The Hindu Business Line : Conserve water

In the backdrop of water disputes snowballing into major crisis between States and countries, proper management of water has gained significance. It is said that the next war will be fought over water. Hence it is time everybody made serious efforts to save water and use it in more prudently, thereby averting a catastrophe.

Our forefathers had long-term vision and accordingly dug huge tanks in all villages to provide drinking water, not only for human use, but for tired animals too. Such water resources also helped enrich the ground-water level. The present reality is different, with many out to make a fast buck by digging borewells everywhere for commercial and short-term gains.

Also, we find that in cities, people waste a lot of water just to clean the ground in front of their houses or using up several buckets to wash vehicles, while in the villages, people walk miles just to get a pot of drinking water.

In the multi-storied apartment buildings there is often little control over water use. As the water bill is shared by all, people have a tendency to over-spend! In olden days, when people used water drawn with difficulty from wells, the water use was much less. Now, when the precious resource flows freely from a tap, its use, as well as waste, have gone up manifold.

There should be nationwide awareness programmes, more so for city-dwellers, on the effective management of water.

B.N. Bharath

Virajpet

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