Water Scarcity

By Murari Chaturvedi

The most indiscriminate wastage of water and pollution of it has reached the highest level in the country. It was often said that the future wars will be fought for water, is coming true. The water crisis in Indian Cities and the ecological imbalances are resulting in inadequate rains in the country this year. The writing was on the wall for everyone to see, yet there was no preparedness to face it. No new sources were searched, no new schemes to argument water supply were found. According to Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, the mean rainfall has come down by four per cent between 1912 and 1964 to between 1965 and 2006. But the usable rainfall for the same period has decreased by 12 per cent. A satellite study by the American space agency NASA conducted between 2002 and 2008 shows that the groundwater reserves have gone down drastically. Most of the water reservoirs in the country have less water this year. In the farming fields all over the India, the crops are dying. Kharif crops in the country is decreasing by 20 per cent and the area under oilseeds has also gone down by 0.6 million hectares. Due to indiscriminate cutting of trees, have resulted drought in most parts of the country. It is time, which is running fast, that we take the stock of the situation and put all out efforts to conserve water. In cities live Mumbai why we have not yet implemented desalination. Technology for desalination plants in available to us. We have been talking of desalination plants for more than two decades, but have never been implemented in Mumbai. Chennai have implemented it successfully. Why our politicians are giving chance to taker mafia to hold the city to ransom. Why the urbs prima city like Mumbai should starve for water. The cities are on the developmental mode because of influx of the people. The civic planners in India are not paying any heed to the growing population needs. Water is the first important need of life, not only for drinking but also the source of food production, so why such callousness against it. Water is every body’s need and concern, so the rulers must pay utmost attention to find new sources of water and preserve them.