Well, there is a poem, which says that:
” Without the water, the faunas and the floras
The world would languish and the human beings would die in anguish “
Scarcity and the hopes- Can the Government of the day rise up to the occasion?
Initiative and the origin: India discussed it in detail, but to no avail — It was from 1952 when the tribunal which was formed under the guidance of Pandit Jawaharlal. Pandit Nehru had discussed this as a very critical subject with a note that it is imperative to think on the lines of supply and the distribution and the management of water It was also decided then to make the reservoirs at various places to store the water and distribute it accordingly A national water management body was formed and some of the dams were created then. However the entire blueprint which was then prepared could not be given the shape that’s out ought to be The result is now in 2019 we are facing an acute shortage of water and if this is not taken care in the next three years we would be a nation which will die for the reason of the scarcity of water This article will again attract the International attention and will make an interesting read.
Under therein of Pandit Nehru a Water Tribunal Board was formed It might be even now raining but nothing of that sort in terms of the action has been really witnessed by anybody in the last seventy years of Independence where one could feel and say that – YES, India has no problem with anything that relates to water, either needed for drinking or for cleansing or for anything which relates to agriculture and farming
World Bank Report 1954: India simply ignored that report
After the independence looking into the huge population that India had, it was a question to all and sundry that “ how to control and manage this population “ The question was from where to pool in the money and start the enterprises, especially the Government enterprises so that jobs could be entrusted to the ones who are in need of the same and the Government also could earn their revenue to fill in the coffers to run and manage this country
It was decided that loans may be taken from the world financial lending institutions and the ones that India approached was the WORLD BANK, the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND and the UNO.
A team of dedicated and brilliant personnel came here to study all about India and her infrastructure to lay these public enterprises that Mr. Nehru wanted to lay it here This team visited much a part of the country and gave its report about where and why to lay those public enterprises and why made a bold statement that India, in order to sustain its enterprises,
This is how the dams and it’s construction came into being The ones like the Bhakra Nangal, the Hirakud are the example of the same However the problem still was that the villages and the far remote places did not have the benefit of enjoying the water either for drinking or cleaning This problem surfaced from 1950 till the dates and as more and more of the days are passing by we find that the rivers have shrieked, the rivulets have totally gone out of the flow the Himalaya too has started giving away and except some few big names whose water are so dirty and so unhygienic that India is bereft of any water resources now and if this state of the matter continues for a steady and an infinite time then the days are not far away when there would be a civil unrest in this country for the need of water
Water Renewable and a finite resource & the danger of it’s being lost:-
Water, as a matter of fact, is a renewable but a very finite resource It depends upon the factor of hydrology, its cycle, and the stages that the water passes from the earth via the atmosphere and the way it rises up and above the atmosphere and again comes back to the earth This is the cycle that it goes through The factors like the dense forest, the vegetation, the soil engineering to cite as an example are the ones which continuously keeps the reservoir of the water at the crust of the earth and on the surface intact. However, with population growth and ever-increasing demand for the same amount of water, pressures are mounting
Here I would like to say that if we do not keep control on the environment by checking the minimum level of pollution, and if we keep on trampling with the resources that generate and control the reserves of water we will cause irremediable damage to our own health and that of the planet on which all life depends We will have to change our modes as well as the line of thinking and here it is every individual as well as the Government too will have to think it big and think likewise Else the days of being starved before kneeling to death is not far off The future is at stake, and we must act now to increase awareness of the importance of sustainable freshwater use, management and protection.
