Water scarcity

“Water crisis to intensify across India by 2050, warns UN report.”

“Women have to walk a hundred kilometers to get sufficient water for their families.”

 

These have indeed turned to become some of the common headlines. Water, one of the greatest resources we have, is being wasted recklessly. We, humans have disgraced the nature of all its belongings by polluting it, wasting it etc. If we keep exploiting our resources the way we are, it might lead to the end of a healthy human race. Some incidents like the 2016 drought experienced by Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where in people were forced to issue water card for the cost of Rs.5 per pot have been real eye-openers. Our government led an initiative wherein the SIS 'Seoul International School' has been fundraising to bring water to India, in addition to which they have started building a strong community for the water crisis. As there have been examples where our government has not stood up to the level we would expect them to, the villagers of Palve Budruk, located in the drought-prone Parner Block in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra took matters to their own hands,with support from our government and UNICEF developed a catchment plan covering 1,435 hectors – over 80% of the land available. This act of the villagers sets an example for everyone who blames the government for not doing it rather than putting themselves to work. This taught us that sometimes more hands and opinions are needed to make a cause successful. A very unique idea was that of the Canadian start-up Decode Global, they developed a mobile game for social change focusing on the water scarcity in India and the effect it has on girls' education. The company has published a 6-part lesson plan for 4-6 grade teachers, available for download as a pdf from the game's website.

These were examples of how your country has realized the pain of the farmers who died rather killed themselves due to water scarcity and has taken actions upon it. The goverrnment has issued bills and relief packages in order to help our fellow farmers. India being an agrarian country has taken far too long to react to the situation.  We still have a long way to go in learning how important water is, there are some ways we can put use of our hands. For example- Rain water harvesting, recharge pits, percolation pits, bore wells etc. Most cities in India are running dry, it is time we all stand together and make a cause successful. 

 

-Shivangi Dasgupta 

Student
Young Reporter's Club