“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” – Thomas Fuller
It is rightly said that we do not understand the worth of anything unless and until it becomes scarce.
As we all know, water is one of the essential sources of living. Even after knowing this fact, we all are ignorant of the decreasing water level all over the world.
According to a satellite warning system, reservoirs are shrinking in India and many other countries like Iraq, Spain, etc. Cape Town might be the first city to have their taps dried out as predicted. However, the situation of the water crisis in Cape Town isn’t very different from that in Bangalore city.
India, being an agrarian economy, water becomes a significant source of irrigation. Although, the report by Business Standard says that the scarce rains in 2017 have made the situation more complicated. This is evident from the fact that the country is already facing many water dispute issues. One of the major water conflicts is Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Thus, it is high time to take appropriate steps at all the level to overcome the shortage of water.
Following are some of the steps that can be taken to address the water crisis:
1. Reduce the wastage of water
It has been observed that a lot of water is wasted especially in urban areas for flushing purposes. However, this is more prevalent in the western toilet. Thus, use of Indian toilet should be promoted.
2. Water Treatment Plant
Wastewater must be treated so that it can be used for non-drinking purposes. There are several low costs and amiable technologies available that can be implemented in group housing areas.
3. Watershed Development
Rainwater harvesting is an important source for people in rural areas. Hence, the focus should be given to construct watershed in hilly areas where there is a greater requirement of water.
4. Modern Irrigation Techniques
India is still lacking in adopting modern irrigation techniques. We all know that agriculture requires a large amount of fresh water for irrigation purposes. But the methods that are used by farmers due to lack of knowledge about existing methods result in massive water wastage. Drip irrigation is one of the techniques that can reduce water wastage to a considerable extent.
5. Increase Green Cover
It is important to increase the green cover in order to ensure there is an adequate amount of rain. Various major should be adopted at household level especially to plant as many trees as possible. Also, prohibition should be there to avoid cutting of trees.
6. Promote Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs should come forward and take a stand to develop technologies that are low cost for reducing the water wastage. Few companies are trying to make a technology that can capture water from humidity. Thus, innovation should be promoted in the field of water treatment by so-called social entrepreneurs.
7. Increase the Reservoirs Capacity
Efforts should be made to increase the existing capacity of the reservoirs by building new reservoirs and by reducing sedimentation. Care must be taken that while working on it there should be no damage to the environment and ecology.
Thus, if the steps mentioned above are taken and followed appropriately by each, at least the impact of the crisis can be reduced in the long run.
However, this is not the case with only India, other countries including the developed ones are more or less facing similar issues. It is the need of the time for all the nations to come together on this issues before it becomes major thereby leading to a water war, i.e. third world war for water.