and 2.2 million die annually from waterborne diseases. Nearly half the global population experiences seasonal water shortages, and by 2025, 1.8 billion people are projected to live under chronic water stress. Despite a projected USD 7 trillion investment need for global water infrastructure by 2030, current annual spending averages only USD 164 billion. These figures emphasize that financing and technology alone cannot resolve water insecurity, which remains heavily anchored on effective governance, conservation, and equitable allocation.

While the world grapples with mounting water stress, India exemplifies this global challenge in acute form. With its vast population nearing 1.5 billion, and expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2050, per capita water availability, 70% of India’s water is contaminated (as reported by the Composite Water Management Index), placing the country 120th out of 122 in quality rankings. This crisis is not limited to dry taps but threatens livelihoods, public health, and social stability, setting the stage for systemic vulnerabilities that ripple through agriculture, rural communities, and regional economies.

Central India, particularly Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Chhattisgarh (CG), offers a microcosm of these systemic vulnerabilities. Both states are agrarian economies where water access drives and sustains rural livelihoods. MP derives roughly 36% of its GSDP from agriculture, while CG is long known as India’s “rice bowl”. Yet rainfall patterns have declined. Between 1901 and 2011, Madhya Pradesh saw a 6.75% reduction in rainfall, with a breakpoint around 1978 signalling higher drought frequency. Additionally, monsoon maxima have dropped from 1,623 mm to 1,311 mm since the late 1990s. Similarly, in CG, annual precipitation has decreased by roughly 150 mm over the past five decades. With 70% of cultivation still rain fed, sustaining 40% of the human and 60% of the livestock populations, these shifts heighten the state’s existing climate vulnerability, with direct implications on livelihoods. This ecological stress also intersects with unsustainable agricultural practices. Despite declining rainfall and recurrent droughts, cultivation of water-intensive crops such as paddy in CG and wheat in MP, continues to dominate cropping patterns. The legacy of the Green Revolution entrenched these choices through policy and procurement incentives, fostering high input dependence and irrigation intensity. However, as groundwater tables fall and surface irrigation grows unreliable, production risks continue to mount.

The economic burden on smallholders is severe. In Bundelkhand, for example, a single irrigation cycle can cost INR 2,000 per bigha, with six to seven cycles required per season. Canal networks, envisioned for equitable distribution, often fail in practice due to upstream withdrawals by politically connected large farmers. Even where infrastructure exists, seasonal water supply variability forces dependence on expensive groundwater extraction or informal loans, compounding indebtedness. Flagship schemes like Nal Jal Yojana promise household water security, yet functional issues of leakage, poor maintenance, and infrastructure gaps limit effectiveness.

Water governance remains fragmented, treating surface water, groundwater, and ecological systems in silos. Programs such as the Bundelkhand Development Package are highly technical and bureaucratically rigid, often overlooking localized socio-economic realities. Marginalized groups including women, children, and the elderly, who bear the disproportionate burden of water collection, remain underrepresented in decision-making processes. Policy priorities historically favour irrigation expansion over integrated measures such as watershed restoration, demand-side management, and livelihood diversification, thereby reinforcing regional vulnerabilities.

For tribal and marginalized populations, structural inequities transect environmental constraints. Much of Central India’s terrain comprises hard rock geology, limiting natural aquifer recharge and resulting in rapidly declining groundwater tables. Rivers such as the Narmada and Mahanadi face significant contamination from industrial effluents and agricultural runoff, rendering available surface water unsafe for direct consumption. Despite considerable progress to equitable access to water and sanitation, infrastructure gaps further exacerbate exclusion as piped supply coverage in tribal-dominated districts remains low compared to the national average, and interventions under MGNREGA and similar programs have delivered limited success in large-scale groundwater recharge. Short-term relief measures dominate, but long-term resilience strategies that are scientifically grounded and community-driven are still nascent.

What is needed is a paradigm shift from sectoral, supply-driven approaches toward Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Central India’s hydro-ecological complexity marked by heterogeneous aquifers, variable rainfall, and semi-arid agro-climatic zones demands localised, granular planning. Micro- and minor irrigation schemes, combined with dry farming and in-situ soil moisture conservation, have already demonstrated resilience benefits in semi-arid landscapes. Empirical studies indicate that watershed interventions reduce surface runoff and enhance soil water retention, boosting resilience during drought years. Canal modernisation and improved drainage networks can further mitigate siltation and conveyance losses. Furthermore, optimizing water productivity through scientific Command Area Development (CAD) and precision agriculture is crucial. Evidence suggests that conjunctive use of surface and groundwater, supported by crop-specific irrigation scheduling and water budgeting, can reduce extraction stress. Micro-irrigation technologies, such as drip and sprinkler systems, have been known to achieve 30–40% water savings without yield penalties in similar geographic settings. Priority allocation of groundwater for drinking and for smallholders without canal access is essential. Recharge interventions, including check dams and rainwater harvesting structures, remain critical in hard-rock aquifer regions where natural percolation is minimal. Systematic groundwater monitoring, farmer capacity-building, and behavioural change communication must complement infrastructure investments.

Agricultural diversification is central to water security. India’s continued dependence on paddy and wheat is empirically unsustainable under projected climate scenarios. Transitioning to millets that are drought-tolerant, short-duration, and nutrient-dense, offer a viable alternative. Kodo, little millet, and finger millet use 70% less water than paddy, withstand temperature rises of 1–2°C, and sustain yields under water-stress conditions. As C4 plants, they exhibit superior water-use efficiency and carbon sequestration potential. Nutritionally, millets provide higher protein, fibre, and micronutrient content than major cereals, helping address both malnutrition and diet-related non-communicable diseases.

Encouragingly, policy frameworks have begun to recognize this potential. The INSIMP programme (2011–12) allocated INR 300 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for millet promotion, while Chhattisgarh’s Millets Mission (2021–2026) aims to position the state as a millet hub across 85 blocks in 20 districts. However, systemic challenges persist centred around procurement biases toward rice and wheat, inadequate mechanization for small-grain millets, and storage vulnerabilities, including susceptibility to mycotoxins, continue to limit widespread adoption. Unless these are addressed, millet revolution remains a missed opportunity.

Investments in processing infrastructure, value chain integration, and food safety protocols are thereby imperative for scaling millet-based transitions.

Ecological restoration must accompany crop interventions. Forest ecosystems are critical for hydrological regulation, groundwater recharge, and watershed stability, yet widespread deforestation and land-use change undermine these functions. Strengthening community-based forest management, enforcing controls on illegal mining and logging, and promoting agroforestry can enhance water retention and climate resilience. Traditional rainwater harvesting systems such as johads, baoris, and stepwells, should be revived alongside modern solutions to build resilience. Decentralised water treatment and wastewater reuse through bio-filtration can further reduce freshwater demand in agriculture, a sector which consumes over 80% of India’s water.

Ultimately, water security in Central India, and the nation by extension, hinges on reimagining governance frameworks, aligning incentives, and embedding ecological sustainability into development planning. This requires a paradigm shift from extraction-driven approaches to integrated, community-centred management; from reactive relief measures to anticipatory resilience strategies. The stakes are existential and without decisive reform, water insecurity will cascade into food insecurity, health crises, and socio-economic instability.

Every drop counts, not as a slogan, but as a scientific, institutional, and behavioural imperative.