The study conducted revealed that water drawn from the Musi for irrigation contained a mixture of untreated and secondary treated wastewater, generated in Hyderabad. Wastewater has been in use for cultivation in peri-urban Hyderabad for a little over four decades now. “The untreated wastewater used for irrigation is expected to have adverse impacts on the local aquifers, which makes the local groundwater unsuitable for domestic, drinking, and irrigation purposes,” the scientists warned.
The international team includes researchers from Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, and International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka, apart from NGRI and United Nations University. The result of the study was published in the scientific journal, Science of The Total Environment.
Incidentally, in the case of river Musi, the areas irrigated by wastewater and groundwater coexist next to each other. “This means the quality of groundwater in the local aquifers deteriorates year by year, with especially salinity values on the rise,” they said.
Population pressure and increasing water competition in a changing climate require us to take stock of the availability and use of water across scales. Water availability not only influences farmers’ commercial prospects but also irrigation-related enterprises and agri-businesses. Greater water scarcity could jeopardize irrigation and agricultural markets while excessive water use can lead to declining ecosystems, water quality and soil health. IWMI advises development partners and the public and private sectors on all aspects of water resource availability and use through a variety of advanced modeling and remote-sensing products and tools, including 
The ability of farmers to engage in or expand irrigation depends on the prevailing socioeconomic, ecological and political contexts, which are often complex, non-linear and changeable. Overcoming systemic barriers to farmer-led irrigation development while taking advantage of existing opportunities 
A lack of affordable credit, particularly for women and resource-poor farmers, is one of the main barriers to expanding farmer-led irrigation in low- and middle-income countries. But 
Scaling farmer-led irrigation requires strengthening human capacity and knowledge exchange among all actors and stakeholders involved. IWMI takes an action research approach, working with national and international research institutions, governments, extension agents and public and private organizations to co-develop the scaling ecosystem and strengthen capacity to drive scaling networks and collective action. We support the