Asia’s largest cities, including Delhi, lack water security

Urban water security in Asian cities is in decline, forcing them to find new ways to manage this prescious resource

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Many large cities are prone to water issues. Population and economic growth have led to environmental degradation. Existing water supplies simply can’t keep up with the growing needs. The issue is exacerbated by climate change where extreme weather events such as drought and floods are becoming more common. Water security — having enough water to meet all living, irrigation and industry needs as well as a healthy surplus to adapt to major disasters — is steeply in decline.

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Hanoi, Vietnam, is one of the fastest-growing cities in terms of GDP growth, contributing  more than 19 per cent of the country’s total GDP. The repercussions of this growth are felt directly in its polluted lakes and rivers due to wastewater from residential and industrial areas. Madaba in Jordan is a water-scarce city. Although 98 per cent of the city's population has access to water, residents are often forced to rely on alternative sources of storage such as large tanks or private water vendors to meet their needs due to inconsistent water supplies.

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Plans to prevent water supply losses through leaky pipes will also improve efficiency. These include monitoring tools, installing new metering units and making efforts to detect unauthorised usage in water pipelines, and improving financial sustainability through water tariffs. Again, nature-based solutions play a role: the plan also involves allocating water to restore critical ecosystems including forests, wetlands and rivers for greater conservation. These are all tangible solutions that can be considered and adapted to different cities across the continent.

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