I was hearing about this slogan for several weeks but didn't quite delve into what it was about, though the I could decipher that it was about saving our rivers. However, this morning as I was coming to office there were volunteers standing along side the road right from Uppal - Jubilee Check Post (Hyderabad), a distance of 21 Kms. I am sure more volunteers would have lined up the road towards Madhapur and many other arterial roads in the city and across cities in India. While I personally save water wherever possible, I felt that the message has to be spread and applauded the efforts of the volunteers. Then I thought I would do my part in spreading the word in this forum as well.
I have always been someone who professed and practised saving water in our home. Personally I use less than half bucket of water to wash my car once a week. I am ok with my car being slightly less shiny than wasting lots of water. However, I see that many people wash their vehicles with running water ,wasting more than 4-5 buckets or even more water in the process i.e. 100 or more ltrs considering that an average bucket holds around 20 ltrs. This is just one way water is wasted. Others wash their premises every day with running water. Some others keep their tap running, that too at full level, while brushing their teeth. These are all a few of the many ways we waste water.
I always felt there needs to be a massive campaign, educating people about the need to conserve water, which is getting scarce every year. And what better way to start off than a Forum of 95,000 members. To be clear, I do not think for a moment that the members of this forum are wasting water or do not know the reasons to conserve water. Just that I wanted to bring Isha foundations campaign 'Rally for Rivers' to the notice of those who didn't knew about it and also to encourage a healthy debate on the subject. We may feel that just campaigning may not yield results, but I have personally seen that bringing issues to limelight does have some impact on some people. And it kind of rubs off when more and more people start acting. One example is littering. My nephew, who is just 5 yrs old, never litters on the roads and if by mistake my sister is about to throw something he immediately stops her. It is because he was highlighted about the issue in his school. Even if a fraction of children from that school start acting that way, we would have a change in culture over a generation.
The same can, and I am sure would, happen with water conservation. There are broadly three ways we can conserve water. (Knwledgeble members can add to this)
1. Rain water harvesting
2. Minimising use of water in our daily life
3. Preserving our Rivers and other small water bodies such as lakes
The first two actions can be done by every individual and I am happy that Isha foundation has started a campaign in the direction of the third, i.e. conserving our rivers.
A few points from the website about why we need to save our rivers.
http://isha.sadhguru.org/rally-for-rivers/ - 25% of India is turning into desert.
- In 15 years, we may have only half the water we need for our survival.
- The Ganga is one of the most endangered rivers in the world.
- The Godavari was dry along much of its length last year.
- The Kaveri has lost 40% of its flow. Krishna and Narmada have lost around 60%
- Estimates say 65% of our water needs are met by rivers.
- 2 out of 3 major Indian cities already deal with daily water shortage.
- Many urban residents pay ten times the normal amount for a can of water.
- We consume water not just to drink or for domestic purposes. 80% of water is used to grow our food.
- Each person’s average water requirement is 1.1 million liters a year.
- Flood, drought and rivers turning seasonal are increasingly leading to crop failure across the country.
- Climate change is expected to cause worse floods and droughts within the next 25-50 years. During the monsoon, rivers will flood. The rest of the year, drought will follow. These trends are already beginning.
I agree that government action is required to save our rivers, but we can do our bit by conserving water and spreading the word.