There is a major freshwater crisis that has unfolded and that has hit the nation on its head A little bit of patience to ward it off is good but the delay definitely will cause deaths and it would be the death knell of this country The crisis is the lack of access to safe water supply to millions of people as a result of inadequate water management and environmental degradation This is in every sense killing the economic as well as the sociological standings and is breaking it’s backbone every day.This is a crisis which we can call it as the water crises and it is evident in perhaps every nook and the corner of this nation. The scales of it are measurable but it appears to be not because the crises loom in every day to make the matter worst Many freshwater eco-systems are degrading. The freshwater crisis is not the result of natural factors but has been caused by human actions
2003: A worldwide “ cry “ for water reserve and it’s controlled by the experts and the management
It was the year 2003 That was the year that was acknowledged as the International Year of Freshwater by the United General assembly.The U G A passed a resolution to that effect on the study and the need on an urgent basis to restore and reserve the water It was and it is on this lines that the world at large started thinking about how best we can utilize, manage and conserve the water resources around us. And here too our studies would revolve around the same No matter what we are, what we would like to do the fact is we depend on the water and that is it
Water Crisis At India & The Events Responsible For The Same
The water crisis at India started unfolding since the Vajpayee Government took it in 1996 The lack of the fresh and clean water supply to almost all the citizen residing at India because of the result of the inadequate water distribution system and environmental degradation gave a big blow to the people They were deprived of one of the most basic necessities of the life This crisis is slowly undermining the economic and social prosperity of the country crises of the fresh water and it’s scanty resources in terms of its availability is seen around and felt in most of the part of the country the scale varies and the intensity is very different in almost all the nooks and the corners of the country The question is why is this happening The answer is the freshwater crisis is not the result of natural factors but has been caused by human actions
Ecology pollution warmth lack of infrastructure: Government apathetic attitude responsible
a. Hot summer
The intensity and the pitch of the heat during the summer season has completely played upon the flow of the water at the rivulets and in certain cases on the rivers The river beds and the rivers have dried up There are many a river and the rivulets which are existing but without a single drop of water to it This is because of the change in the temperature of the environment
b. The Shrinkage Of The Himalayan Glacier
The glacier of the Himalayas are shrinking This should sent a strong signal to both India and Nepal Both the country draw the maximum of the river water from the Himalayas Nepal draws it’s water from the River Bagmati and India through the River Ganges and bot these rivers originate from the GANGOTRI that emancipates from the Himalayas It is imperative that the Government of both the countries immediately draws out a plan for reserving the water from the Bagmati at the Indo-Nepal border by constructing jointly a large dam over there The distribution of the water could easily solve a lot of problems for both Nepal and India and if a Hydro- Electricity generating plant is also made over there as a joint venture between the two nation a lot of the villages at Nepal and a thumbs of them at India on the Indo-Nepal border would feel that at least the GOD has blessed them as both Bagmati and Ganges are the river God for those and these two countries
c. Floods, Droughts Climatic Changes
Over the period of time there have been in numerous calamity and the worst to happen were the droughts, the floods and the continuous change of the climate that has been caused by the overall uncertain behaviour of the ecological disturbing factors This completely damaged the balance of the ecology and the environment It is the developing countries which would be crushed under the wheels of environmental disaster which would off-balance the ecological factor and immediately worldwide the respective Governments should take a stock of the same and sit to neutralise the situation before it is too late
Sadly, the worst impacts of climate change would be suffered by the developing countries, partly because of their poverty and lack of physical infrastructure to counter the damage of cyclones, storm surges and other extreme events
d. Scantitious resources of water under the ground Level
It is a well-known fact that the groundwater, it’s crust, it’s quantum has completely shrunk and it is even far too vicious to think about what does the future hold when there would be no water at all under the crust of the earth
The question is why did it happen The answer is because of the deforestation, because of the spiraling shy touching buildings and because of the fact that the vegetations have all dried and has evaporated to the HELL for good These are all man-made and not nature made We have grown in like anything in terms of population and for our dwelling we have deforested everything, destroying all the vegetations and the sources of the water in process This is what we are getting back from the nature as we have destroyed all the natural faces of the nature
Groundwater is facing increasing pressure from growing populations, increasing urbanization and industrialization, and increasing demand for food security, all which require ever increasing supplies of safe, clean, water. There are two major consequences of these increasing water needs, including (i) excess water withdrawal at rates that exceed the ability of nature to replenish the supplies, to the extent that it can eventually become unfeasible, both economically and technically, to use the groundwater as a stable water supply and (ii) water quality degradation resulting from pollutants generated from a myriad of point and non-point source.
Having discussed the man-made disaster and the crises that would emerge out of the same where we would languish for water let us discuss the Governmental apathy and the points where the Government of the day has to rise from the sleep to completely bottle the adversity that could arise out of the water shortage in the future I start the roles that the Government of the day has to make to equalise the crises that would emerge in the near future on the following points:-
Population: If Not Controlled We Had It
If population growth is not controlled and if per capita consumption of water resources continues to rise at the current rate, human beings could be using over 90 per cent of all available fresh water within another 10 years, leaving just 10 per cent for all other living beings.
