Water is the base on which our life is built and is one of the most valuable resource of nature. It is an endless creation by God so people don’t take care. World Water Day was observed on 22nd March. Can we imagine a day without clean water? No, not a single day of our life can go forward without water. Inspite of having 70 per cent of water on earth but only 1 per cent of water is fresh and useable and the remaining 90 per cent is salty, 2 per cent of water is in form of ice in the glaciers and icebergs. Human beings are destroying the environment by wasting this 1 per cent of clean water by various ways.
Day by day, it is becoming clear that water is going to be the biggest casualty of the modern development process. It is ironic that nature’s gift to humans is available only for money these days. We are forced to buy clean drinking water after having polluted every known source. Nowadays mineral or purified water is billion dollar business. People are ready to spend Rs 20 for a water bottle as we know it’s not easy to get pure or clean water.
Increasing population and rapid urbanization has led to over-use of water resources leading to water pollution and scarcity. Rain, rivers and wells have been man’s traditional sources of fresh water. Global warming upsets natural patterns of rainfall. Rivers are slowly killed at their sources by steady destruction of forests and the construction of big dams, and overdevelopment of groundwater. Frantically using of water is a bad sign for the world. We use water to wash away our dirt, but in turn we forget to clean the water.
We leap to blame nature whenever there is a flood or water scarcity. Unless water is used equitably, and in a non-partisan manner, playing with it may prove to be more risky than playing with fire. A growing population and a consumptive lifestyle add to the depression. Development cannot be reversed. But technology could be reoriented to serve the dual purpose of conserving water and regulating its use. We have to pay attention to the importance of fresh water and be able to maintain the management of fresh water resources. Don’t we think leaving aside global solutions; something should be done at the national and regional levels? Let’s join our hands in saving water as much as possible. Let our motto be “Save water, save life, save the world”.
Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
