Raising humanitarian conscience to protect water

By Amal HEWAVISSENTI

The population upsurge in the world which had previously enjoyed a higher level of balance has already begun to make the planet suffer irremediable damage.

The population which keeps on mounting at a terrific pace, has made water and food an unresolved issue.

In complete contrast, man living in the bosom of nature in the past had not least anticipated the grim possibility of acute scarcity of water which now begins to engulf the whole planet. When founding civilisations on river banks, the earlier man gave primacy to the water as he had sensed a great economic and cultural danger in the absence of water.

Most notably, the global warming has been responsible for huge masses of glacier being melted into rushes of water increasing temperature paves the way for totally negative environmental transformations seen since the origin of earth. The rising threat of climatic change from the overheating of the atmosphere is already a cause of widespread fear. The climatic change clearly indicates major abnormalities in the rain fall that does not occur when people expect it most and occurs when it is least needed.

It is generally accepted that water accounts for not less than seventy-five percent of the globe's surface. International calculations spell out an acute shortage of potable water for almost one fifth of the world population. Therefore, a threatening situation in which man witnesses a total inadequacy of drinking water looms ahead.

Experts on the subject concern themselves with the reality that the urban population of the world is bound to exceed 6.3 billion by the year 2050 and the supply of pure water has thus become really a formidable task.

There is also a growing anxiety that the shortage of potable or pure water (for drinking and sanitary purposes) is definite to bring about very serious global crisis.

This is because the supply of pure water daily for six billion people for varied purposes will prove an incredibly difficult project against the fast decreasing water springs.

The international community has duly ascribed paramount importance to water management. There is an ever increasing awareness that man will soon plunge into a greater disaster in the face of severe scarcity of water and water is the most precious resource that remains on earth.

The plight

The global water development report issued by the United Nations Organisation brings to light the unimaginable crisis faced by world population with regard to water that is clean and safe for drinking. The report claims that water poisoning accounts for some staggering fourteen-thousand people dying daily around the globe. This is totally tragic as enormous quantity of safe water in certain regions goes to sheer waster while people in other regions are forced to die of diseases produced by unsafe water.

The report offers a vivid picture of the darker aspects of life inevitably parented by shortage of water that is serious enough to the point of a approaching a global crisis. As it illustrates the plight of communities, most women and girls in areas struck by severe water deficiency waster a large chunk of time equivalent to almost 200 million working hours! Out of the fourteen thousand people who die of lack of water and water poisoning, eleven thousand are small children - to add to the tragedy.

Good news

The global community has begun to display an unprecedented enthusiasm to purify the existing water and distribute it among public struck by water scarcity. Countries such as Singapore, Israel and America have already launched projects to purify water and distribute it among the public. The governments of the respective countries particularly countries in the Middle East spend a fair amount of money for this worthy cause.

Many countries have adopted measures to allocate funds for the projects of purifying unclean water and it is reported that people of Israel take particular care to handle water economically and sensibly. It is interesting to note that severe scarcity of water has noticeably reduced man's tendency to use water unscrupulously. This means that communities around the world have ultimately realised the urgent need to preserve the water distributed to them by government authorities. Yet this economical use of water is largely observed among rural communities.

Reports on water management show that people living in urban areas are not careful with water so distributed to them but they show a tendency to waste about forty percent of water distributed by government. Finally the clean water made safe by government funds is somehow wasted and is least used for human consumption. To avert the destructive circumstances, some countries have got together to establish a fund for water conservation.

International organisations have now reached formal agreements or pacts on safeguarding natural water springs and other sources. Financial institutions in many countries have offered to issue certain forms of loans to facilitate supply of water for people affected. This is assuredly good news powerful enough to raise environmental conscience.

America and India are experiencing the most disastrous drought that has virtually laid waste cultivations. It is predicted that a widespread drought will be responsible for an economic deadlock in many countries. Already the United Nations Organisation has warned America of the danger of exploiting agricultural crops to produce Ethanol. The UNO further predicts a food crisis even in developed countries.

The natural machinery which provides water for the world is totally irregular at present. Heavy downpours have inflicted heavy damage on people and property in many countries in 2011.

Lack of rain, on the other hand, has destroyed life of agriculture and has brought about serious economic recessions.

Japan and America record the highest consumption of water which is approximately 370 litres per person for a day. The researchers concerning water management indicate that water from rivers, wells, tanks and other natural springs is used for agriculture. The amount is 93 percent of pure water from these sources. This shows that pure water that can otherwise be used for drinking purposes is exploited for agricultural pursuits.

Moreover, there are large rivers and other waterways that are shared by many countries without a fixed legal agreement over the common use. It is feared that this joint use of water might lead to a large scale crisis among nations and therefore, pave the way for a third world war. But this time, it will be solely for water.