In today’s world, water is the most undervalued resource on the planet and is indeed, the most precious. It is an irony that most of us simply are unable to fathom the depth of an impending water scarcity crisis if sustained efforts are not taken now. And it is of greater concern to see that most of the world’s population goes about their daily duties and activities without any thought or concern for this beautiful and most essential commodity that we have on this planet.
Although most of the earth’s surface is covered with water in the form of oceans, fresh water forms just three percent of all of the earth’s water. Of this three percent, about 2% is locked up as glaciers in the Polar Regions. So that leaves just about 1% of the world’s total water resource as surface water and underground aquifers. With ever increasing human population how is it possible without proper planning and thought to ensure clean water is supplied to the maximum persons? It is also to be noted that water availability is skewed. In India and Africa, per capita water availability is much lower than in Western nations.
Water management forms the pivot of almost all activities of Siruthuli. Over the past 17 years we have desilted 12 Lakes and 14 village ponds in the vicinity of Coimbatore City. Cleaning up involves removing the excess silt that has accumulated over the years and in fact even using some of this silt for strengthening the bunds. In some of the larger tanks like Ukkudam Tank, artificial islands have been created in the middle of the tanks to provide a habitat for birds and plants.
The second part of prudent water management is treatment of sewage and drainage. For most part, it involves technical inputs and incurs huge costs which cannot be borne by individuals or associations and therefore the role of the government administration is essential for scientific wastewater treatment.
Garbage and other solid wastes can be seen with the naked eye and almost always evokes a sense of disgust and anger in citizens. But waste water, this insidious poison is hardly visible. Lakes like Valankulam in Coimbatore look very pristine and beautiful while in fact the water is highly contaminated and totally unfit for any useful purpose whatsoever! A study of underground water in Vellalore , Coimbatore, has established that the water is contaminated with heavy metals and other pollutants.
At the individual level, we can opt for limited or no chemical cleansers in our homes and offices. Natural cleansers such as bio enzymes and the humble ash go a long way in reducing the use of harsh household cleaning agents. Soap nuts and lime are very simple but effective cleansers for utensils and laundry and treating waste water from such eco friendly households is very simple. A Soak pit will do a good job of removing the contaminants.
Eventually, the solution to most of our environment concerns lie with us. It is well within our hands to make a difference whether positive or negative. Once we agree on this basic premise, it then becomes very easy to be the agents of change.
– Vanitha Mohan
