Water conservation,a national imperative

The scorching heat being experienced currently in many parts of India has turned the spotlight on the crucial role of water in sustaining and nurturing life on this planet. Over the last several months, many of our cities have been experiencing severe water stress and difficulty in accessing this most precious resource. While Bengaluru, being the tech capital of the country has been much in the media headlines, surely many other lesser known cities are facing stress too. Beyond India, this problem exists in many other parts of the world, in some cases with greater severity.

Governments in India at the national, state, and local levels are increasingly working to address this escalating challenge with a multi-pronged approach. However, local governments, both urban and rural, could have a pivotal role in enabling water security in our cities and the hinterland. Conservation or ‘the responsible use of natural resources’ is the key in the current context. One finds it saddening that several parts of the country experience excruciating water scarcity in some months of the years, while in other months, they experience heavy flooding with much loss of lives (human and cattle), and property, often destroying livelihoods. Therefore obviously rainwater harvesting to capture and replenish groundwater is a crying need. Many urban local bodies have made it mandatory and are even incentivizing it through measures like property tax rebates. Another measure to regulate usage could be to meter and bill water supply at the individual household level. While all citizens would want to rationalize water use, they can do it only if they can measure it. With household level metering, households can know the exact usage in a month compared to previous months and work to cut consumption. They will also save on water bills (like electricity bills) this way. Such metering could be possible if the building plans to be approved by ULBs were to mandate such meters at building stage itself. Several other measures could be put in place whether by mandate or by incentivizing stakeholders.

However, the greatest thrust by our ULBs must be on creating awareness among citizens. This is happening in many ways but needs to be intensified. Moreover, the awareness is being created by small citizen groups on social media through some innovative messages. Our local governments must take up this activity – social media campaign – in a forceful manner. It is surely a very powerful, inexpensive, yet sure way of reaching millions of citizens instantly. Use of celebrities like sportspersons to support a ‘save water’ campaign will increase the appeal of these messages.

Climate change, global warming and other environmental impacts have made rainfall unpredictable, uneven, and inadequate. Given that our nation is greatly dependent on rainfall to recharge groundwater and replenish the rivers, lakes and other water bodies, our water security is at much risk. While global efforts are on to address and mitigate climate change and its impacts, these will take time to fructify and result in a more benign environment. Till then water conservation and preservation is crucial in order to preserve life on this planet. This issue of Urban Update carries several pieces by experts on this subject which is vital for the well-being of humankind. We trust readers will find it of value.