Now there is no room for debate as the water crisis is continuously increasing in the country. This has become the biggest problem in Bengaluru, which is called the Silicon City of India and a situation has arisen there exactly like the one in Copenhagen, where water was sold in ratio. Actually, we never developed any understanding towards water, air and soil. But now when the situation has started worsening, our debate has started. Water is essential for us, there is no question about it. Life is not possible without water. It is necessary to drink two to three liters of water every day. Apart from that, every person requires 135 liters of water. But more than 3.5 crore people are living without water in this country today and our need is increasing day by day. We exploit about 812 crore liters of water every day. In such a situation, the question also arises that what is our water availability.
When India became independent in 1947, 5,000 cubic meters of water was available per person. Between 2021 and 2031, it will fall from 1,486 to 1,367 cubic meters. This means that with such low availability we are in water crisis. It is also worrying that the less water is available, the more it will become polluted. Of the 4,000 billion cubic meters of water that we get due to rain, we are able to use only 1,100 cubic meters of it. 70 percent of the water in our country has been found unfit for use. This is the reason why the business of bottled water is continuously increasing. Keep in mind, for every one liter water bottle, three liters of water is wasted and the bottles are also creating plastic pollution.
When large quantities of used dirty water goes into rivers, reservoirs or other water bodies, it will give rise to many diseases. In the year 2019, about 23 lakh people became victims of untimely death. When the population in cities is increasing at the rate of 17 percent, then the demand for water will also increase accordingly and the water will also get polluted. A better economy is possible only when our ecology is also strong. Today perhaps there is no state where water crisis does not arise in some form or the other. Earlier there used to be 1,200 to 1,500 mm rainfall in Bihar, which has now reduced to 800 mm. There is also the question of how much water we conserve. There are about 18 districts in this state which are in the grip of arsenic pollution. A major reason behind water pollution here is the drains and domestic dirty water, which directly flows into rivers and other water bodies. Forest area is also less in Bihar. There are definitely rivers here, but there are no forests to irrigate them. There is only 2.3 percent forest in Haryana. Decreasing ground water level has become a big problem here.
Monsoon is the biggest source of water in our country. There are questions regarding the arrangement for storing it. Programs like Catch the Rain, Amritsarovar indicate that the government has become serious on this. But there is no proper activity at the state level. It is certain that if we do not come together collectively in the coming times, the crisis will deepen. We need such prosperity which, apart from development, also has air, water and soil because life runs more on needs than on facilities. Water is not only a necessity, it is connected to our lives. For this, the initiative of all of us is necessary, otherwise in the coming time, whether the country or the world, everyone will have to go thirsty. The most important thing is that we also understand the path of nature according to which we all got water. This means that the source of water and our settlement used to be together earlier. Wherever there were rivers or water bodies, there were our settlements because water fulfilled our every need. Be it civilization like farming or all our other activities related to water, easy availability of water was the biggest basis of our settlement. Whatever kind of civilization it was, it revolved around rivers, ponds and ponds. Nature had the biggest role in these. But ever since man started contributing his share, a major part of which was related to his own profit and comfort, water started leaving us.
Now see, today in our multi-storey buildings growing like forests, we carry water to the top by piercing the chest of the earth. But all over the world and in our country too, be it Delhi or Chennai or other big cities, underground water is continuously decreasing. This has also become the biggest reason why today we are facing water crisis situation everywhere, be it city or village. The problem of the village is that the water in the ponds or wells in the village has reduced and the lack of forests has dried up all types of water sources. Be it the streams of the Himalayas or the deep ditches, the ponds or wells of the plains, all of them, in some form or the other, are facing water scarcity today. That’s why we need a fresh discussion on water.
This national discussion should not be limited only between the governments, it requires the involvement of home, village and city and every individual because it should be decided from here that we decide on our limited needs on one hand and on the other hand how we You can store water in your home, village or city, for which Lord Indra always appears among us every year. This is the only way we can save ourselves from water crisis, otherwise the way water is decreasing will destroy us. We have to understand that the time to remain complacent about water has long passed. Now we do not have any excuse, carelessness or chance to make mistakes. Therefore, it is necessary for us to unite and become active regarding water as soon as possible. Along with water, we should also be conscious about air, soil, forests, mountains etc. This should be the resolution of all of us on the occasion of World Water Day.
(These are the personal views of the author.)