Millennium Water Story

Two Water Landscapes, One Aquaculture Question 🐟💧

In our previous post, we looked at Haryana, where salt-affected agricultural fields are increasingly being converted into shrimp ponds. Aquaculture there offers farmers a new livelihood from land on which conventional agriculture has become difficult.

Kuttanad in Kerala presents almost the opposite water landscape.

Here, water is everywhere. This low-lying wetland region, much of it below sea level, has long supported fishing alongside paddy cultivation and other water-based livelihoods.

The photograph shows a fish farm in a village in Kuttanad. Fish farming has become a lucrative activity here, practised in specially created ponds as well as in paddy fields leased for aquaculture.

But here too, there is a water question.

Inputs used in intensive fish farming can eventually enter the interconnected canals and backwaters, adding to the already serious problem of water-quality degradation in the wetland.

So, whether we look at the saline fields of Haryana or the water-abundant wetlands of Kuttanad, the underlying challenge is remarkably similar:
Can aquaculture provide better livelihoods without passing its environmental costs on to the surrounding water resources?

Perhaps the real challenge of the Blue Revolution is not simply to produce more fish or generate higher incomes. It is to ensure that the waters supporting this prosperity remain healthy enough to support people and ecosystems in the future.

👉 READ • COMPARE • REFLECT:
What would environmentally sustainable aquaculture look like across India's very different water landscapes?

🔗 https://www.millenniumwaterstory.org/Pages/Photostories/Water-and-Environment/Living-Below-the-Sea-Level-Its-Impact-on-the-Wetlands-of-Kuttanad-Kerala.html

Photo story by Nandita Singh and Om Prakash Singh
Photograph © Om Prakash Singh

💧The Hidden Water Cost of Haryana's Blue Revolution🦐🐟

In 2018, Millennium Water Story documented a striking transformation reshaping Haryana's saline landscapes: salt-affected agricultural fields converted into inland shrimp ponds.

Eight years later, that story is more relevant than ever.

There is a deeper irony here. Many of the landscapes now being promoted for shrimp aquaculture are part of the environmental legacy of the Green Revolution. Decades of agricultural intensification boosted food production but also contributed to waterlogging, salinity and land degradation in parts of Haryana.

Today, the Blue Revolution is being promoted as a solution.

For farmers struggling with saline soils and declining crop yields, shrimp farming offers a lucrative alternative. In Sirsa district alone, the area under shrimp cultivation grew from 18 hectares in 2020-21 to 678 hectares in 2023-24. The district is now a designated Saline Water Aquaculture Cluster, with Rohtak, Fatehabad and Hisar as partnering districts. The development is supported by investments in technology, inputs, markets and exports. Studies estimate returns of ₹5.2-8 lakh per hectare per production cycle, far exceeding those from any conventional crop on saline land.

The economic case is compelling.

But the larger sustainability challenge remains.

Shrimp farming relies on saline groundwater. Without effective safeguards, salinity can spread beyond ponds into surrounding soils and aquifers. Moreover, wastewater from shrimp farming ponds contains residual antibiotics, disinfectants, and trace minerals, which can heavily degrade surface- and groundwater resources.

And it is not an environmental challenge alone. Groundwater is a widely used critical resource for drinking in local communities.

As Haryana's Blue Revolution gathers momentum, the real measure of success is not how much shrimp is produced, but whether economic gains can be achieved without creating an invisible water debt for future generations.

Before any further policy push, the following questions must be considered:

👉 Can the Blue Revolution address the challenges inherited from the Green Revolution without repeating its environmental legacy?

👉 How can it be made to deliver economic prosperity without compromising groundwater, drinking water security and long-term environmental sustainability?

Our photo story traces the early stages of this transformation and offers important context for the debate unfolding today. Read here:

🔗 https://www.millenniumwaterstory.org/Pages/Photostories/Water-and-Livelihood/Inland-Saline-Water-Shrimp-Farming-in-Agricultural-Fields-of-Haryana.html

Photo story by Nandita Singh and Om Prakash Singh
Photographs © Om Prakash Singh

🚰Do All Water Flows Help Equality Grow?🚻

This photograph documents a water treatment unit in a rural piped water supply scheme in Bathinda district, Punjab, India years before the launch of the government's flagship program "Jal Jeevan Mission" (JJM). Built in 1985 to treat canal water before distribution, this plant was in operation for about two decades. However, as soon as it was transferred to the local village government (Gram Panchayat) in 2004, it became non-operational. While the piped water scheme worked, the water flowing through the pipes remained untreated!

Since then, India has made remarkable progress through JJM, expanding rural tap water access across the country. Today, the JJM dashboard identifies this piped water scheme as a retrofitted one with canal water as its source—a significant achievement.

