Bankruptcy is a term that is usually associated with the realm of finance. But it has relevance in the environmental sphere as well. A recent report by the United Nations, for instance, has revealed that the world has entered a phase of alarming ‘bankruptcy’ of that life-giving element — water. Human depredations are, as usual, to blame for this emerging crisis. Societies have for long been extracting water faster than it could be replenished annually in water bodies as well as in the soil. The simultaneous annihilation of aquifers and wetlands has accentuated the crisis, as has climate change that is melting glaciers. Consequently, critical water systems have now gone past the point of replenishment. The implications — they are unfolding — are chilling. The report says that 75% of the global population now lives in nations facing water shortages while 2 billion reside on ground that is sinking on account of the collapse of glaciers. The unchecked extraction of groundwater is leading to urban subsidence globally: Rafsanjan in Iran, Tulare in the United States of America, Mexico City, Jakarta, Manila, Lagos and Kabul have all been affected. Conflict on account of paucity in water is rising. Agricultural countries — India is an example — are witnessing shrinkages in food production because of the crisis. Newer emergencies are making their presence felt as well. Consider the rise of the ‘day zero’ phenomenon, wherein cities run out of water. Cape Town, Tehran, São Paolo and Chennai have been afflicted by such a horror.

A reset in humanity’s relationship with water, one that is currently based on indulgence and squandering, is a necessity. A judicious economising of the rights and the claims to withdrawing water according to prevailing supply, tangible transformations in water-intensive agricultural activities, such as changes in crop patterns, effective irrigation, and checks in urban systems wastage, must be looked into. These must be complemented by investments in a mass water harvesting culture. Two other — difficult — shifts must be achieved. Natural resources, including water, can no longer be seen as elements to be extracted ceaselessly; this calls for a mediation on the culture of consumption itself. Second, water needs to be reimagined as a source of solidarity, not conflict. That could be the basis of the genesis of a new order based on a harmonious division and, consequently, sustenance of water sources. But the political will necessary to make these transitions is, like water, in short supply.