Why we need to Save Water and Protect Water Resources?

Sometimes, petty arguments over water would reach the courts. But discussions on water did not stop. However, water is still not available in many areas. But now when we go to those areas, it often seems that the problem of water is not as it was earlier.

Water is life! In childhood, the topic on which we got to write the most essays was “Water is life”. We read it and wrote it in full pages. At that time, we used to think that when we grow up, we will go beyond this essay and solve the problem of water. We kept writing essays and our generation grew up, but the essay written on water could not find any solution to the problem of water. About 20 years ago, I personally experienced a lot of struggle, from facing the problem of water to the price of a bucket of water.

In summer, the problem of water takes a terrible form in most areas of Bundelkhand. Water was almost non-existent in areas with high altitudes. Often we had to stay awake at night waiting for water. People used to spend half their time in digging the pipe line laid for water in the villages and remote areas and filling water from pits

Sometimes, petty arguments over water would reach the courts. But discussions on water did not stop. However, water is still not available in many areas. But now when we go to those areas, it often seems that the problem of water is not as it was before.

The water shortage has been resolved. Because earlier, we used to get the knowledge about the value of water from every village elder. "Every drop of water takes its toll!" Those few illiterate old people who used to think that wasting water was a "sin" are now gone and it seems as if they have taken the worry of water with them because now water has been dragged from the surface of the earth at those high places and taken out in every house.

Now when I go to the village in summer, I don't see a society worried about water, but instead of small pipes for drawing water, I see thick boring pipes, children bathing without buckets, people wasting water recklessly. We have stopped worrying about the coming generations and the value of water has been limited to essays.

The generation that used to tell us the value of water at every step has now vanished. We do question the government but keep ourselves free from every question. If we listen to the statistics, then by the year 2100, 75 percent of the glaciers will melt. The campaign to save them has increased to the concern of making artificial glaciers.

It seems that the generations before us had sensed the signs of climate change years ago, that is why their campaign to save every drop of water has kept drinking water for us till today. We, the educated and intelligent degree holders, have forced even the netherworld to spit out water. What kind of a world are we leaving behind for our future generations where there is every possibility of war-like situations arising for natural resources like air and water.

The time has passed when only the government should take the responsibility of water conservation and water management. Before war-like situations arise and water has to be imprisoned in vaults, society needs to make efforts on a war footing. Because the numbers are knocking repeatedly. Nature has started changing its course. Now essays on water is life will not work. Change should happen at the grassroots level.

India has come to 120th place out of 122 countries on the Global Water Quality Index. Which is alerting that Delhi is not far away. Water is a major resource in maintaining human existence. Which is necessary for cleanliness in rural and urban communities as well as in agriculture, industries, in all kinds of production processes. It would not be wrong to say that we are on the brink of a serious crisis where rivers have started turning into dirty drains. Groundwater crisis is inviting many new problems.

If we talk about the present time, then according to the data of water availability and use in India, only 4 percent of the global fresh water source is present in India, which has to provide water to 18 percent of the global population. Niti Aayog had told in the Composite Water Management Index Report in the year 2018 that about 21 major cities in the country, including Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, will reach zero groundwater level by the year 2020 and about 100 million people will be affected due to this.

Recently, the news coming from Bangalore is indicating these dangers of water crisis. Which is ready to become a threat for the whole of India in the coming time. If this report is to be believed, then by the year 2030, the demand for water in India is going to be double its supply.

According to the data, 970 lakh people in the urban areas of India do not have enough clean water to drink. While about 70 percent of people in the rural areas of the country are forced to drink contaminated water and 33 crore people live in dry areas. About 70 percent of India's water is polluted, the effect of which can be seen directly on people's health.

It is no exaggeration to feel that our older generations may have had less education but they had a great understanding of nature, due to which they used to sense the coming water crisis much earlier and used to complete most of their daily tasks using minimum water.

This article is written by Ronik, currently associated with leading water treatment plant manufacturers in gujarat.