Water ... water.... water...

The best way to measure the effectiveness of any government is the way it treats, protects, saves, distributes and uses the most precious natural resource, Water. All our state Govts and Central Govt fail in this test of their effectiveness in dealing with Water. In fact the way the Govt leverages its natural resources is a clear indication of its care for the Nature in its jurisdiction.

Water woes and the business thriving on them are the best examples of the highest levels of selfishness and highly ineffective Governance. The following are the facts that substantiate this statement.

1. A person being a owner of a piece of land is not a owner of the highly dynamic water table that flows beneath his land and the atmosphere above his land.

2. Air, water, fire (energy), earth and space are the Nature's reflection of its form neither the man nor his elected government can have any right to abuse it. Yes the Govts elected by People shall have the right to use it in a natural way so that they are equally shared among all the needy.

3. Today in Hyderabad - for that matter - in all the areas where ground water levels have fallen so steeply.

4. The water scarcity gave rise to the most unscientific and ruthless business activity.

5. There is no way we can check the quality of water before it is sold and priced.

6. The tankers that are used are not subjected to the rules and regulations of weights and measurements Act.

7. With the government showing its utter inability to provide the basic need for water for its people who elected them, it has become dysfunctional.

8. The elected representatives of the Govt so far have done the greatest damage to the environment with their policies on village, town and country planning. They also indulged in occupying the naturally formed water bodies of all types. The Govts have allowed residential localities that create long stretches of concrete jungle that do not allow rain water to percolate.

9. We the people of India are responsible for our choice to live in residential layouts that do not allow even the natural light to enter - forget about the availability of water and drainage system.

10. In the name of development we allow the cutting of many trees and never ever bother to ensure a healthy proportion of green coverage for each KM radius of residential area.

The above are a few significant samples of our historical negligence that lead us to create the situation we are now in.

What is the way out?

Yes there is a way out at this juncture. This does need our concerted efforts at the individual level. We need to fix a quota of water for each person and fix a fool proof meter in each dwelling unit. The quota fixed shall be supplied by the govt / civic body at a nominal cost that covers the production and supply of water. Over and above the prescribed quota shall be charged double the cost.
There shall be an immediate allocation of fund for the supply of water for both drinking and regular use by the local civic body to be supported by the State and Central Govt with urgent actions plans with timelines and listing of persons responsible for.
Ruthless digging of bore wells shall be stopped in a phased and quick manner with timelines and the civic body of the locality shall take the responsibility of supplying water without any problem or interruption. The bores that were dug and are in use shall be sealed in a phased and quick manner with timelines by the Civic Body for future use if any.
The local civic body shall allocate land immediately to provide treatment of used water for re-use and such water shall be used for nurturing local greenery and cleaning purposes.
The local civic body shall create rain water harvesting system and recharge the ground at all levels, individual houses, apartments, commercial places and govt offices.

These are the immediate actions that shall be taken up on war footing basis.

Water is transparent any thing that is linked to water shall be transparent. It is only then we can call ourselves as people with commonsense. more