Water crisis is a reality in most of India. After the summer of droughts come the monsoon floods. Take Maharashtra, for instance. If at one time it is desperately searching for drinking water, at another time, its capital, Mumbai is wading through knee-high water. How do we overcome these annual crises? Unfortunately, the answers are not so easy to find.
The most common solutions suggested include rain water harvesting, groundwater recharge, efficient use of water at domestic, industrial and farm level and recycling and reusing water. Then, there are the solutions suggested to curb wastage of water in agriculture--crop rotation or replacement, usage of sprinklers and drip irrigation, laser-levelling the land and no free electricity to farmers to control its consumption. Though these suggestions do the rounds every year, not much has materialised on the ground to mitigate the crisis. When the drinking water crisis escalates in hot summer months, particularly in urban areas, the cries get louder. The problem is forgotten when the monsoon arrives.
In a news report appeared on The Tribune on May 1, 2016 titled Water Wars, a very gloomy, yet factual picture was painted about the ongoing crisis. A pertinent question was raised at the end of it--What have we done to conserve and preserve water?
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