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We have come across many scenes where we find in different parts of the world there is acute shortage of water despite there being heavy rainfall during the rainy season. There are many reasons for this problem of water shortage amidst there being bountiful rainfall. This same problem repeats itself year after year in different parts of the world. This also makes the earth a hot place to live in as it raises the temperature of the earth especially in the cities where there are too many concrete structures which form a concrete jungle.
There is also less green lung left for the city to breathe well and the water resources to get recharged. In a matter of just 40 years our country has had to face this huge problem on a consistent basis. The kind of construction, urbanization and the increase in the density of population in the cities have all resulted in this situation. Let us see what are the solutions which can be offered to practically reverse this trend which has being going on for over a number of years.
Earlier the construction of houses and roads was done in such a way that water whenever it used to rain got absorbed in the earth thus recharging the groundwater and also helping in the drying up of the soil and the streets within a short span of time. This was possible as the houses had a garden with at least five big trees and lots of grass and plants also used to be there in each house. This had a huge impact in the overall weather in the cities as the temperature remained cool and one did not face ground water shortage. Wells were what were dug earlier and even they used to get recharged when it rained.
Water used during earlier times for purposes like washing, cleaning and other such purposes used to go straight into the ground that too helped to keep the ground watertable stable. Evaporation also did not take place at a fast pace and there was water available to water the plants and gardens too this again went into the ground and kept the temperature humid and moisture was there in the ground. The rainfall was also not so erratic as it is now. This problem is man made and again contributes to less ground water being their. The shade in the garden from the trees and the grass also played their role in retaining the humidity thus not much of evaporation took place due to this. This is what is needed now and laws have to be made and implemented to reverse the trend.
One of the biggest problem for the increase of water shortage is the massive increase in the population in the cities. Cities have grown exponentially and there is 360 degree growth. But the infrastructure which is required to take care of the population has not kept pace with the growth of the population this is putting pressure on the land and the resources like water which are available only for a few number of people. Governments have been slow to respond to the needs of the growth of the cities and permission has also been granted without any check for construction for the purpose of housing. As housing is required to be provided to all citizens of the country.
People have grown and have created increased pressure on limited land. The outcome of this is a construction of houses on plots and layouts without leaving any place around the house constructed which is required as per law. The number of law authorities for the purpose of inspection are less while the applications for the construction of houses are more. This lead to no proper checking taking place whether rules are being adhered to or not. Thus the owners constructed the houses on the complete plot leaving little or no land but only cement construction on the ground too. Due to this when it rains water was is not able to reach the ground and recharge. The trees in the plots were chopped too for the purpose of construction. Thus no water retention was possible and all the water being used and that from the ground also evaporated at a fast pace. There was no recharge of water taking place. The flow to the ground had been stopped.
One more major problem with that mentioned was that all the houses started drilling and laying borewells the depth of the borewells was more than what had been prescribed. This led to a pressure on the ground water. Earlier in the houses only one family used to stay but now in its place in the new constructions which were two or three storeyed a minimum 3 to 5 families started residing in the same plot. Water wastage was very high and people to consume the water from the borewell were more than what ideally should have been. This stretched the pressure on the borewell and the ground water in the city started to deplete to many meters below than what used to be there before. When it rained excess rain water started flowing into storm water drains to the main pipes to the tributaries and to the river and the seas finally at a fast pace. There was no possibility for a recharge. Now law has to be made and implemented to make rainwater pits mandatory at all such houses. Those who do not follow the same have to be penalized.
The wetlands and lakes in the city on which encroachments have been made have to be recovered. Spots of layouts should be left empty for the purpose of water to get recharged in the ground. If required borewells has to be closed and capped and people have to be told to dig wells and motors should not be allowed to be installed and water has to be rationed to each house hold depending on the individuals during the hot months. When the water shortage is heavy.
Lakes have to be desilted, so should be the dams too as over the period of time a lot of sand has gone inside the dam and reduced the storage level. The sand mafia which works round the clock and digs up lake beds and shores for sand and supply them for the purpose of house construction also have to be dealt with. Harsh punishments like long jail terms have to be introduced to deter these people from carrying out such work which is illegal and against the law.
Big places where land is available like schools, universities, government offices, courts and similar such places have to be made into the much needed lung spaces for the city. They can also be made to have large rain water harvesting pits which can recharge a substantial amount of rain water. Which will prove beneficial over the coming years. Those using excess water have to be fined and awareness has to be created on a mass scale about water conservation methods.
Massive tree plantation drive has to be undertaken and children and all elders of the society should be told to own a tree and it should be their responsibility to take care of the same. That will surely inculcate a sense of responsibility among the citizens over their contribution to also take part and play a role to reverse the trend which has gone from bad to worse. Audit of trees have to be conducted and those chopping trees should not be spared. Trees should be numbered and painted as they can be accounted easily.
