The rivulet Mandopa near Margao has been choked with plastic waste and styrofoam. The natural sources of water have to be preserved, maintained and avoiding water pollution is the first step towards that. The pollution of Mandopa rivulet has exposed the blatant ignorance and neglect of the issue. If the seriousness of the damage that plastic is posing is not realised sooner than, severe implications will definitely follow in no time.
The Water Resources Department is expected to take care of the natural water resources. They need to at least take steps in order to refrain people from throwing garbage in the rivers which leads to pollution. Biodiversity is a natural gift that the Earth has given us and water resources are extremely necessary if the living beings are to continue their existence on this planet. The animal life and plants developing around the water sources is a quintessential example of how crucial water is for life on Earth. Humans too, created their settlements in the close proximity of the water resources. Not just in Goa but in the entire country, major cities and the villages are based on the banks of the rivers.
Seventy to 80% of Earth’s surface is covered with water which is close to 510 million square kilometers. This means there is 4,88,90,500 million cubic feet of water present on Earth out of which 97.24% water is found in the oceans and is too salty for drinking. There is 2.14% percent of freshwater in the snow and glaciers of North and South Poles however, it is impossible to use. The rivers contain mere 0.001% of the total water on Earth while freshwater lakes have 0.009%. In short, there is only 3,28,290 billion cubic feet of usable water which accounts to 0.67%.
In India, there is 39,641.9 billion cubic feet of water on the surface and underground out of which 15,284 cubic feet is ideal for human use. In global comparison, that is only 4.66% of fresh water. India occupies 2.4% of the world terrain while 17% of the world population resides in India. India’s population is 121.09 crore while world population stands at 7.77 billion. Although compared to the rest of the world the availability of freshwater is more in India, the population here is still three times higher than the water available. Needless to say that we need to preserve and protect the water.
The answer why water pollution has to be avoided is hidden in the statistics mentioned above. An independent department for Water Resources is active in the State. Rivers,
reservoirs and water sources come under the jurisdiction of this department. The department’s goal is to develop water resources sustainably and utilise in a way which would provide financial and social benefits to the State. Increasing the speed of irrigation development, casualisation of built facilities, completing irrigation projects in phases, increasing public participation in irrigation management, operating and developing production of hydroelectricity, reviving salt marshes in order to make them cultivable, ideating various factors of the project, researching technical matters and organising training sessions to build the capacity are the main objectives of the Department. That is why the department is required to take steps to preserve the water sources.
In the meanwhile, the department had taken up the drive against those releasing their waste and sewage water into the rivers. However, nobody knows what happened next. That should not happen. A message that strict action is taken against those who dump garbage (of any sort) in the rivers should go through. Incidents of throwing garbage in the river from the bridges is far too common. Erecting nets on both the sides of the bridge could be an effective resolution. Ground water level drops when it is overtly consumed for agriculture, business and for domestic use. In order to restore the ground water level it is necessary to refill the tubewell and wells. This helps not only in increasing the ground water level but also in utilisation of runoff rainwater. Ground water through borewells is used in cities for factories and domestic use, however, the concretisation does not leave enough scope for soil to soak the water. If a groundwater recharge campaign is conducted then it will help in restoring the ground water. The efforts by Pernem-based Vikramaditya Panshikar and his colleagues should receive government’s support. While doing all this, the topic of water pollution should not be ignored either.
