Dangerous water shortage to a quarter of world’s people looms

A quarter of the world’s people are just a few dry spells away from facing dangerous water shortages, a US think tank warned on Tuesday, with India home to the bulk at risk of running dry.

Seventeen countries face “extremely high water stress” because they consume 80 percent of their available water annually, a situation worsened by more frequent dry shocks tied to climate change, the World Resources Institute (WRI) said.