Remember that scene from an erstwhile Bollywood movie? A man sits on a khatiyan and takes bath; the water drips down to collect in a pot, kept below. Though unsaid, the water will be reused in the toilets. This, experts say will get worse.
Long back, my work would frequently take me to villages in Kachchh – Tal, Nakhatrana and many like them. In those villages, close to the life of the Kachchhi people, I saw water crisis, as never before. In here, where drinking water was supplied thrice a week, through tankers, you feel bad to waste even half a glass of water. I used to make it a point to carry a small plastic cup, which allowed me to take just enough water to quench my thirst. Stories of village women carrying water across miles of barren land are not new in this country. Scores of movies have been made; we have returned from the dark theatres resolving to do our bit. But have we?
I scold my son, when he keeps the tap open while brushing his teeth. The other day I realized that the tap in the sink was dripping for the last one month and I had not done anything about it. I just needed to call the plumber. But the drip had not become significant enough to be considered a crisis. The natural resources are dripping every day, thanks to our combined carelessness; and the drip is not insignificant any more. It is large enough to make ground water tables go down dangerously and international committees sound warnings about potable water getting scarce in the next 25 years. It is time to take notice and do our bit.
Hence, I was pleasantly surprised when told that a developing township in this city was actually incorporating green designs with an eye to future sustainability. Apart from aesthetical designs that did not overrule the functional pleasantness of natural elements – the right shade and angle of daylight or the airy openness of luxury living –the township was powered with solar powered street lights and instituted with appropriate means for collecting rainwater and recycling treated water. How green was that!
Any crisis can be faced in a unified, planned way. Since the looming scarcity of water is a global crisis, a unified action is needed. Choosing a sustainable lifestyle can be your way of saying yes to a greener life. What better inheritance can we give our children than a world class life where sustainability is the lifestyle?
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