Agriculture & Farming:
Agriculture and farming require water However it also leaves so many a scares and the scars that the shortage of water arises from its operation particularly related to the intensive use of nitrogen-rich fertilizers and of pesticides.
The groundwater pollution which is derived from the agriculture is very harmful worse where the soil is very permeable, thereby allowing agricultural chemicals to quickly permeate down into underlying aquifers Agriculture is responsible for most of the depletion of groundwater, almost 70 per cent of all available fresh water is used for agriculture. Over-pumping of groundwater by the world’s farmers exceeds natural replenishment by at least 160 billion cubic meters a year
To completely protect the water under the crust of the earth there are two factors on which the Government of the day has to work upon I enumerate the following
a. A system of keeping in view to preserve the water at the earth and the ground level and ways of improving the groundwater and its monitoring
b. Am attempt to prioritise system which could make the assessment of the water, point out all its cases of the vulnerability and containment loading and suggest all the necessary systems that could be implied and implemented to preserve the water at the different points where there would be the source to tap water
c. A process of a signal or a warning just like the seismograph warns the ones before an earthquake This can do a lot and help a lot in conserving the water at the ground and the beneath the crust of the earth and its level The integration of the work and the job relating to the integration of the water at different level ought to be done
At the national level, Here at the national level that could be done is a plan could be chalked out and made where national water management plans and water agencies give water resource management a place in national policies enabling the integration of water management with policies in other fields.
At The Regional Level:-
At the regional level, especially at the various states, in fact, especially concerns has to be drawn to have a centre-state understanding to manage and conserve or preserve the water. If at all necessary and wherever needed to integrate the water resource management Link it with the river basins, lake catchments or aquifers. Here, it has to be borne in the mind that there ought to be an act of balance that needs to be maintained and it could be maintained by the main challenge It will be to balance the interests and policies of different stakeholders and to bring water management as carried out by the different water users and operators together under a common umbrella.
Local Levels:-
The local levels would be the Villages, the Gram Panchayats, the shanties and the likes of them What actually is needed to be done is the integration of the forces that bind these units that I have mentioned here with the ones who would understand the nuances and the gambits of the principles of the water reservations
It is by integrating the system of irrigation management, water supply, groundwater recharge and stormwater management: or by bringing together irrigation, drainage, and reuse management; or by taking joint account of water quality and quantity; or by improving the management of main water operators- such as water supply companies, irrigation agencies and farmer groups.
What Did The World Bank Professional In Their Study Say:-
The World Bank in their study way back in 1954 had suggested that India as a country where there is no shortage of the water then ought to reserve the water on a national planning and it ought to be done on a war footing scale It said that on an average an India uses about 20 litres of water for cleaning, drinking, and for other uses like cooking etc
What surprised everybody in the report that on an average an India waste’s about five litres of water every day Taking the population of the country than in 1954 which was at 55 crores then it stood out to be 275 crores of litre’s of water every day Just imagine the wastages that this nation had done from that end to 2019
Finally, let us discuss on the points on which we have to get yourself to start with the projects etc that was and that is on the guidelines of the World bank which visited us in 1954 under the tutelage of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Where are the points and the places where the water ought to be controlled and put under proper use for consumption From the studies I have the following to place:-
a. The place at Indo-Nepal border
River Bagmati is the most sacred river of Nepal and River Ganges for India Every year there is a heavy rainfall at Nepal As a result the river Bagmati is at full flow There are no check [oints of any sort at the place where the river Bagmati enters India This water flows across the lands of Bihar and it ravages the entire village No sooner than the water from river Bagmati assimilates and mixes with the water of flooding river Kosi it completely ravages the villages of Bihar It is this point where a dam ought to be constructed
It ought to be a joint venture of the Government of Nepal and India constructing a dam The dam can be useful for generating power and electricity If that is done the villages at this border of Indo-Nepal would see the electricity entering their house Again the water can be diverted constructing the canal’s or the channels to the agricultural field The farmers of both the countries would be benefitted Lastly the fisheries could be an added source of revenue as well
b. The point at the Indo Bangladesh Border:-
