It is nice to break my blog silence. Lot of cutting-edge research work in between. There is a lot of talk about 'Rally For Rivers' recently. I was doing my own research on whether whether this is really needed at this point of time or not. Here are my findings.
For those new to my blog, I have already touched upon in my blog the state of Noyyal river earlier very briefly:
Are our rivers really in that dire a state now?
A resounding 'Yes'! What we need to know are simple facts first:
- Our population at the time of Independence (1947) was about 30 Crores and we have about 120 crores now. So, that makes it a straight reduction of 25% of water available per capita compared to the 1947 levels.
- Add to that the fact that our rivers have been depleting steadily by 7% every year for the last few years.
- Add in the factor that most of our rivers are getting heavily polluted (Noyyal, Yamuna, Ganga are just the ones we know popularly of) year on year.
- We are already looking at less than 15% of consumable water per capita compared to 1947. It is expected to go down to 7% in another decade.
Why is this coming up as a problem now?
- This is a slow-ticking time-bomb we have been sitting on. Most such problems if not addressed before they reach the inflection point, will quickly escalate into mass catastrophes.
- Many farmer suicides in the country are happening due to the debt issue (a separate blog soon on it) but a lot of it is happening because there farms are become infertile. No soil quality, no reliable supply of water and public apathy have been the key causes for this.
- Did you know that nearly 90% of the water utilization in Tamilnadu is primarily for agricultural purpose? This is so right since the 1990s.
- The river water depletion problem has been around for decades. Small protests have been happening, like the effort to stop PepsiCo from exploiting the Thamirabarani river in Tamilnadu. But these had not reached the common man.
How did this come to light now?
- Multiple factors:
- Rising drought conditions in all the states
- Increasing farmer suicides between 2010 - 2017
- Lack of drinking water for common public in multiple states since 2016
- The Chennai floods in 2015 highlighted a serious lack of water management in a major metro in India. The level of rainfall in December 2015 was unprecedented for Chennai and yet the city was staring at an extremely dry summer from February 2016!
Can we all just not plant trees to resolve this problem?
- We are talking about planting thousands of acres of land per state in India. No single individual or NGO or even an enterprise can achieve such a massive afforestation now.
- Many NGOs and more importantly common public have to come together to first do the afforestation exercise. Also, proper care has to be given to the trees planted. It is not enough if we just plant and go. They will all dry up and the whole exercise would go wasted without proper maintenance.
- Complete support from the Government as a policy can only be the beginning of such an exercise. Without State & Central Government support, this would not work.
What is the solution being proposed?
- I went through the videos of 'Rally For Rivers' campaign. The first stage of awareness generation is in progress now. Watch this excellent video to first understand the magnitude of the problem:
- The second stage will be the implementation phase. Governments would have to bring in regulations to act on multiple fronts. Again, this video gives a clear outline of what needs to be done by the government on most of the fronts to address this issue.
- Briefly, the video talks about:
- plantation of trees near the primary river beds for a kilometer on each side
- plantation of trees near the primary tributaries for half-a kilometer on each side
- revenue generation using horticulture
- providing storage facilities for the tree products across the plantation areas
- change in food patterns
- Is this going to be a success? That's a billion dollar question and I do not know. But then, which mass movement has been a success if most people only question and not act? :)
- I trust the success of this initiative lies in getting people to first realize the problem. Most people would then change their way of looking at water sources completely. We have to move from exploitation to care & cooperation, not for the river's survival, but our own!
How do we even know this works?
- This is not the first time someone is proposing such a solution. On a smaller scale, it has been implemented successfully in multiple states in the USA. Look up the River Revitalization Foundation link that's shared in the references section.
- This has been successfully implemented in Russia as well.
- In fact, the twelfth five year plan by Indian Government has a lot of emphasis on Watershed development.
Do we really need a national rally for this purpose?
- Probably not! But how else can one spread the mass awareness among all states? No state comes together with another for cooperating, especially when it comes to rivers! It appears that a lot of national leaders, political / industrial / public persona, are seeing the logic behind the campaign and supporting it.
- Unless it is like a mass campaign movement, it is not going to move the Governments. Take the classic case of Jallikattu movement as an example. However, this is not a protest but a campaign to get the policy implemented.
Would this not impact industries and farmers?
- Farmers - possibly, yes. But if you have looked at the video, you will note that there are multiple recommendations for supporting the farming community. In fact, the policy notes that if properly implemented, it can increase the farmers' revenue multi-fold through this effort!
- Industries - Most likely, yes! Again, as a nation, it is time we all have to look at what works best for the country. Is it better for us to move a factory from a water source to a different place? Or is it better for us to die of thirst? Every sensible thinking person would make the right choice I trust. Of course, the Governments have to support such industries which relocate willingly and definitely punish the ones that do not. Public support is much needed on this front for the Governments.
Why do it near river beds? Can we not do this in our cities?
- Wherever such massive afforestation happens, the water levels will slowly raise and cause water streams over time (in less than 2 decades). If it is not near a water body, you will be creating new water bodies across places and will cause ecological disturbance.
- Did you know that the famous king Karikala Chola who built the Kallanai dam had actually done another brilliant thing? Not many noticed it but multiple Tamil literature sources point to Karikala having trees planted on both sides of the Cauvery bed. These trees helped prevent floods for a long time along the Cauvery river.
References:
These references are from various timelines just to indicate that the problem is not new. It is time for us to act together and get this done.
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