Vanishing Lakes of India - I Thought I saw A Lake there 4 years ago!

It's summer time and our throats are running dry. Living in a country that greatly depends on the monsoon for its water requirements, we've got to act smart when it comes to saving this precious resource. More often than not, we tend to be the people who tend to feel the heat only when we're devoid of something and the same is the case with water.

I had already mentioned about the reckless usage of water in one of my previous post and today I have something to share, that is even more alarming - the story of the vanishing lakes of India.

Our national anthem portrays our country to be a paradise on earth with its description of the wonderful serene landscape of India. Today, we've come to a situation where we doubt if this is the same India which was being talked about. Wondering why?

Here's a simple stat. In our very own Bangalore, there were more than 250+ water bodies which ensured that Bangalore wasn't dry at any point of time. But today, the number has fallen by almost 500% to around 50+. Can you imagine the impact of that drastic drop?

The corporation always has answers to our questions. They claim to have a whopping 900 crore lake conservation project to save the little that this urban jungle has to boast about.

What's the mystery behind the vanishing lakes of India? It's pretty simple. The residential towers, parks and townships that we see today were all lakes once upon a time! If this is the case with lakes that dry up, the ones that are filled are not spared either. They are blessed with sewage and toxic contaminants which ensure that they become one of those ugly useless pond which is eventually useful for absolutely nothing and slowly vanish .

Wake up India ! We still believe that ONE CAN CHANGE!

Save Water Before It Fails to Save You!

'Save water' is too cliched. We have heard it a thousand times now but we don't seem to care much about it. Just imagine a day when you shall not have a drop of water for your umpteen numbers of needs. Won't life come to a standstill? In life, we understand the importance of something only when we are deprived of it and in future, the same could be the case with water!

Chennai is estimated to have a population of 12 crore people by the end of 2020. We currently possess a shortage of around 12% which is bound to grow to 20% within ten years. These are alarming numbers considering the impact it would have on millions of people.

The need of the hour is trying to optimize our usage of water and find alternate ways of protecting it. We are one of the blessed nations which receives rainfall which covers the entire nation, yet we struggle to meet the demands of every citizen. Have you ever wondered why? Let  me give you a simple example. Your body has numerous veins and arteries that carry blood to and from all the parts of the body. Have you ever thought what will happen if your veins or arteries get choked? You will collapse! That's exactly the scenario with India and its numerous rivers.  The vital arteries which carry water through thousands of cities, villages and towns are getting choked. As a result we do not have enough of fresh water sources where we can fall back on even during the times of adequate rainfall. Be it the Ganga or Yamuna in the north or the Palar and Coovum in the south , rivers and water bodies are being brutally exploited. Encroachments along water bodies are cropping up by the day. We are sucking up our ground water at a massive rate. We are not bothered about tomorrow at all!

The youth play a major role in any step that this country takes and it is certainly in our hands to tackle this crisis. Here are a few steps that we could take:-

• Persist your mom or dad to change those leaking taps in the house or sacrifice a meal at McD or KFC to change them. After all, they are worth every penny that you spend on repairing / changing them.
• Avoid showering to the maximum extent possible. Using buckets to bathe could save anywhere between 5-6 liters everyday. That is the amount of water which a small town could probably use in a day!

There are a lot of things that you could do other than these two steps to save water. Raise an alarm to the authorities when you find the government's water tankers literally washing the road with their leaks tanks. Make sure sufficient water seeps into the ground during rain . If each one of ensures this happens around our houses, we could go a long way in enhancing the health of the ground water system.

Let's take a pledge to save water and most importantly, protect the water bodies. Let's reduce our talking and increase our actions! Because we believe that ONE CAN CHANGE!