New permission to construct multistoreyed complexes should be banned inside the city and permission given to them for such construction only on the outskirts of the city that too after they follow all the green norms which are to be followed by the builders. People who take undue amounts and do illegal work in the government departments should be removed from their jobs. This will serve as a deterrent to others who have set out on a wrong path in the process of making a fast buck. The nexus of builders, contractors, government workers who are not loyal should be broken so should be the back of the sand mafia. The outskirts of the cities should not be allowed to become like the city and preventive measures have to be taken to stop that from repeating again. Migration of the cities to the cities should be stopped by building satellite cities around the main cities. Thus pressure on the city of population gets reduced.
If the above suggestions are implemented at places in the world which are facing similar problems and the governments and civic bodies has a will to implement the rules then it is certainly possible to save the water on the planet which is the source of life on earth. As if there is no water there is every risk of having water wars and destruction of the human civilization from the face of the earth. Dear readers do you face water shortage in your area too? What can be done as per you to solve the issue? You can comment about it and express yourself.
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As time goes on, more and more people are using a lot of water and the resources becoming scarce. There should be remedies to the shortage or impending shortage of potable water. One is planting of trees, but in some areas, there are no more vacant lots to plant on, mostly were cemented. So the government should enforce tree planting in available areas and prevent illegal cutting of trees.
Water management should be efficient, and people should abide by the laws on water usage. It is best if they will recycle water.
Agree with your suggestions to tide over this problem faced in most cities in different parts of the world. What I find is the people are careless with their attitude. They all would like to complain about the governments and how they are not being provided water by the concerned authorities. But could not care less about their responsibilities as a citizen.
Government bodies too are lethargic in whatever they do and these people also come from the same society. The only thing is once they get elected the responsibility for which they have come has to be fulfilled which very few are able to do so. Majority of these members are the ones who do not care about the issue that is the sad part. Thank for the inputs.
I think this would be a wake-up call to every government in different states to save the available watershed. If not, we can never have bountiful water. A strict rule can be a good way to control the water pollution. It has been an old issue but still, the problem still exists. It can be better to educate the people to be aware of destroying the resources of the mother earth. The young generation will never enjoy the resources of the mother earth to survive.
Thanks for the feedback. Last year in the summer months it was a very bad situation in our country in many of the states. They had to start water trains to supply water to the places where there was sever water shortage. These people also had to subsist on one pot of water for one to two weeks in many places. It was so bad that at some of the places people started fighting for water. It was a desperate situation.
Governments do not seem to want to act against the people who are the trouble makers as they have to go to them every five years to seek votes and win elections. That is the reason they allow these problem to happen and sit and watch as the situation unfolds. In the end they panic when people get angry and do some patch up work to see that that particular year is done with. Then everything is forgotton conveniently till problem crops up the next year again.
Here in the city where we live, people buys the water they drink. That's because they want to make sure that the water they drink are safe and clean.
They have water on their faucets but they aren't sure if they are potable. Maybe we can but we have to boil them first before we drink them and that's tedious.
And that is the situation in the city where I work and also in the next town where we live.
But not in the hometown where my parents live. There, you can get water straight from the faucet and drink without getting sick. It is safe to drink and clean. It is also so forceful. They can open two faucets at the same time at the sink yet they both have lots of forceful water.
That's because the source of their water is from a spring that is being gathered in a cemented big container with a lid. This is always regularly cleaned and checked as to its cleanliness.
As to trees, our hometown have lots of them compared to the cities which like you said because of urbanization the trees were all nowhere to be found already. Although, it's a good thing now, that the mayor have already implemented the cleaning of the ditches so flood now is just in one place or two but not in the city proper anymore.
Even at our place here we are having to purchase water since the last year. As the water board releases drinking water every five to seven days. So we had to store it and use it carefully, but since some new pipeline works are taking place they have stopped supply and it comes once every 7 days. Hence we are forced to purchase water from outside.
Regarding the need for water for other purposes like washing, cleaning etc. We have a well since the past 35 years and we draw water from the same. Ours is the only house in the colony which has a well all others have borewell which is a technology which is being misused and abused by many. They dig borewells beyond the prescribed limit. While our house has a garden and water drains directly to the ground when it rains. With others it is not so as they have cemented the surface. Their logic is it is clean and looks neat and they do not have to maintain it as in the case of the garden which we have. Thanks for the information you shared.
water water is all what people need to start a life, its like magic and some people do not appreciate it, really uo feel bad when you see that, its like treature, wel all need to take care good about not to finish.
it is enough to say that more htan half weight the human is water, be careful with using it all of you
here in my country there is a problem with water. In all honesty i believe now they have somewhat gotten control of its usage. in the past communities would have been without water for months sometimes years. In my house in the past we went through the period where there would have been periodic lock offs of water. we had to juggle our work, school and collecting and storing water for our usage. it was really a stressful time for us as there were moments when we had to rush home so we could collect water before it was shut off. thank God we managed and pulled through without any major health issues.
recently in late november last year the second city receive 4 months of rainfall in one day according to the experts. the pictures and videos of the catastrophe was disheartening. today they are still cleaning up that area.
Thanks for participating in this debate. Happy to note that you could tide over the water crisis. In 2018 I have been observing the weather pattern it has become highly unpredictable and huge amount of financial loss has occurred all over the world some places have been flooded while others have heavy snow and some others have no water. Human lifestyle is responsible for this situation. Best wishes and regards.