Thursday, June 18, 2009

Burning Issue - Water

Here comes a reason i.e. prevailing water scarcity in Malwa Region that inspires me to write my very first blog. I must say in the very beginning that, bear with my writings as I am not a good writer. This blog has been posted to let people know how hard is this summer for the Malwa Region to find water (now for those who do not know, I must tell that the region includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Dewas, Dhar, Indore, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajgarh, Ratlam, Shajapur ,Ujjain , and the Rajasthan districts of Jhalawad and the parts of Banswada and Chittorgarh ) and the possible reasons behind it. The region, earlier known for ‘Dag-Dag Roti, Pag-Pag Neer’ is struggling hard to fulfill the daily requirements of the residents.

I will tell you some examples that will depict the seriousness of the problem:

· The interval between consecutive water supply is now increased to 7 days i.e. if you are not in the city the day the water is supplied, then do not come for another week J. The day is now celebrated as the ‘WATER DAY’ in the city. :)

· The water is being supplied through tankers to the city and now the tanker drivers are like GOD to the residents. They come at whatever time they want or better to say when they get water because they sometimes bring the water from a distance of 35 – 40 km.

· Last time when I was finished with the water task it was 3 A.M. Itna to mai exam me bhi nahi jaagta hu, ask my roomie :P.

· You will be shocked to know that there have been murder cases also, the reason being water. The quibbles and disagreements are the things that you find everywhere.

· And the list is endless….

So, coming back to the issue, The water scarcity in the Malwa region is an exigent issue and the possible reasons are the erratic pattern of rainfall in the last 5-10 years (this can be associated with the global climate change to some extent), and the unlimited exploitation of ground water. I am not going to make a list and convert this blog in an essay :) but these were the two important reasons to be mentioned.

However, I would like to add a very important reason to the list i.e. Lack of awareness and Negligence by the Local Administration.

Despite knowing the fact that there was very little rainfall in the year 2008 and the dams and the local reservoirs will not serve till the next rain, the local administration did not take any step to provide the water supply to the residents of the city. Earlier the water was supplied on daily basis, but in 2008 it was supplied alternate days which is now increased to an interval of a whopping 7 days. It is very easy to calculate how long the water will last in the Gambhir Dam, but at the inchoate stage, it was not taken care of.

Also once the water crisis started to accrue, the applications of boring wells and deep wells proliferated, and all the applications were approved without thinking it’s awful effect on the Water Table.

As an information, I would like to share that the proposal for bringing the water to Ujjain from a distance of 24 km form Amlavada Bika Dam has been approved and now that dam is also at verge of drying. It is facing channel cutting and it is believed that it can only provide water for 3 -4 water supplies to the city.

The only good thing that happened in the city is the Roof Water Harvesting and the awareness aroused by this water inadequacy.

Now the only hope for us is the Monsoon, which is again delayed by 7 more days and is expected to hit the region by 24th June.

17 comments:

  1. To,
    Mr. Sudershan Gangrade,
    Environmental Engg.,

    I am really inspired by your thought provoking ideas and research over water scarcity, keep up the good work, hope you inspire people through your infinite Knowledge,

    Keep up the good work,

    Best of luck,

    Regards,
    Vasu Gangrade,
    Mining Engineer

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  2. Hey bhai,,,

    ab desi style main comment,,,

    dhaasu likha hain yaar,,

    likhte raho,, mast raho,,,

    hod ko bhi padwana

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  3. gr8

    really provoking thoughts.....
    seems to be sincere environmentalist

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  4. Good work bro. you proved that you are a worthy environmentalist.I fully empathize with your thoughts.Keep it up.Keep blogging

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  5. insightful and disturbing at the same time !! :(

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  6. Hi Sudershan,

    Gud to see the Blog written by you always first initiatives taken arefinally the successful ventures.God Bless and hope your efforts as environmentalists can brings wonders for all of us.

    regards Ruchika

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  7. Thanks a lot to everyone for the appreciation.
    The blog has also been appreciated by my immediate project supervisor Mr. Daniel Matz, along with whom I work on the project titled "Addressing the Water Crisis in Rural India " an initiative of Clemson University, South Carolina, USA,and is now a post on his blog which gives the details about the project.http://dansindiablog2009.blogspot.com/

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  8. nice post buddy,
    you have really raised a serious problem.
    I fully agree with your thoughts.
    keep posting.

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  9. Great effort dear!!!
    After reading this blog, even if a single person becomes aware and stops using water lavishly, that would be a great achievement for all of us...

    gud work :)

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  10. Hi sudershan,

    Nice thoughts and a gr8 work.A person who has really faced the water crises can write such provoking thoughts.keep posting...

    Regards
    Neha

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  11. its srsly a big crisis...nd uv highlighted the main issue very effectively...we all need to use our resources sparingly...
    welcome to blogger...nd keep writing...

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  12. now a dys this is an burning issue,,,,each person reading this blog will imagine the scarcity of water...the value of water,,mansoon is the remedy for this....i appreciate this blog...pl keep it up

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  13. i m proud of u my brother that as a good environmental engineer u really raised a burning issue ...well those who face problems themselves they only can show the reality to the world....its really inspiring blog ....i wud like to suggest something ...now as u have raised a problem u shud try to provide some solutions also ....i request u to add some water saving techniques which one can follow starting from their own homes ....as u r an environmental engineer i knw u must b having a lot of knowledge regarding water saving....plz share it with others so those who read ur blog at least they will build up a community to start these techniques nd this is the only way we may expect that in future we will not face this problem....keep it up ...u r really doing a nice work .....

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  14. Very serious issue you have raised here...kudos.

    I would like to add a bit of info here if I may. Last winter, I had the opportunity to meet Shree Padre who is an eminent water conservationist in the southern parts of India. He had pointed out that India receives ample rainfall to actually serve the entire nation. Unfortunately, most of it is not harvested or stored meaning the water eventually drains into the sea. You have very rightly pointed out the Rain water harvesting on terraces being a very viable option and hopefully the people in the region are embracing the concept. The other obvious shortcoming is that this "ample" rain is not well-distributed leading to floods in some areas while others suffer from water shortages as you mention.

    One point which Shree Padre raised and which I think everyone of us will do well to follow is that "we should not allow even a single drop of fresh water to reach the ocean without it having catered to at least one human need (washing, bathing, drinking, etc)". If we can follow this, we shall go a long way in solving the water crisis.

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  15. well i have faced the problem myself(when i was in ujjain), and i can tell you that it is not pretty....gud work yaar of taking the pains to jot down the whole issue and letting the nation know about the value of fresh water..!! keep going..

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  16. RESPECTED SIR,
    this issue u raised is really a most important one.this is the first time i have read any blog fully n i m surely impressed by it.it just reminds if of my last holidays at my uncles home ther we have to wake up early in the morning and to walk hail a miles away just to get few buckets of water very priceless at that time although it was a little bit fun to me but surely pain for others who have walk 1 to 2 kms to get water.that was my story but let me remind u about water conservation and lake widing movement this year at bhopal when the pride of bhopal the upper lake dried up then people of bhopal came up and joined hands to save lake.they widing it up and many colonies got every house fitted with water harvesting system, they were plays everywhere.so i just wanno say that plz do write about what we can do to protect water our life .sir keep on writing this is what will help in bringing change becoz change is future.
    regards,
    Mohit Jain,
    Mechanical Eng

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  17. What's the latest news Sudershan?
    Looking to hear more.
    Rhonda
    Geoscientists Without Borders

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