Natural resources management :

Water is a renewable natural resource and plays a pivotal role in the region’s development.  However, unplanned anthropogenic activities have lead to the scarcity of resources, which has affected the economic, productive, infrastructural and social sectors. Scarcity of water is becoming a limiting factor for sustainable development in many parts of the world. Due to these, infiltration of rainwater into the sub-soil has decreased drastically and recharging of groundwater has diminished. The solution to achieve sustainable development lies in the efficient management of water and other natural resources. Rainwater is the main source of water and annually 300 to 800 mm of seasonal rainfall is lost as surface runoff or deep drainage. Water harvesting can also be achieved by following the watershed-based approaches in ecosystem management using pre-treated catchment and micro-catchment areas to increase the efficiency of runoff and maximize the amount of collected rainfall. Better management of water resources is achieved through water conservation, inter-sectoral water reallocations, water costing, and by using water efficiently.  In water stress region, rainfall is collected from areas specifically treated to increase precipitation runoff and stored in tanks or ponds for human and animal consumption and for supplemental irrigation.