6th September,
2016
West Lafayette, IN
The Cauvery water dispute
between Karnataka & Tamil Nadu is not new and is similar to water sharing
problems between many other states in the country. Although morality demands
states to share water with each other, the reluctance of successive
governments, farmers’ unions and other groups to do so is not completely
unjustifiable, because Karnataka itself does not have enough water for its
people. But, solely blaming poor rains is absurd. In case of Cauvery, unplanned
mushrooming of Bangalore city, is in my opinion, the major cause for the
current scarcity of water. The water consumption of Bangalore has overshot
nominal levels, creating a scarcity for farmers in the Mysore- Mandya belt. The
legal right over the water by Tamil Nadu and its subsequent release will now
only add to the vows and create a strain on the entire region.
This time, following the
court ruling, we can envisage the taps in Bangalore to go dry. One may blame
the Tamil Nadu Govt for ingratiating with the Central Govt for overruling
Karnataka’s appeals in Supreme Court, one may also allege the lawyer
representing Karnataka Govt of cosying with Tamil Nadu, however, one must also
acknowledge poor urban planning of Bangalore City, greed and most of all
lackadaisical attitude of Bangaloreans which has brought us to this pathetic
state. We must acknowledge that the major chunk of the problem is of our own
creation.
- The city knows nothing of rain
water harvesting or ground water recharging and no strong initiatives have
been launched to make them mandatory.
- Indiscriminate exploitation of
groundwater by property developers has left the ground water table dry in
most parts.
- Known once upon a time for its
lakes, Bangalore now has only a handful of lakes left, with its water
unusable and the lake area aesthetically unclean for anything else, and we
can now see high rise apartment complexes on dried up lakes.
- Use of potable water by its people
for car cleaning, gardening and other such mindless uses have no logical
backing.
You may be thinking of
other such (and maybe better) points, I am sure.
Bangalore must start
developing alternate water sources for its sustenance right now. If we continue
to grow without paying heed to sustenance, we will be the first city to crumble
under the pressures of nature. The beautiful city is already stripped off its
tree cover for which it was once famously known, the air pollution levels are
dangerously high, the roads are perennially in bad shape, the traffic
congestion and garbage handling are no joking matter. But if the city goes dry
on water, then it will top all the list of vows. Our ‘swalpa adjust maadkoli’
attitude may make us bear with anything else, but definitely not water
scarcity. Its time and Bangalore must mobilize right now.
The same may be the case
with other cities, towns, villages in my country. Sustainable development is
needed at all levels, no doubt. But, I am a Bangalorean and I am pained by this
metamorphosis having gone wrong.