Minor changes to how we consume this precious resource can prepare us for the catastrophe at our doorsteps
We should slowly train children to stop taking water for granted. They need to learn that there may not be much of it around when they hit puberty, so why not start now? Representation pic
Why does the BMC issue the same press releases every other year during the months of February, March, April, or May, informing us all about the possibility of water cuts? They may not do it for each of those months, but the notices seem to appear in most newspapers like clockwork nonetheless, asking us all to be prepared, as if we aren’t primed to function with less water than most other people on the planet. Prepare for a 20 per cent cut this time, they say, or a 15 per cent cut, their numbers thrown out as if at random, with as little meaning for the common man as those predictions of rain from the meteorological department.
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Water cuts in our city are as common as MPs with criminal histories, which is why I find no need for these notifications. We know they are inevitable, and all we can do is pray, like our parents and their parents did, for enough rain in catchment areas to sustain us for just another year until the next set of water cuts is announced.
Everyone knows about water scarcity, and how we don’t have equal access to it. Some of us do and like to pretend that the millions outside our tall buildings do as well, but we also carefully put the poor out of our minds before we fall asleep every night. Yes, it may be a fundamental and human right, etc., but since when did we turn into one of those countries that respected such rights? Ours has always been a country devoted to accepting things and moving on or pretending that something simply didn’t happen. This is also why no government in Maharashtra’s history has been able to put measures into place to make sure we have taps that run smoothly right through the year. This refers to urban centres alone, obviously, because everyone knows taps in rural Maharashtra are largely for ornamental purposes.
To be fair, it’s not as if they aren’t trying, because even making the right noises counts as some measure of effort. We have all heard of some mythical desalination plant project that has been likely to begin every year since we were teenagers. I predict a report this time next year, too, about how it is likely to begin that year. Apparently, Bombay has a demand for 4,400 million litres per day (MLD), of which the BMC can only supply around 3,800 MLD. That shortfall of around 600 MLD has been rising for decades now and will presumably continue to do so as the world gets hotter, and our groundwater resources get smaller.
Speaking of groundwater, lakhs of litres have been illegally extracted daily for years now, but we obviously have no idea how to stop this or put controlling measures into place. Cynics would probably presume the existence of some tie between officials and those in charge of water tankers, but that is too farfetched a notion to waste on these valuable column centimetres.
I would propose a committee or scheme to address this crisis but realise there have been multiple committees and schemes put into place for decades, one for each successive government in charge of this portfolio. It’s why I believe we should take matters into our own hands and make changes to the way we live, instead of waiting for the government to step in and find a solution.
So, this is what I propose: We drink less water, bathe once a week or so, and use it only for important occasions such as festivals. We can also stop serving it to guests, train animals to consume less of it, and slowly train children to stop taking it for granted. They need to learn that there may not be much of it around when they hit puberty, so why not start now?
The nicest thing about global warming is how it may help us solve this crisis once and for all. According to Geophysical Research Letters, a semi-monthly peer reviewed scientific journal published by the American Geophysical Union, Bombay is sinking by an average of 2 mm annually, thanks to global warming, mining, infrastructure projects, groundwater extraction, reclamation of natural wetlands, and ecological disturbances that are all leading to land subsidence. If this happens, and we really are sinking into the sea, there may soon be more water around us than we know what to do with. We won’t be able to drink it, obviously, but aren’t we used to that already?
When he isn’t ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.
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