Quantification of water footprint of national capital territory (NCT) of Delhi, India

Abstract

Overexploitation of freshwater caused by the increasing population and urbanization over the past few decades has resulted in water scarcity in National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Water footprint (WF) is a useful tool to better understand the linkages between humanity's activities and their growing pressure on the freshwater resources. It indicates the amount of water required to produce all the goods and services by the individual or community, or geographic area directly and indirectly (virtual water). It is measured in terms of water volumes consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. Many studies have been carried out pertaining to the water requirement of NCT of Delhi. The present study is focused on the assessment of the WF of NCT of Delhi. The total WF of NCT of Delhi for the year 2010 has been assessed as 15,926 MCM per annum. Out of this 6530, 780 and 865 MCM per annum has been contributed from domestic, agriculture and industrial sector respectively and rest (7751 MCM per annum) is as virtual water import. Certain assumptions were made due to nonavailability of some of the data. With the availability of more data, the assessment can be improved. Quantification of WF of NCT of Delhi indicates that domestic sector is the major water consumer. Sector wise results can facilitate authorities to develop improved management policies, action plans and strategies for better management of freshwater resources.