Water scarcity and regional security in India

India's water management has been on an unsustainable path for centuries. As India's population has increased, so have its water requirements. Increases in population, in the absence of serious and sustained efforts to improve water use efficiencies, have become a major driver of water requirements in the country. India is facing another major problem: As the water requirements of the domestic and industrial sectors go up, the quantities of wastewater generated increase as well. Population growth, in the absence of proper domestic and industrial wastewater treatment, has created a serious water quality problem. The latest series of interstate river conflicts has triggered numerous protests, violence, and property destruction in many Indian states over existing water allocation decisions. One of the most important challenges in confronting interstate river conflicts is the absence of permanent and efficient dispute resolution mechanisms. Nowhere is demand management more essential than in water allocation to the different states on all the interstate rivers.