Water crisis looms large in Himalayan regions

Water crisis looms large in Himalayan regions

Part of: GS Prelims – Geography   and GS Mains I- Climate change

In news:

• Eight towns in the Himalayan region of Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan were nearly 20%-70% deficient in their water supply,
• Unplanned urbanisation and climate change are the key factors responsible for the state of affairs,
• The places surveyed are extremely dependent on springs (ranging between 50% and 100%) for their water, and three-fourths were in urban areas 
• Under current trends, the demand-supply gap may double by 2050
• only 3% of the total Hindu Kush Himalayan population lives in larger cities and 8% in smaller towns, projections show that over 50% of the population will be living in cities by 2050

From Prelims Point Of View

Hindu-Kush-Himalayan (HKH) Region

• Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• 5 million square kilometres considered the Third Pole (after the North and South Poles
• Significant implications for climate. vast cryospheric zones and is also the world’s largest store of snow and ice outside the polar region.

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 2nd March 2020

Source: The Hindu