But the question remains: What kind of water is flowing? The public dashboard does not clarify whether the treatment unit is operational or whether an alternative treatment system is in place. For schemes supplied by surface water, that information matters.

💧The World Water Day 2026 theme—"Where Water Flows, Equality Grows"—reminds us that equality is not created by water flowing alone. It grows when the water flowing is safe, reliable and sustainably managed.

👉Imagine the next generation of public water dashboards. Beyond reporting tap connections, what three indicators would you as a citizen like to see?

📖 Learn more on what impedes safe drinking water flows at Millennium Water Story: https://www.millenniumwaterstory.org

📷Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story

Too Many Vessels, Too Little Water: Realizing the Human Right to Water Begins with Availability

Dozens of empty vessels surround a public water tap in a Bengaluru slum. Women and girls wait patiently—some filling containers, some carrying water home, others hoping their turn will come before the supply stops. The scene reflects one of the most fundamental requirements of the human right to water: the "availability norm", which requires sufficient and continuous water for personal and domestic use.

Yet in settlements like this, hundreds of households often depend on just a few public standposts. Limited water volumes, low pressure and short supply hours mean that far too many people compete for far too little water. Water is supplied, but availability remains inadequate. The human right to water is therefore compromised not because water is absent, but because it is insufficient, irregular and unable to meet people's basic needs.

"Implementing" the human right to water is not the same as "realizing" it. Implementation creates laws, policies and infrastructure. Realization occurs only when these measures enable every woman, man and child to actually enjoy their right in everyday life.

This year's World Water Day theme—Where water flows, equality grows—reminds us that equality does not grow simply because water flows through pipes. It grows when water reaches everyone, in sufficient quantity, with continuity and dignity.

Ultimately, the question is not how many taps or pipelines have been installed, but whether every person can actually enjoy their human right to water.

Only then can we truly say:
🚰Where water flows, equality grows.👫

📖 Explore more stories on the human right to water and the realities behind it at Millennium Water Story: https://www.millenniumwaterstory.org/Pages/Photostories/Impediments-to-Enjoyment-of-the-Human-Right-to-Water-An-Insight-on-the-Availability-Norm.html

📷Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story

🌎🌳 A 400-Year-Old Nature-Based Solution for Safe Drinking Water 💧🚰

How can villages in Rajasthan's Thar Desert enjoy sweet drinking water when the groundwater is saline and good monsoon years are rare?

In Binjharwali village in Bikaner district, the answer lies in a remarkable traditional rainwater harvesting system, long before the term Nature-based Solutions (NbS) was invented! The system collects monsoon runoff in a johad (pond) overlying a layer of gypsum, from where the water slowly percolates through soil layers, naturally recharging a cluster of about 150 kuiyan (shallow wells) with cool, sweet drinking water.

The first photograph shows women drawing this naturally filtered, sweet water from a kuin, while the second captures livestock drinking from the johad after the monsoon—together illustrating how a single rainwater harvesting system supports both people and animals.

👉Like Netsi, this is a powerful example of how traditional ecological knowledge continues to contribute to SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

💡What do villages like Netsi and Binjharwali teach us?
The future of water security begins by learning from the past, and working with nature can secure water in even the world's harshest environments.

📷Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story
📖 Learn more: https://www.millenniumwaterstory.org/Pages/Photostories/Best-Practices-in-Rural-Drinking-Water-Management-A-Case-from-Thar-Desert.html

💧The Hidden Water Cost of Timber🌲

For more than 150 years, India's forests have supplied timber for construction, furniture, paper and many other products. Timber supports livelihoods and economic development, but when logging becomes unsustainable—whether legal or illegal—the costs extend far beyond the loss of trees.

Through the decades of timber extraction, what has been often overlooked is the role forests play in the water cycle.

Healthy forests intercept rainfall, reduce soil erosion, recharge groundwater and regulate the flow of streams and rivers. As forests become degraded, runoff increases, soils retain less moisture, springs become less reliable, and downstream communities face greater risks of floods and water scarcity.

The photograph shows stacks of timber at a sawmill in Dimapur, Nagaland. Every log tells a story—not only of wood, but also of the forest it once belonged to. The stacks of timber remind us that forests are more than a source of wood—they are also natural water reservoirs, climate regulators and biodiversity hotspots.

👉When we value a forest, should we measure its worth only by the timber it produces, or also by the water, climate resilience and biodiversity it sustains? Share your thoughts.

📷Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story
💡 Learn more: www.millenniumwaterstory.org

🌍💧 Delighted to share our latest photo story:
NATURE-BASED WATER SECURITY AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE: LOCAL WISDOM FROM THE THAR DESERT

This visual journey explores Viprasar, a nearly 300-year-old community-created wetland system in Rajasthan that continues to provide water, support biodiversity, and strengthen resilience to drought through local knowledge and collective stewardship.

