“Water is H2O, hydrogen two parts oxygen one, but there is also a third thing that makes water and nobody knows what THAT is”: D.H.Lawrence.

As we have stated already, children are more aware of the drastic situation we face and are going to face in a world which undergoes incessant urbanization and the so-called development processes. Go through the realities portrayed by a 14 year old boy here and find the fathoms of the eeriness we create and experience today.  Of course, you can also drift along the nostalgic dreams with which he ends and reminds. Dear children, you must understand the gravity of the  ‘war for water’ that is going on in the world in which we live. And try to understand the words of the renowned American writer, beyond your Chemistry periods inside the class rooms.

SAVE  EVERY  DROP  OF  WATER

By   VISHAL. L.

“Water Water every where and not a drop to drink”. You must have heard of it my friends, but it is soon g oing to change to’ No Water any where, not a drop to drink.’

Water is the elixir of life. All living things starting from the micro-organisms to human being require water for their metabolism and survival. Fresh water is essential to our existence – it allows us to produce food, manufacture goods and sustain health. It is also essential part of the natural environment which supports all human, plant and animal life.

Global water consumption has risen almost tenfold since 1900 and various parts of the world,including many areas of Australia are now reaching the limits of their supply. World population is expected to increase by 45% in the next thirty years and the run off fresh water is expected to increaseby 10%.

One third of the world’s population is already facing problems of both water shortage and poor drinking water availability, which includes massive outbreaks of disease, malnourishment, and crop failure.

Of all water in the world, only 3% is fresh. Less than one third of 1% of this fresh water is available for human use. To put into another way, if 100 liters represent the worlds water, about half a tablespoon of it is fresh water available for our use. The impact of urbanization and globalization encourage excessive consumption of water. There are many hidden effects of excessive water consumption. Let me just list them for you.

a) Building more dams have severe environmental effects as they increase wilderness, creation of green house gases from rotting vegetation, they also alter stream flows, and degrade ecological health.

b) Degradation of water bodies: many of our rivers, wet lands, and bays are degraded. This is partly due to high levels of water extracted and polluted surface run off and storm water fleshed into them.

c) Industrialization changed the face of the world but the toxic wastes released from industries led to polluting our water bodies in turn causing damage to flora and fauna in the region, thus making water unfit for drinking which causes dreadful and epidemic diseases.

It is all too easy to blame someone else for the water situation. We each share the responsibility to sustain and manage our water resources, which means use…. less water at home, in the work place, at school, on holidays, on the farm.

Everyone…..every where……every time.

It is never too late to start something new, and I would like to tell you my friends that there are a few measures that we can take to reassess our relationship with water and learn to use it more sparingly. It requires a behavioral change, thus giving water the value it truly deserves. Let us spread awareness among the common man, look to methods to harvest rainwater thus preserving it for future generation. Our governments should put their efforts to see that proper effluent treatment plants are built in industrial areas. Rivers are linked to one another, thus enabling everyone to his or her share of water equally.

So my friends, just imagine an era without water…..how would our earth be then? No green grass, no beautiful flowers, no fluttering butterflies, chirping birds, not even a single living being —-Our earth will just be a barren land.

VISHAL.L. STD X B, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Kolazhi, Trichur.

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