Editorial

The and theme sustainable for this development. year’s celebration This issue of World is also Water the theme Day of is annual Water

UN Water Development Report which is launched on World Water day. Water is a prime natural resource. This is one of the basic human needs which are essential for dignified way of living. In the international Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural rights in 2002, UN adopted water as an independent human right to ensure fair and indiscriminate access to safe drinking water, so that a minimum essential level of right is maintained.

Despite impressive gains made over the last decade, today 748 million people do not have improved sources of drinking water and 2.5 billion do not have improved sanitation facilities. The return on investment of attaining universal access to improved sanitation has, however, been estimated by UN as 5.5 to 1, whereas that for universal access to improved water sources as 2:1. Demand for water is increasing day by day due to increase in population. Also economic growth and individual wealth are shifting food habits from primarily starch based to meat and dairy products.

This has got a great impact on water consumption. While agriculture is the largest user of water accounting for 70% globally, by 2050, agriculture will need to produce 60% more food globally including 100% for developing countries. Also global water demand for manufacturing is expected to increase by 400% from 2000- 2050. Then again water and energy are inseparable friends. Water is required to generate energy and energy is required to deliver water. If World Water Day is a day to prepare for how we manage water in future, we have to plan for conservation of water and efficiency in use of water for all sectors and these issues are to be pushed to the top of policy debate on water security for sustainable development.

As regards this issue of the journal, it contains nine assorted articles and other usual feature like ‘‘Our Members’’ etc. While thanking the learned contributors of this issue for their valuable contribution, we would request the authors of pending papers to bear with us for some more time.
We would once again request our learned readers to offer their suggestions for improving various features of the journal.