Meanwhile, we use so much water that shortages are causing big disputes. In the dry south, the normally peace-loving Tamil and Karnatak peoples are arguing over the Cauvery River.

The river rises in the state of Karnataka, but for 80 years that state shared its water equally with Tamil Nadu, which is downstream. However, since severe water shortages in the late 1980s, Karnataka has started holding back more water. There have been water riots in Tamil towns and a long legal dispute. Matters have been made worse because the monsoon rains have failed twice in the last three years. The rivers have been drying up, crops shrivelling and people going hungry.

So what are the solutions? First, we have to regain our respect for water. We have to stop the pollution and treat our sewage, so that the rivers can run clean again. Second, we have to think about ways of saving water and using it better. A lot of water leaks from our city water pipes. We could save it by plugging the leaks. And third we have to think again about how we get our clean water. We cannot always rely on the rivers – and especially not on big dams. India has thousands of big dams. But millions of people have been flooded from their homes by dams and not properly compensated. So whenever another dam is proposed, there are huge protests.

There could be more trouble if the plan to connect up all our main rivers goes ahead. The idea is to take water from the Ganges and other rivers in the wet north to the dry parts of the country in the south. Some people say this will solve our water problems. But others say it will be far too expensive and will force millions more people to leave their homes.

Maybe there are other ways. We could, for instance, catch the rain before it gets into the rivers and when it is still clean. Lots of people already collect the rain water that falls on the roofs of their houses. We could all do it.

In the days before big dams, Indians dug thousands of small tanks and ponds to collect the rain. Many of them are now abandoned and silted up. But if we could clean them out, Indians would have their own water ready to use in the dry months.

We all have a duty to preserve our precious water heritage. Otherwise, when our children ask us what happened to the holy rivers that our ancestors worshipped, our answers will not be in words but in tears.

PHOTOS: SHEIK ADIL ABBAS; DAVID WOOLLCOMBE/PCI