One of my neighbors had a tough morning today. He got up to realize that his submersible pump was no longer throwing water. And it is not something new. It has been a long time now that everybody has been crying about the level of water going down and rivers, lakes, ponds, wells dying a slow death. How exactly do we feel when we keep the tap running while brushing our teeth, when we throw away half a glass of water which either we were unable to drink or which was kept for sometime, while washing our vehicles? Or should I ask, do we feel anything at all?
For those of us residing in the gifted cities or localities might not even know what water shortage means. Out of a world population of roughly 6.1 billion, more than 1 billion lack access to portable water. According to World Health Organization, half of the entire world population has one of the following six diseases – diarrhea, schistosomiasis, trachoma, infestation with ascaris, guinea worm or hookworm – associated with poor drinking water and inadequate sanitation. About 5 million people die every year due to poor drinking water, poor sanitation or a dirty home environment.
While Shiela Dixit seems to be filing a petition to Lord Vishnu for providing another river for Delhi, queues continue to get longer for residents who struggle hard for a few buckets of water every morning. The river levels have been going down day by day and it is not just another Indian government problem. We very well walk into a mall, buy our food grains and walk out with heavy bags. It really doesn’t matter how we get the stuff to fill those bags. Lesser water, more of Vidarbha-like suicidal cases of farmers, lesser agricultural land, lesser cattle, lesser eatables…. And the chain finally hits you, doesn’t it? Now you want to import eatables, of course, for those of you who can afford. But is it really an Indian problem?
China, with 1.26 billion people, is an area where water table is dropping one meter per year due to overpumping and the Chinese admit that 300 cities are running short. They are diverting water from agriculture and farmers are going out of business. Some Chinese rivers are so polluted with heavy metals that they can’t be used for irrigation. As farmers go out of business, China will have to import more food. In India, with 1.003 billion people, key sources of water are being over pumped and the soil is growing saltier through contamination with irrigation water.
The regular fights over river water in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana are not merely a local phenomena. International Water politics play a role in Southwestern United States, where Colorado River is shared by many states before its dregs trickle into Mexico. All along the river, water is diverted for irrigation and urban water – with Arizona and California being the biggest users. The dribble of water that finally reaches Mexico is used mainly for irrigation; hence virtually nothing reaches the river’s parched and polluted delta on the Sea of Cortez. The Colorado may be completely allocated, but the Southwest continues booming. According to one estimate, five of the ten fastest-growing U.S. States are in the river’s drainage. The water the newcomers drink is likely to come from farmers who now receive subsidized river water.
Egypt, which might touch population of 97 million by 2025, essentially gets no rainfall. All agriculture is irrigated by seasonal floods from the Nile River, and from water stored behind the Aswan High Dam. Any interference with water flow by Sudan or Ethiopia could starve Egypt.
It is a serious issue but how many of us are even thinking about it, let alone doing something. A guy has set up a rain harvesting and purification system in Portland, Oregon, USA. He set up the entire system at an expense of USD 1500. He now captures an average 27000 gallons of water per year. Although it is true that Portland receives 3 to 4 feet of annual rainfall, but it is a possible way of at least elongating the process of getting completely drained out. ( http://www.rwh.in/ )
The big question is what should we do… or may be what can we do? Will it be our mere dependence upon Lord Vishnu for providing us an alternative or is there something which our law makers, researchers and scientists are going to wake up to? Should we be proactively concerned about it or shall we let ourselves become the generation which saw the transition of rivers into parched lands into large multiplexes? I heard someone saying that the fourth World War would be fought with bows and arrows… I wonder if Third World War is going to be fought for water.
3 comments:
Have you ever been to the Western Ghats? The amount of rainfall that we receive over there every year between June and September is phenomenal. Mumbai rains are known for its severity. Imagine, rains in a place like Mumbai which is notorious for its industrialisation, commercialisation and what not. Move slightly north or south, and you find water water everywhere in the rainy season. Its our job to make them 'drops to drink'. Rain water harvesting needs to rise like a movement in this part of India to make a difference. But perhaps the problem that you stated is not a national problem. Its localised in parts which have a high population density. But yes the other problem is a much more severe problem - that of making clean drinking water available to people, especially those residing in remote areas. There's no dearth of resources, but there's a dearth of infrastructure to overcome this problem. Connecting various rivers and tributaries of India may be another solution.
If a Mayawati can spend Rs.360 Crore just to rebuild an Ambedkar Park (and that too in a record time of a few months while a pedestrian overbridge keeps hanging halfway through for 7 years), a Shiela Dixit can spend Rs.1950 crore to converge sewer water along a distance of 50kms in an unplanned manner (see link: http://www.cseindia.org/misc/water_newsalert.asp ), I don't think it is merely dearth of infrastructure, it is primarily a dearth of commitment. Not just with the power mongers but also with the citizens. Probably that is why we don't see a life threatening agitation for water, it is only for reservations and quotas that can shake the government.
Another solution that comes to my mind is setting by-laws which make it compulsory for any Housing Society to implement rain-water harvesting measures within its own limits. Larger organisations like Defence residential areas and other large government establishments can implement it parallely. I'm sure it can make a difference.
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