Ambitious tourism plans for Lakshadweep ignore limited availability of freshwater
A delicate ecological balance sustains the aquifer of the archipelago, already strained by climate change, pollution and increasing demand.
In mid-April 2016 in Kadamat, Lakshadweep, there was a minor clash between people of two wards regarding pumping of groundwater from one ward to fill the water tanks of the other. People from ward seven, from where groundwater was being pumped, allege that the continuous pumping from the wells of their ward depleted the freshwater in the wells and it has started tasting more saline.
Eight years after this incident, in 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lakshadweep, inviting Indian tourists to visit the archipelago. Amidst the hype following the prime minister’s visit, Lakshadweep’s administrator Praful Patel was asked in a media interview whether Lakshadweep has enough rooms to accommodate increasing tourists, to which Patel replied, “We will build 300 rooms”.
But the real question that remains to be asked and answered is “Do you have enough water in the islands to afford a tourist influx or at least to support the local population?”
Evolution of Lakshwadeep
There are 36 islands in Lakshadweep, the only coral atoll system in India, of which 10 islands are inhabited. Even though this is one of the smallest archipelagos in the world it hosts 64,473 (as per the 2011 census) people within 10 islands.
The islands were formed from inactive volcanic mountains and corals...
