Eliminating Water Scarcity

Save India from the brink of an acute water crisis.

Help reduce Water Poverty in regions

India is seriously water-stressed and is poised on the brink of an acute water crisis. It has 17% of the world population and has access to only 4% of global freshwater reserves. Out of total groundwater availability, almost 90% is used for agriculture.

Over the years, exploitation of the land, deforestation, converting forest and farmland to industrial areas has resulted in the water just not being available and surface water resources like rivers and lakes are drying up. This creates suffering, misery and migration.

With no water for irrigation, hundreds of families have had to leave their lands in search of water. Distress migration is rooted in hunger and suffering, and those left behind suffer the most.

54% of India faces a water crisis
46 farmers commit suicide every day (yes, every day!)
330 Million people in rural India are impacted by drought
Half of India’s water demand will remain unmet by 2030, as predicted by the International Water Management Institute.

What happened to India’s water if the rainfall records don’t indicate a huge variance? The main culprits are greed and negligence that have destroyed the hydrological cycle and natural ecosystems.

OVBI’s global teams reached out to the experts in ecological conservation and riverine basin management and have replenished underground water systems, reforested barren lands and restored the biodiversity of the regions. We aim to improve ground water reserves, rejuvenate rivers and promote awareness of water management.

River rejuvenation projects in Maharashtra (Halgara, Latur), Karnataka (Palar) and others have impacted over 500,000 families and hundreds of villages.

In Halgara a 7mile (14 Km), stretch of the Manjara River was de-silted, in a span of ~5 months, to mitigate the immediate water crisis.

Water table has risen from 800ft to 50ft in the areas covered. Acres of dry abandoned farmlands are being reclaimed, forest and green cover increased, soil erosion and rainwater run-off significantly restricted.

Water sustains life, sustains the land and allows farmers to be gainfully engaged in growing crops. Life returns when the water starts flowing between the banks of the rivers again.