#World Water Day 2025

Not all streaming happens on OTT. Some streams nourish landscapes, sustain life, and shape our future. But what happens when they begin to disappear?

Water is the elixir of life, yet over 60% of the world is water-stressed. In India alone, more than 600 million people (Composite Water Management Index, NITI Aayog – June 2018), mostly in underserved rural communities, struggle with high to extreme water scarcity. Water scarcity has implications beyond drinking water and the consequences go beyond empty taps. Water insecurity threatens health, sanitation, livelihoods, industry, and entire ecosystems.

Water stress isn’t a distant crisis; it’s happening in real-time. As you read this, countless individuals across the country are struggling for their daily share of water. Even urban regions aren’t spared of this stress, and with summer on the horizon, the crisis only deepens. Every drop counts. And without action, our story could take a very dark turn.

Where does your region stand on per capita water availability? India’s per capita water availability has plunged from 5,177 cubic meters per year in 1951 (Ministry of Jal Shakti) to less than 1,500 cubic meters today. If this trend continues, the country will soon hit a critical water scarcity point, where even the most basic needs may go unmet. The map below illustrates today’s water crisis and establishes the urgency to Act Now.

Per Capita Water Availability 2025 & 2050

Disclaimer: The data on ICED is mainly taken from Government/relevant department sources. However, in some cases, a few assumptions have been made and some data derived or assumed and is given in detailed ICED Manual along with full list of sources of data. For details, click here.

One Water: The Story of Survival and Sustainability

Water is our shared story, one that connects people, ecosystems, and economies.

The Tata Trusts believe in the script that secures the future—One Water, One Community. This philosophy views water as a common resource, where glaciers, rivers, groundwater, and rainfall are part of the same interconnected cycle, demanding holistic management for life, livelihoods and ecology.

With its community-centric efforts, partnerships with various stakeholders, and use of cutting-edge technologies, the Trusts have been rewriting the water narrative and building sustainable solutions around water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) in highly stressed water areas across the country. The initiatives, which cover safe drinking water, assured water sources, water conservation, improved sanitation services, and hygiene practices, have touched millions of lives, especially in the country's underserved regions.

This World Water Day, our story of One Water, One Community continues. We encourage you to join the cast and play your part in shaping our collective future.

And how about taking the first step by measuring and streamlining your ‘water footprint’.

Note: £ 1 = INR 112.5 as on March 20, 2025

Water is finite. And understanding of our personal water consumption is the first step toward responsible and sustainable water use. Now that you know how much water you are using, what it costs and how small changes can rewrite the ending, not just conserving the most vital resource but also lowering your bills, it’s time to act.

Because when it comes to water, it should always be streaming now.

Laapata Paani #Streaming Now

As you read this, many walk miles for a single bucket of water, groundwater dips lower, glaciers retreat, and this water crisis looms over millions of Indians today. The ‘Streaming Now’ series explores the Trusts’ interventions on water security—ensuring access, quality, and sustainability.

Jal Ho Na Ho #Streaming Now

For many in India, water isn’t just a daily necessity—it’s a daily struggle. Farmers battle drought, step-wells vanish, and springs run dry.

This World Water Day, we highlight how, through the One Water, One Community approach, the Trusts help communities rewrite their stories. From reviving ancient water systems to harnessing technology for safe drinking water, from rainwater harvesting to women-led community-driven conservation, these efforts ensure that communities never fall short.

Jal Ho Na Ho should never be a fear, and water should always be Streaming Now.

Anjaana Paani #Streaming Now

Don’t judge water by its clarity—it may not be safe to drink. Contaminated water carries hidden dangers, causing life-threatening diseases.

Tata Trusts empower communities with tools and training for water testing, ensuring safe drinking water, better health, and lower medical costs. Because only safe water should be #StreamingNow.

