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The problem of water and its related management is global.

Fresh water supplies are increasingly coming under threat of population from industrial effluents and municipal wastes. Surface water resources are over-exploited in many basins and are fast depleting due to siltation. The result is that ground water resources are over-exploited leading to ground water scarcity. Supplies have also grown manifold to keep pace with the demand through exploitation of surface and groundwater. In the last 70 years, the global population has trebled, while the water consumption has increased six fold due to industrial development and growing irrigation requirements. 22 per cent of freshwater is ground water2. The magnitude of the problem lies in the fact that only three per cent of world’s water is fresh, of which, approximately 77.7 per cent is locked in polar icecaps and glaciers and is not available for human use. This however, is no longer possible since the exponential growth rates of human population, industries and farms have already reduced the availability of water to below its minimum per capita daily requirement of about 23 litres1. When world population was limited, its bountiful supplies seemed endlessly renewable. Its availability greatly influences the sustenance of life, prosperity, development potential and health status of humans. Water by virtue of its multifarious uses is one of the fundamental gifts of nature. Water as a Source of Conflict: Indian Context Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Nair*Įverything originated in the water and everything is sustained by water” said Goethe and it holds true in absolute sense.