World Water Day: Global water crisis looming, high time we introspect and change our attitude
In recognition of the importance of fresh water and sustainable management of this valuable resource, World Water Day takes place each year on March 22 to raise public awareness.
Life cannot exist without water, which is one of the earth’s essential elements. A living being like a human, animal or plant is impossible without water. Therefore, it is rightly said that “Water is life”. Human life, however, is facing some questionable situations such as acute water shortages due to over consumption, industrialization, and overuse of natural resources.In recognition of the importance of fresh water and sustainable management of this valuable resource, World Water Day takes place each year on March 22 to raise public awareness. ‘Groundwater: Making The Invisible Visible’ is the theme for this year’s World Water Day.
People across the world need to change their attitude towards water. “In the time of increasing population growth and climate change, the World Water Day has become even more relevant. It has been over 5 years since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 6 highlights ensuring availability and sustainable management of water for all but how much has been achieved in this direction? With looming water crisis worldwide, it is high time that we introspect and change our attitude towards water. Even though this is necessary, there is great potential in focusing on the ‘demand side’ – working with rural communities to be more water-efficient and partnering with like-minded partners to provide water to the people.” said Pearl Tiwari, Director & CEO, Ambuja Cement Foundation.
Also, lots of water get wasted in activities like washing of clothes, utensils, vehicles etc. Nitin Sharma, Founder of GoWaterLess said that “Trillions of water is wasted on vehicle wash. Urbanites seem to demand RO Water even for bathing. People don’t get clean water for their daily usages. Especially during Summer, water crisis is a big issue in many parts of India. World Water Day spreads the message of utilizing it wisely. Understanding the importance of water to the core after experiencing an acute water crisis at my family business of automobiles – I decided to innovate a substitute and something which has a finishing touch too. Modern world is formed in a way that Water is easily accessible and people don’t have to travel far to have it and hence no one values it. Even now in many parts of country people have to travel many kilometers for their daily necessities. We can change the system by re-building our needs. If cities will negotiate with smart usage in water management – villages will not face droughts.”
According to one estimate, a mere 5-10% improvement in water efficiency would be enough to meet the drinking water needs in the country. But much of the strategy to address the impending water crisis has focused on only the ‘supply side’ – To keep pace with India’s population growth, large infrastructure projects will be necessary to harvest or tap into more and more.