Have you ever struggled without water at home? Stood in long queues waiting to fill up cans and drums? Stayed awake past midnight waiting for a tanker lorry to come clanging, heralding the supply of water for the week? Three members of your family bathing in one bucket of water? Chances are no, or perhaps rarely?
We are experiencing drought this year. Ideally, we ought to live everyday like a drought day. We don’t conserve water as we feel that our taps will never run dry. Most of us feel that modern cities remain unaffected by water scarcity which is not true. Water shortage affects everyone and can claim the lives of farmers, cattle, wildlife and birds.
Indian cities consume more water than other regions of the country. Meat farming and consumption consumes 90 times more water than agro farming. Star hotels consume 5 times more water than the rest. Affluent city dwellers like us consume 12 times more water than our counterparts in villages. A bathtub takes up 10 to 25 times more water than a shower. Jacuzzi, Pool, Spa. , dishwashers and washing machines consume more water. In fact, a bottle of mineral water consumes more water to produce, transport, store and reach you than it holds within itself!
Think. Drought is not a joke. It spreads more disease than flood and destroys more habitat than a forest fire. Famine can destroy a generation of animals, take a few species to extinction. It can change the construct of landscapes, destroy the richness of soil and alter the complexion of the planet.
It’s so easy to blame the poor monsoons and criticise the governments for failing to take steps to resolve the drought issue. Some people also blame the global warming. Be true to yourself and ask…. How many times have you seriously done things you could have to curb usage and stop wastage of water?
How much water did you waste during Holi celebrations this year? How many days did you take to fix the leaking tap? When was the last time you turned off the tap while brushing or shaving? Have you ever thought of washing your small apparels by hand, to reduce load and club washing machine runs? Did you ever tell the waiter at a hotel to not change the plate every time you walked to the buffet counter? Ever used lesser or no cutlery? Did you ever ask your car cleaner to use a bucket instead of the deadly hose? Have you turned off the shower while applying soap to your body?
Drought is the punishment meted out to human beings for being irresponsible to conserve water. It’s not a climatic condition, but a result. It’s not measured in duration of drought or deficiency of rainfall. But in the destructive plastics we dump and electricity we consume. In the constructions we do and forests we destroy. The peaks we scale and tunnels we dig, the flights we take and fuel we burn. This is a year of drought. Don’t suffer but learn to adapt. Some generation at some point in time has to take the responsibility of reversing our fortunes.
Krishna Kumar