Finding Paani #Streaming Now

Women have shouldered the burden of water collection for generations, and today, they are taking charge of its future. Through One Water, One Community, Tata Trusts empower women across India to manage and safeguard water resources, shape village water security plans, and be the key force in driving behavioural change.

Consequently, across states, communities are witnessing the power of women-led water governance. When women are at the helm, water security is not just possible—it’s sustainable.

Nothing Hill #Streaming Now

In Ladakh, where glaciers once guaranteed water, climate change is changing the script. Through the Ladakh Water Initiative, Tata Trusts help communities adapt to climate change. By building artificial glaciers, we ensure water arrives when it’s needed most—sustaining agriculture, livestock, and livelihoods in the harshest conditions.

Bekar Babloo

This film explores the concept of recycling, particularly focusing on reuse of water. Given that water is a limited resource, it is essential to take measures to save and recycle it. Strategies such as creating soak pits, implementing rainwater harvesting, and installing sprinklers in farms can significantly contribute to water recycling efforts.

Women–Water Custodians | Streaming Now

Ensuring water security in India hinges on recognising and empowering its longstanding stewards – women. This film highlights the importance of women stepping up as leaders for sustainable water management in their village.

One Water One Community | Streaming Now

In drought-hit villages, dry handpumps and empty wells speak louder than words. Water is not just a daily necessity, it’s a daily struggle. Children skip class to fetch water, elders remember fuller wells, and families adapt to less with every passing year.

On World Water Day, Tata Trusts stood at the grassroots, enabling communities at the heart of this crisis with powerful tools to change this narrative. Through the One Water, One Community approach, villages across India have transformed into hubs of awareness, where animated films, intergenerational games, and collective pledges spark conversations on conservation. Every activity, every voice, every pledge revealed one undeniable truth: lasting change begins when communities unite with a shared purpose.

By igniting this movement where it matters most, Tata Trusts is empowering villages to safeguard every drop, restore ancient practices, and build a future where water is always #StreamingNow.

Uplifting women’s role in water governance

Artificial Glaciers: A Lifeline in the Cold Desert of Ladakh

Watered Up

Villagers get together after a meeting in Kotari (in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district) where roles and responsibilities relating to maintenance and operations of their Jal Jeevan Mission water infrastructure were decided. This was part of a campaign called ‘samman connection’ to trigger a sense of ownership in the community about effective water usage and management.

A group of women in Kaldari village in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district at an event to test the water they use for fluoride. The Tata Trusts’ behaviour change campaign encouraged these villagers to use fluoride-free water sources.

Matu Bai, a member of the water-user group of Bhula village in Sirohi, uses a fabricated model to explain the design of a twin-pit toilet. Mobilising households to construct and use toilets was an important part of the behaviour change campaign.

Durbala Boro collects water from the tap installed near her home in Choudhurypara in the Kamrup Rural district of Assam.

A meeting being held in Hared village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district ahead of a rally to push the message on water, sanitation and hygiene.

A drawing competition on the ‘our water, our future’ theme for students of the Syeda Anowara Taimur High School in Kacharipam village in the Kamrup Rural district of Assam.

Women participants at a ‘samman connection’ meeting in Fandi-Bodiwala village in the Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh.

Another ‘samman connection’ event, this one involving students from Satgaon Ancholik School in Dhubar village in Assam’s Kamrup Rural district.

A ‘samman connection’ meeting in Dakuwapara village in Assam’s Kamrup Rural district that was called to discuss the role of women on issues related to water.

Water user committee president Abhinanda Debbarma (in check shirt) leads a water tariff collection initiative in Panbua village in the Dhalai district of Tripura.

This article was originally published on Tata Trusts Horizons, April 2024

Dharti Ki Dharohar

This film highlights the importance of conserving the water. If we do not take steps to conserve it now, the future generations may inherit a world lacking water, which is one of the five fundamental elements of nature/life. The film implores the current generation to rethink the legacy that they will leave behind if they do now conserve water today.

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