Combating water crisis

If we are concerned with facing the much-talked-about water crisis across the country in general and Karnataka State in particular, we have to explore the few options in combating the problem. The clinching point of the matter is that the party creating the crisis and the party that has to take up the task of combating the crisis are the same — the people that make policies and do nothing further in the area of implementing the doubtless adorable policies, not to forget the boundless contribution of the water-dependent masses marked by their profligate consumption of the matchless gift of nature unmindful of the consequences of looking the other way even when made aware of the long-term benefits of conserving water from all sources —lakes, rivers, wells, ponds and below the ground level. The added sin being committed by the land’s masses is polluting, which is unpardonable.

The facility of providing piped water within the dwellings of urbanites seems to have been taken for granted. With the wells that were captive to most households now gone, even pressing panic buttons doesn’t help when the tap(s) goes dry with air gushing, making the unwelcome hissing sound.

Mysureans, in the august company of the 130-or-there-about lakh residents of Bengaluru, seem to have got used to announcements of rapidly dipping water levels in the main reservoirs, summer after summer, blared in the dailies including this, pushing them into a zone of complacency. That false sense of guaranteed supply of water in usual quantity, making them to be totally blind to the imperative of care and caution in consuming water only to meet essential needs is the crux of the crisis situation. But, the game of hearing from the authorities about the impending scarcity of water and not bothering in the least cannot go on for all time in future.

As appropriately stated by a keen observer, it is not technology alone but the eco-system, including government, society and market, within which it is placed that enables finding solutions to cracking problems. In this context, the work of a start-up in developing a process to convert waste-water from a conventional sewage treatment plant to potable drinking water, costing 60 rupees a kilo-litre should exhort many more such advances. Yet, conserving available water remains a top priority.