https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZN9A0lIwy4 India's most precious resource is not gold, not oil, but water, and in the Himalayas, 12,000 natural springs have dried up in the last 20 years. A report claimed that half of the springs in the Himalayan region have dried up.
The reason for this is deforestation.
buried somewhere in government files, This report begins in 2015 in Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, where hundreds of springs dry up every year. But bottling plants are flourishing. political leaders, bureaucrats, and corporate houses have together made the water of the Himalayas their private property.
In 1947, when India became independent, every Indian had access to approximately 6000 cubic meters of water annually. Today, in 2026, it's only 1400 cubic meters. A decline of about 75%. This is a huge decline. Nine major rivers of the Himalayas—Ganges, Yamuna, Brahmaputra—give life to 600 million Indians.
A turning point came in 2005. The government made a small amendment to the National Water Policy: Private Sector Participation in Water Resource Management. Between 2006 and 2014, the government issued more than 800 commercial water extraction licenses in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas.
In Uttarakhand, several bottling companies pump millions of liters of water daily. Who are the directors of many of these companies? Retired bureaucrats who previously held senior positions in the Water Resources or Forest Department, or politicians.
the water of the Himalayas is not just an Indian issue. It is South Asia's biggest geopolitical weapon. China has built 11 mega-dams in Tibet that are currently controlling the flow of the Brahmaputra, and this is a very strategic move by China. Pakistan has been continuously challenging the Indus Water Treaty, and we are selling our own water with our own hands.
A shocking case came to light in Himachal Pradesh. This is in the Solan and Sirmaur districts. Multiple mineral water companies received licenses here. Various Public Interest Litigations (PILs) were filed between 2018 and 2021. In some cases, the court canceled the licenses. But by then, billions of liters of water had already been extracted. In Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal district, severe water scarcity in 237 villages, a rapid decline in natural springs, and a 30 to 40% drop in farmers' crop production.
All of this is documented in the NITI Aayog Composite Water Management Index report from 2019 to 2023. But in the same district, multiple bottling plants have been set up, and they are making huge profits. Millions of liters of water are bottled daily and sold in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, and what do the villagers get? They get one tanker of water every four to five days. Their own water, and they have to depend on tankers for it. This is the truth of today's India, where water is not for the poor, but for profit. Where spring depletion has become not an environmental crisis, but a business opportunity.
between 2010 and 2024, a significant percentage of the major water extraction companies established in the Himalayan states have directors, shareholders, or beneficial owners with direct or indirect connections to political families, retired senior bureaucrats, or former members of the State Water and Forest Board. This is based on cross-analysis of MCA data, RTI replies, and investigative journalism reports published in magazines like The Wire, Scroll, and Down To Earth.
It seems like a systematic, systemic design. How does this design work? In the first step, gain an influential position in the government. In the second stage, make water extraction policies industry-friendly. In the third step, streamline the license approval process. In the fourth step, open companies after retirement or through family members. In the fifth step, convert public resources into private profit. ..
Finally, let me tell you one more thing. More than 12,000 springs have dried up in the Himalayas. Note this down. More than 800 commercial extraction licenses have been approved. Thousands of villages are in a severe water crisis.
NITI Aayog Report https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023-03/Composite%20Water%20Management%20Index%202.0.pdf
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/niti-weighs-discontinuing-key-water-report-launched-5-years-ago-9015084/
40% of the population will have to struggle severely for drinking water. This is a World Bank report,
"Water Security in South Asia 2022,"