The availability of water, water requirement versus supply, water requirements for some major crops, groundwater exploitation, growth of population, and declining per capita water in the state of West Bengal are presented.
The state is endowed with 7.5 per cent of the water resource of the country and that is becoming increasingly scarce with the uncontrolled growth of population, expansion of irrigation network and developmental needs. The Bengal Delta, which was described as areas of ‘excess’ water in the colonial document, now suffers from acute dearth of water during lean months. The spatial and temporal variability of rain within the State causes the twin menaces of flood and drought. Both the flood and drought isopleths are expanding with time in spite of ever-increasing investment in water management.
The navigation even in the southern tidal regime has become an extremely difficult task for the country boats that require minimum draft. The Kolkata port continues to face the brunt of siltation even after the artificial induction of water from the Farakka Barrage. The rivers flowing through this state have altered their courses appreciably during last two centuries and many of them have been wiped out from the map.