At a time when billions still struggle to realize the human right to safe water, Viprasar demonstrates how community-led, nature-based solutions can advance SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) while contributing to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

We invite you to explore this inspiring example of how traditional wisdom and ecosystem stewardship can help build a more resilient future.

🔗 Read and share the full article:
https://www.millenniumwaterstory.org/Pages/Photostories/Water-and-Environment/Nature-Based-Water-Security-and-Climate-Resilience.html
📸Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story

💧🌳 Can "greening" worsen water scarcity?

Afforestation is a key strategy promoted worldwide for tackling climate change, ecosystem restoration and water sustainability. But when restoration relies on water-hungry monocultures such as Eucalyptus, the unintended consequences for water security can be immense.

An eucalyptus tree can consume 50–90 litres of water per day, with roots extending deep into the ground in search of water during droughts.

In semi-arid areas across India, such as Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, and Kolar districts in Karnataka, eucalyptus and acacia plantations have been extensively developed under afforestation efforts. But the environmental cost of such 'greening' efforts has been high! Subsequent groundwater depletion and increasing water stress led the government to ultiately ban planting of these species in 2017. One such high risk eucalyptus plantation at Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur district is shown in the photo.

As countries pursue ambitious restoration targets, we must remember that SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) cannot be achieved at the expense of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).

🌱 The challenge is not simply to plant more trees, but to restore landscapes through afforestation in ways that also protect rivers, wetlands, groundwater, and the communities that depend on them.

👉Should water impacts become a mandatory criterion in all afforestation and restoration programmes? Share your views.

📷Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story
💡 Learn more: www.millenniumwaterstory.org

🌿☕🍃 Green is not always good for water!🌊

When we think of tea, coffee, and rubber plantations, we often picture lush green landscapes. But beneath this greenery lies a huge yet less visible environmental cost—the disruption of natural water cycles.

The photo shows a tea plantation in Darjeeling, India, home to one of the world's most celebrated and highly valued teas. Renowned for its distinctive flavour and heritage, Darjeeling tea contributes significantly to India's economy and global reputation.

But plantations - whether tea, coffee or rubber - should be seen as a sustainability concern because that they are often established by clearing natural forests, replacing them with large-scale monocultures.

👉Why does this matter for water?

🍀 Natural forests regulate rainfall, recharge groundwater, maintain stream flows, and protect water quality.

💧 Tea, coffee, and rubber plantations cannot fully replace these ecological functions.

🍃 Tea plantations can increase surface runoff, reduce groundwater recharge, accelerate soil erosion, and contribute to downstream flooding and river siltation.

🌳 Rubber plantations can act like "water pumps," drawing large quantities of water from the soil and aquifers. Studies have linked them to declining stream flows, drying springs, and increasing water scarcity in surrounding landscapes.

🌍 The widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides in commercial plantations can further contaminate both surface water and groundwater.

As the demand for tea, coffee and natural rubber continues to grow, so does the area under plantations. This makes it increasingly important to ask:

❓ What are the long-term impacts on local water resources?
❓ Are we adequately assessing environmental costs before approving new plantations?
❓ Should environmental impact assessments become mandatory for large commercial plantations?

Protecting water security requires looking beyond the green cover and understanding how different land uses affect our rivers, streams, groundwater, and communities.

👉 Share • Discuss • Advocate
Protect forests, protect water. Demand stronger scrutiny of commercial plantations and their impacts on our watersheds.

📷Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story
💡 Learn more: www.millenniumwaterstory.org

🚽Toilets Built, Waters still Polluted?💧

As the world strives to achieve SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), access to toilets has rightly been recognized as a fundamental human need. India's Swachh Bharat Mission has made remarkable progress, with more than 6.2 million household toilets constructed under SBM (Urban) since 2014–15, helping to significantly reduce open defecation.

But this image highlights a less visible challenge: what happens after the toilet is flushed?

Despite gains in sanitation coverage, more than 70% of India's sewage still goes untreated. Many households rely on septic tanks, pits, and other on-site sanitation systems. When these fill up, the collected sludge is often emptied into open drains, rivers, lakes, or vacant land without treatment.

In other words, the sanitation problem does not disappear—it is simply relocated.

Sanitation is not just about building toilets. It is about ensuring the safe collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of human waste. Achieving SDG 6 requires attention to the entire sanitation chain, otherwise public health and environmental goals both get undermined.

Clean sanitation systems don't end at the toilet—they end with safe treatment, and hence safeguarded water and environment.

👉Agree? Share this post and help shift the conversation from toilets alone to safely managed water and sanitation for all.

📷Om Prakash Singh, co-founder Millennium Water Story
💡 Learn more: www.millenniumwaterstory.org