Jammu, July 28 -- The world is entering an era of water bankruptcy. Countries have spent beyond their sustainable water budgets for so long that critical water assets are now depleted, leaving the world to face huge economic, social, and environmental costs. According to a UN report, the Earth has entered an "era of water bankruptcy" due to over-consumption and global warming, with three in four people living in countries facing water shortages, contamination, or drought.
The report found that most regions are overdrawing their annual income of rainwater and snowmelt and are now dipping into groundwater savings that can take thousands of years to replenish. Seventy percent of major aquifers are declining, and many of these changes are irre...