More conflicts likely
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15/12/2000
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Deccan Herald (Bangalore)
On Monday, scientists warned that more people may be fighting over water this century than over oil. A report issued Monday at the UN-sponsored World Water Forum in Stockholm, Sweden, said that one in three people will not have enough access to water by 2025, and that it is unlikely that traditional agriculture could feed the world's population by them. Already, bottled drinking water costs more per gallon than gas around the world, and it is bound to become even more precious. Water shortages already affect about 450 million people in 29 countries, and brewing tensions over water rights in Asia and Africa could erupt into serious clashes, the report warned, if governments don't find new ways to use existing supplies more efficiently.