The water levels in Chennai for the last few years have a pattern that strongly resembles certain political parties! Both of them are deteriorating, and fast. But, as much as we would like to blame the rain gods for the failed monsoon, we must remember an age old quote; God helps those who help themselves.
What this suggests in today’s context is that – instead of moaning about the lack of rain, let us pull up our socks and work towards saving water, which is more than what we can say about certain elected bodies that were supposed to make Tamil Nadu great again. Before coming up with my special range of oh-so-obvious type of solutions, let us move our eyes to the diamond of the continent of Africa – South Africa.
Decades of misuse of fresh water, a drastically increasing population and consistently deteriorating annual rainfall levels wreaked havoc in this country, and slowly, but steadily, dependence on the water table and freshwater sources, like lakes increased. As usage of this increased, the government gave vague warnings to the residents to stop excessive water usage. These requests, however, were ignored by the general public, which has resulted in extreme levels of water table deterioration.
Recently, in 2018, South African authorities had announced that Cape Town, a major city, had reached a point from where there was no turning back. The ‘Day-Zero’, where piped water would cease to exist, was looming upon them. For some reason, the Capetonians panicked. Water in the Cape Town market became something of a novelty. Prices of water suddenly soared, and water conservation measures were implemented on a massive scale. To the credit of the Capetonians, they did manage to postpone Day Zero by a whole year.
Many cynics, myself included, believe that the entire Day Zero announcement was a bunch of bilge that the authorities used to make the Capetonians work to conserve water. Well, if this was indeed the case, it worked.
Down south, in the Gateway of South India, authorities have acquired 2.75 MLD of freshwater from Vellore, and have asked for 10 MLD more. We, as citizens, however, cannot merely rely on this, and have to come up with conservation measures as well.
While allowing the authorities to handle the politics, here are a few things that we can do, to prevent Chennai from becoming a water critical city:
- Drips take away those drops: I’m sure a lot of you have heard those ‘dripping-taps-waste-1000 liters’ facts a billion times already. However, this cannot be limited to a mere facts. It means ACT. We cannot remain indifferent to the fact that these facts are what’s going to matter after a point. It is a fairly simple process. Check whether your taps are dripping, check whether your house has water harvesting measures that work. This will help in recharging groundwater levels, and, eventually, ensure that water scarcity steadily reduces. Remember, for every drop of water you waste, somewhere on earth someone is desperately looking for a drop of water!
- Economize, economize, economize: Limit the usage of water. The amount of water that we use is really excessive. I mean, let’s face it, we aren’t really thinking about water scarcity when we’re bathing. What I’m saying, however, is that we should. The more we think, the more we can save. Instead of using 15 minutes in the shower’s equivalent of water, use half a bucket of water. This will give you that extra bit of exercise as well! On a serious not, however, this can save up to 50 liters of water a day. You need not be an economist or a mathematician to work out the benefits of this.
- Innovation and you: The tagline of Koninklijke Philips N.V. perfectly captures the essence of what Chennai needs. Innovation. New thoughts, new ideas, new tools. There is, for instance, the sink-cum-flush. Here, there is a glass partition above the urinals, which acts as a sink. The water used for washing hands is used to flush the urinal. Such innovations can help infinitely.
- Knowledge is power: As citizens, we have a certain obligation to the region where we live. This means that spreading awareness regarding the water crisis, and solutions to the problem. This will ensure that the problem reaches the ears of an audience that would not normally have access to this awareness. A wider target audience means that water-saving measures are implemented on a larger scale.
Thousands have lived without love, but not one has lived without water. Let’s not be the first generation to prove it right.
Nisi Aquam; Nisi Terrae.
Amen.
Siddharth Aiyar completed a Creative Writing Course conducted by the Silver Tongue Academy Resource