The place where the river Brahmaputra converts itself to River Padma The borders and the country of Bangladesh every year loses so many of its natural wealth in terms of the flood The ravaging flood every year puts the economy of Bangladesh behind by years The destruction caused is unimaginable and unaccountable This is the place where a dam ought to be constructed as a joint venture and it’s manner ought to be generating power and electricity If that is done the villages at this border of Indo-Bangladesh border would see the electricity entering their house of many a villagers across the border This would change the life of the beings dwelling over there for years without any basic amenities Again the water can be diverted constructing the canal’s or the channels to the agricultural field The farmers of both the countries would be benefitted Lastly the fisheries could be an added source of revenue as well
c. Reroute the rivulets
In India, there is an in numerous river that had its rivulets. These rivulets which passed through so many a villages have dried up The rivers falling short of water cannot maintain the rivulets The example of it are Narmada which originates from Amarkantak at Chattisgarh which had some rivulets like the Rehar River which cuts through the district of Surguja and feeds the people at Manendragarh, Baikkanthpur, Bishrampur and the area that extends up to Ambikapur The river and the rivulets that generate out of the Amarkantak Narmada is fully evaporated because of no water to the extent it ought to be in the river Narbada
It is here that the linking of the river Amarkantaka Narbada ought to be done with other rivers If done the agriculture and its face would see a different area of Surguja and Chattisgarh, In the same manner, Narbada ought to be linked by and with river Hasdeo which cuts through Korba and it’s area The face of the villagers and the agriculture would completely change and the lives of the villagers would be something worth seeing and describing
This way the effort ought to be made to link all the other famous river flowing in one state with the other and at all strategic points the dams ought to be constructed At certain places the reservoirs ought to be constructed so that enough at intermittent stage and levels these water from the reservoirs could be sent to the places where the water is needed where there would be the scarcity
Why Is The water In Shortages and rainfall scanty
India was a country which was full of rivers, rivulets and the forest The kind of dense forest that India possessed once, that has now evaporated It is because of the deforestation The result is the rise in the atmospheric temperature which has soared so high that the natural process which stores the water in the crust of the earth has dried up and the evaporation of the water molecules from the atmosphere has made the things go worst
Forest is responsible for rainfall, which in turn keeps the earth and it’s crust very soft The moist generated out of it is responsible for maintaining the coolness of the earth crust which stores the water contents beneath the crust of the earth This helps in photosynthesis of the trees and this process generates the natural oxygen mixes and reacts with the nascent hydrogen and the combination of it created dark and dense clouds
What are dense clouds It is the amalgamation of dense water vapour These dense vapours are light and they rise up to the atmosphere lest they assemble at one place at the atmosphere This dense water vapour over a period of time gets heavy and then it pours in terms of rainwater Obviously when there is no forest how can you afford to have the rainfall Over the period of time the dense forest have gone These trees have been cut, illegal or by any means the forest and it’s trees now do not exists the way it should have been The result is that there is no rainfall to the extent of what it ought to be and because of the dried earth crust there is no water beneath the earth This ought to be taken care of It is imperative for India and the Indian Government to think of again cultivating deep forest Plants ought to be planted and it ought to be seen that the forest grows up again
Trees like the Season, Watson,, Amla, Tamarind, Myrobalans, Mangoes, and also a lot of bamboos besides a lot of Eucalyptus trees ought to be planted at the various forest site so that the forest once again takes its shape These forests ought to be well maintained and care ought to be taken that there is no deforestation and its principle taking the birth to uproot the forest
The other point that would really make the sense is that the roadside along the national highways should be planted with these trees and the forest department ought to be given the charge of its security and it’s maintenance This will help all the living beings from a small bird to live on them to the herbivorous as well as those who are human beings At least the trees planted when it grows up, it will provide clean and fresh air and keep the atmosphere cool That can help when it comes to rainfall
Terrific Bad Days Ahead
As it is the storage and the reservoirs of the water are at its wits end The population of the country is increasing by leaps and bound At the most there are only a water reservoirs by all the means that remains in this country and that is limited for 10 years. What will happen then
It is with great thought that the Modi Government 2.0 thinks on this line and links all the rivers beside doing what has been written here in this article on water This is what was the report and advise given to Mr.Nehru in 1954 but that did not fructify Hope the Modi Government 2.0 makes it a national planning and work on it on a war footing scale
Just if those wastes from 1954 to 2019 could have been saved The result would have been different Plans were moved forward during the reign of Mr. Vajapayee that the rivers in India ought to be linked and now the present Government too have voiced their concerns and have decided to make an arrangement to link the rivers here at India Well that would be fine if that happens
Done seriously now and if this is meticulously given a priority we will be able to survive else? That is it
