Water conservation

Dr. Ramesh Kumar Thusoo
Water is precious and in Hindu mythology we have been worshipping Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati and other forms of water. Great Ganges has been gifted by Lord Shiva Himself to this Universe. So life without water is impossible like food and air. We can live for a day or two without food but we cannot think of life without air and water. How horrible will be the situation if there is no water in our homes for some days. Water should be treated more precious than silver, gold or diamond. We can live without these precious metals but cannot live without water and air. For the survival of humans, shelter, clothes, meals are important but cannot survive without water. We intentionally or un-intentionally, knowingly or un-knowingly misuse, pollute, waste the precious gift of nature. Some have in mind that water is free item and easily available and nothing is to be wasted, on the other hand some have notion that water is abundant in quantity and the idea to use water judiously is meaningless, senseless and useless. No doubt water is everywhere around us in the form of clouds, on ground as wells, rivers , streams, ponds, springs, underground water ,besides oceans and majestic seas but selfish humans have made all these resources polluted and contaminated with chemicals and other free radicals. All these waters are unsafe, unfit, unhealthy and unhygienic for human consumption and dangerous if consumed without treatment and incur a heavy investment by public and private agencies making water more expensive. However these sources will not last for more period of time if unplanned use continues and is contaminated  by factory waste, chemical waste and dirty drains. Our Prime Minister’s dream project of Ganges  cleaning will be on the papers only if people don’t peep deep into the serious problem caused by humans itself.
Recently in 2016 Gujarat, parts of Rajasthan ,Maharashtra  had to face  serious water problems.  People had to walk miles together to get water for drinking and for other purposes even some people had to leave from their work places and to get water for their families. Some people have perished for a glass of drinking  water  and  some had to purchase water on huge prices. The time has come when people of India have to think about water conservation during this summer itself and  make full arrangement to tap water during rainy season. so to save water and use it without any willful  wastage is the need of hour so that our generation may not curse on their selves, not to think about the future generations. There are some measures and duties for every citizens to abide by so that every drop of water is judiciously utilized and  water can be saved and in turn can be utilized for making water  available to those who are yet to see pure drinking water. At our micro level people have to restrict requirements, storage, hoarding and unnecessarily running lifting motor, overflow running pipes , running tap water unnecessarily. Also sometimes high influential people have been seen misusing drinking water for washing their vehicles and big lawns and every citizen has a right to stop these people for violating such fundamental duties.  Also never ignore to fix leaks inside and outside the houses  and in underground pipes. For conservation of water,we should go for harvesting the rain water as has been made mandatory by Haryana Government for all new colonies and for all societies. It should be  a public movement for constructing artificial ponds for storing rain water during rainy season. Check dams are one of the agricultural practices for soil and water conservation during this modern age. Planners and our development agencies need to enforce such systems as will conserve water efficiently so that every citizen takes full advantage of this gift of nature judiously and without any exploitation gets abundant water. Other  fundamental component to water conservation strategy is communication and education  of general masses  about  different water programs . Developing communication that educates  land managers, policy makers, farmers, and the general public. Communication of the science of how water systems work is an important aspect when creating a management plan to conserve that system and is often used for ensuring the right management plan to be put into action. One fundamental conservation goal is universal metering. The prevalence of residential water metering varies significantly worldwide.Some researchers have suggested that water conservation efforts should be primarily directed at farmers, in light of the fact that crop irrigation accounts for 70% of the world’s fresh water use. The agricultural sector of most countries is important both economically and politically, and water subsidies are common. Conservation advocates have urged removal of all subsidies to force farmers to grow more water-efficient crops and adopt less wasteful irrigation techniques.
As changing irrigation systems can be a costly undertaking, conservation efforts often concentrate on maximizing the efficiency of the existing system. This may include chiseling compacted soils, creating furrow to prevent runoff, and using soil moisture and rainfall sensors to optimize irrigation schedules. Usually large gains in efficiency are possible through measurement and more effective management of the existing irrigation system. Improved soil organic matter from the use of green manures, mulching, and recycling of crop residues and animal manure increases the water holding capacity of soils and their ability to absorb water during torrential rains which is a way to optimize the use of rainfall and irrigation during dry periods in the season.
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