High and dry

Talk of water today anywhere in India, and there is all chance that something would be gravely amiss. Right from the fountainhead — the glacier in the mountain — to the emptying of the river water into the sea, every stage of the flow reeks of gross mishandling and utter misuse of the precious resource. That the rivers are not gushingly overflowing with melted water of the glacier in the summer — as they should — is proof of receding glaciers due to the rising temperature and climate change calamity. A case in point is the Bhakra Dam reservoir, where the inflow has alarmingly plunged to 21,954 cusecs, the lowest ever — 70 feet lower than this time last year. This will have an adverse cascading effect, with drier taps and tubewells staring at the consumer. Unless rain gods shower a good monsoon, this quantity of water is too insufficient for optimum power generation in the dam. 

Also, along the river’s path, massive deforestation and soil erosion have severely depleted the holding capacity of wetlands, marshes, ponds, aquifers and other water bodies, even as effluents and plastic waste are polluting the rivers and oceans. Aggravating the problem is the contamination. Various studies across the country have found unacceptable concentrations of calcium, magnesium, sodium, nitrate and flourine in over three-fourth of Malwa, rendering its water unsuitable for both drinking and irrigation and even affecting soil fertility. Unsafe quantities of uranium have been detected in 16 states, mostly due to overexploitation of groundwater. There is danger of many more cities going parched as Delhi, Bengaluru and Shimla did this summer.

Scuffles over drawing water, as the one in Hansi in Haryana recently, are becoming common. Before the fights take on the monstrous shape of a war, taking drastic measures to depollute the rivers as also to prevent deforestation must be the government’s priority. Such remedial management practices can succeed only if complemented with public campaigns and individual efforts. Come hell or high water, each one of us has to be aware of the water crisis and the imperativeness of water harvesting and going green and clean. We need the elixir for life for our children and theirs.