There is no life without water, which is not only important for humans but for the entire ecosystem. In summer, heat wave repeats each year. We should be prepared and create water sources. Unmindful of bad impact on the ecology, we have been destroying forests, drying up lakes by filling mud and constructing buildings. Small trees are cut ruthlessly. We do not want to reduce harms of infinite solar heat by adopting simplest methods of keeping premises solar passive like white roofs and planting trees drip irrigated by self-harvested infinite water.
William Ashworth has said that “Children of a culture born in a water-rich environment, we have never really learned how important water is to us. We understand it, but we do not respect it.” India is facing water scarcity today. Water covers two-thirds of the surface of the earth, but fresh water is only 0.002% on the earth.
The water scarcity is mostly manmade due to excess population growth and mismanagement of water resources. Water scarcity can be defined as a situation when people don’t have enough water to fulfil their basic needs. Depletion of fresh water has become a threat to our existence. According to some scientists, the quantity and the quality of water are degrading day by day. Although earth is covered with almost 71% of water, the quality is that we cannot use it in day-to-day life for domestic purposes.
There is an acute water shortage in almost all the cities due to changed lifestyle of people. Most of our lakes have dried up. The groundwater levels are abysmally low, besides being contaminated. There is not enough water for the city’s burgeoning population.
On must remember that India’s economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Rainwater harvesting can also be used effectively to strengthen irrigation networks. There are plenty of ways to save and recycle water. Fix all leaking taps in your house. Seventy to 150 litres of water are wasted due to dripping taps. As long as water flows from our taps we are satisfied. We don’t understand the value of water. One can purify the stored water and use it for various purposes like washing, cleaning and cooking.
The government needs to enhance its investment in technology and include all stakeholders at the planning level to ensure optimisation of existing resources. Increasing population and rapid urbanisation has led to overuse of water resources leading to water pollution and scarcity. Rain, rivers and wells have been man’s traditional sources of fresh water. Global warming upsets natural patterns of rainfall. Rivers are slowly killed at their sources by steady destruction of forests and the construction of big dams and overdevelopment of groundwater.
Development cannot be reversed. But technology could be reoriented to serve the dual purpose of conserving water and regulating its use. We have to pay attention to the importance of fresh water and be able to maintain the management of fresh water resources. Don’t we think leaving aside global solutions; something should be done at the national and regional levels?
It is rightly said, “A drop of water is worth more than a sack of gold to a thirsty man.”
