The On-going Water Crisis in India: How Your Involvement is Valuable

Just like other parts of the world, India has also been raising its voice in the issues concerning water shortages over the ongoing years. This is an issue particularly observed broadly in a great deal of the metros of India. The accessibility to clean and pure water is an intriguing matter of discussion. Despite the fact that 70% of the Earth content is water, and just 2% of it is usable by humans and to further complicate this issue, out of that 2%, a whopping percentage of 1.6% is in the form of icy masses and form the polar ice caps. The reality is that India inhabits 16% of the overall world’s population which is a debilitating fact and things worsen further when this massive population is crammed into a space which is equivalent to 33% the size of USA landmass. To further elevate the situation also consider the fact that India accesses only 4% of the world’s fresh water source and this will help in more realistically realising the problem of water scarcity. This ongoing worry over the accessibility and control of water is totally avoidable. In this post, we investigate these issues and the best reliable measures which can be made possible by our millennial generation to help India with our water emergencies in small little ways.

India is probably not the only nation in the world facing this dire situation, yet our country is in a very critical stage. Extreme absence of guideline, over privatization, general disregard, and unstoppable government debasement are a few factors that have prompted this serious issue being continued all through generations.

The Major Causes:

The water emergency being faced by India is a result of rapid urbanization, industrialization, human waste streaming into water sources and contaminating groundwater, along with the problem of corruption at various dimensions during different procedures and assignments. In the course of recent years, approaches have permitted what adds up to a free-for-all in groundwater improvement and as the emergency has developed, it has been met with proceeded with disregard, fumble, and generally speaking lack of interest.

Evaluations put India’s groundwater use at around one-fourth of the worldwide use with all out-utilization outperforming that of China and the United States put together. With farmers given power facilities to help control the groundwater siphoning, the water table has seen a drop of up to 4 meters in different parts of the nation. A great deal likewise has to do with the erratic wastage of water that is underestimated all through the larger part and better regions of the country. We will examine carefully about that later on in this post.

Kaveri River Dispute in between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka:

The well-established, emotional and highly publicized disagreement regarding the allotment of water from the waterway, Kaveri, began in the year 1892, between the Madras Presidency (under the British Raj) and the Princely province of Mysore when they needed to deal with isolating the stream water between the two states. In less than 20 years later, the two states began getting ready for the development of dams with an aim of utilizing the water. As indicated by the underlying understandings in 1924, 75% of the water would go to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, 23% to Karnataka while the remainder to Kerala.

The real issue started right after the rearrangement of states post-autonomy. Throughout the late 20th century, Tamil Nadu had restricted the development of dams on the waterway by Karnataka, and the state, thus, needed to suspend the water supply to Tamil Nadu. They contended that the 1924 understanding had passed when its 50 years were up in 1974 and thinking about that the waterway began in Karnataka, they would be wise to guarantee over the stream. They had an argument with them saying that they were not bound by the understanding that had taken place between the British government and the Maharaja of Mysore, however Tamil Nadu needed to adhere to the original understanding.

Over a period of past few years, this water problem has escalated into a total political drama but sadly even till present day this problem remains unsolved.

Pune’s Water Situation

The city in reality is actually not in an emergency situation like numerous others, it had as of now (by April 2018) used up around 11.79TMCft (thousand million cubic feet) which is unquestionably more than its allocated amount, and taking a gander at its utilization design, it is going way past its designated quantity intensely and rapidly. Additionally, as the temperatures reaches up to as high as 41 degree Celsius, followed by quick evaporation represent another risk to the water availability of the city. One of the four fundamental water bodies, Temghar dam has been purged because of some fixture work that was caused due to an enormous leakage in the dam.

Activists have shown a lot of concern and worries over the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) absence of emergency course of action. They have said that the water diversion into the urban parts of the city has seriously influenced farmer’s water requirement. They have further added that the PMC must make arrangements to reuse the greater part of the water it acquires from the four dams that initially used to belong to the farmers themselves which truly is an unfair practice. The PMC consequently encouraged the general population of Pune to take measures to save water themselves using water conservation methods.

Keeping that in mind, given below are a few crucial tips that our millennial generation can adopt and play their part in providing a bright future for water in the various Indian cities:

Water Conservation Tips for Millennials Residing in Urban India:

Preserving water effectively limits the severs impacts of water shortages and droughts. By drastically cutting down on our water usage and wastage we can play a big and crucial role in helping the fight against widespread droughts. There are so many easy ways and habits in which we can effectively reduce the consumption of water a our homes that you will be surprised.

Here is How You Can Help and Contribute:

1. Keep your plants hydrated by harvesting rainwater and installing a simple yet efficient barrel works.
2. While in the shower if you spend a lot of time adjusting the hot and cold water temperature, it would be wise for you to keep a bucket under the shower that would collect the water. This water can be used for a number of different household purposes.
3. Turning off the tap water while brushing saves a surprisingly large amount of water. You should adopt this habit on a daily basis.
4. Turn off the water tap in between while washing your hands.
5. Get your water leakages at home fixed. You can either fix it yourself or call a handy man to deal with it, you just have to ensure that you don’t leave any holes in the water pipes. This comes in handy for sparing some precious amounts of water.
6. While washing your car use a bucket instead of a pipe or a hose for it.
7. There are a number of new water-efficient products that help in preserving water quantity. Choose these water effective fixtures and especially while building or renting out a place.
8. Water your outdoor plants early in the morning since you will be required less water since the morning temperatures are cooler and don’t evaporate quickly as compared to water them later in the evening or afternoon.
9. Use less power since to cool down the power plants a lot of water is required. So indirectly you will be conserving water by cutting down on your electricity usages.
10. While taking a shower use a bucket filled with water instead of a shower. This way you will come to know about your water requirement and will further contribute towards saving water.

Water, undoubtedly is our most valuable asset in the world which we cannot afford on running out of. More than everything else water is a life-giver. Remember to contribute as much as you can using the above-mentioned ways and tips.