MY VIEWS IN TIMES OF INDIA ON WATER RATIONING

Comments of MILAN K SINHA (PATNA) in  
The Times Of India dt.07.01.13 10:13 PM

Your comment on the article ''Water rationing in Bangalore, Mysore not ruled out'' is now displayed on timesofindia.com.

''Why Bangalore or Mysore, the water rationing would the order of the day in many cities including the capital of India, New Delhi, if corrective measures are not initiated without further loss of time. It is interesting to know that two of the four BRIC( Brazil, Russia, India & China) nations, Brazil & China have already in place the mechanism of roof top rain water harvesting in some cities for meeting drinking as well as other needs of the population besides finding ways for replenishing ground water levels. In our neighbouring nation Sri Lanka, harvesting rain water is very popular & effective means of ensuring water availability in rural areas. Cuba’s “More With Less” economic philosophy based on proper management of its available resources including rain water is an example in itself. Awareness among the affected & likely to be affected masses for stopping overuse & abuse of water is a must. Govt. spending running in lacs of crores in the name of either river cleaning programme, construction of large dams and other such money siphoning projects should be reviewed by a group of experts having high moral integrity for best use of public money for alternative means for water harvesting and conservation to take care of the fundamental need of ordinary citizens of India. In fact, we can’t afford to have such big projects of longer gestation period with comparatively little benefits for the society. Instead, we should go for mass scale real afforestation of fruit plants, construction of ponds, small dams & canals in large scale, making it mandatory for every household in the cities to practice rooftop rain harvesting & complete stoppage of dumping of industrial waste etc. into our rivers, to name a few. Notwithstanding the deplorable situation as regards water management in all its dimensions in several parts of the country, we have reasons to be optimistic towards finding culturally appropriate traditional as well as technological solutions to this alarming problem, as several silent movements to harvest, conserve & preserve water by various groups & communities in remotest drought prone & water starved places in a manner worth emulating by other interested groups, are under way in the country. In Rajasthan alone, due to sustained community participation, almost 10000 small & big ponds were either repaired or resurrected during the last few years by collective efforts of persons like Rajendra Singh, Magsaysay award winner & other like minded persons. Chipko Andolan, Paani Yatras, Aapiko Andolan and other water conservation & forest protection movements are going on to serve this cause. So why not do our best individually & collectively in our respective places to address this most basic problem.''

                            Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best

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