World Environment Day - EAB takes part in IIRF webinar.

​Dr R G Nadadur, President, Environment Association of Bangalore (EAB) was invited to address a Webinar that was organized by the Indus International Research Foundation (IIRF), New Delhi,  Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Udaipur Chapter and Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur to mark the World Environment Day.  Apart from Dr Nadadur, Sri Subbaiah, Sri Kumaraswamy, Sri Bhaskar, Dr Honne Gowda and Sri Laksh Kumar of EAB also participated in the Webinar.
 
Dr Nadadur started his talk by paying respectful homage of EAB to the renowned environmentalist Sri Sunderlal Bahuguna who passed away a few days ago. He spent most of his life fighting for the environment, and in educating villagers on how to prevent the destruction of forests in the Himalayan region.
 
He spoke of the theme of the World Environment Day 2021, which was Ecosystem Restoration and said that the day would see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Ecosystem Restoration can take many forms: combating pollution, water shortage, global warming, waste disposal, loss of biodiversity and deforestation and also
growing trees, greening cities, rejuvenating public gardens, changing diets, cleaning up rivers and coasts, and conserving water.
 
Dr Nadadur spoke at length about water as the crucial natural resource for all living beings. Even though our planet is 70% water, only a small percentage of that, around 2.5% is fresh and sweet water. The 2.5% of fresh water exists mostly as ice or permanent snow cover. It is frozen solid in large glaciers in various parts of our world. Almost all of the fresh water that is available for human use is either contained in soil and rocks below the surface, called groundwater, or in rivers and lakes, called surface water.
 
What are the causes of Water Depletion?

1. Excessive demand of water - Due to overpopulation, the demand of water has increased considerably. More quantities of water are used and wasted over the time. The population growth will continue at an unpredictable rate.
2. Climate change-  Owing to global warming, huge amounts of surface water and groundwater are being evaporated due to excessive heat. There is a decline in the level of water in the reservoirs due to evaporation.  Also, rainfall has reduced and there are droughts and heatwaves.
3. Pollution -  Pollution is a major cause of water shortage. Pollution is growing, both of freshwater supplies and underground aquifers. Pesticides and fertilizers, human waste, industrial waste, chemicals, oil spillage and fecal matter cause pollution.
4. Deforestation -  Deforestation considerably lowers the capacity of the soil to retain water and this affects the water table. Deforestation removes trees that protect watersheds and improve water quality.
5. Agriculture -  Agricultural activities steadily increasing by the day which means more water is pumped for use. Agriculture uses around 70% of the world’s accessible freshwater. Excessive use of water is resulting in drying out of rivers, lakes and underground aquifers. 

 
What are the effects of Water Depletion?

1. Hunger - Agriculture requires huge amount of water in order to  grow crops and to care for livestock animals. So water shortage means the practice of growing crops and farming will be greatly impacted and hunger will result
2. Health Problems - In many developing nations, water scarcity forces people to drink water of low quality from water bodies, which are contaminated. Accordingly, they are infected with water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, etc.
3. Habitat Loss and Destruction to Ecosystems - When water is scarce, it results in desertification, loss of plants and death of wildlife and other animals. As a result, these ecological imbalances create habitat loss, leading to poor quality of life.
4. Disappearance of Wetlands - According to WWF, more than half of the planet’s wetlands have been lost since 1990 which is largely due to water scarcity. The wetlands have become dry to the point of losing their natural capability to hold water.

 
What are the possible Solutions?

1. Recharging aquifers/groundwater - Groundwater retraction has tripled in the past five decades because of industrial and agricultural uses. Governments and organizations must recharge aquifers or groundwater by undertaking projects aimed at infiltrating surface water into them.
2. Water Re-use and Effective Water Treatment Technologies - Water re-use strategies can reduce water shortages. Zero-liquid discharge system where water is treated and reused again. Water re-use can save fresh water for human consumption.
3. Desalination - Desalination is the treatment of salt water. The treatment process aims at obtaining fresh drinking water from the salty ocean waters or groundwater with high salt concentrations. 
4. Water Management - Water management by the use of regulations. The regulations can address the water-related problems including aspects such as water reuse, water resource management, water rights, industrial water use, wetland restoration, domestic water supplies, water pollution, and others.
5. Infrastructure Repair and Maintenance - One of the key ways of solving the problem of water scarcity can be through infrastructure repair and maintenance of water channels. Leaking pipes and sewage systems lead to water wastage and contamination respectively.
6. Water Conservation - Water conservation is one of the leading ways to reduce  water scarcity.  People use water in many ways at home: drinking, cooking, bathing, brushing teeth, washing clothes, dishes and cars, flushing toilets, watering gardens and lawns, and filling swimming pools.  New designs of taps, toilet flushing devices and washing machines use much less water. 

 
While concluding, Dr Nadadur spoke about EAB and said that its focus has always been on water – water conservation, water recycling, water harvesting, restoration and rejuvenation of water bodies, watershed management and so on. He added that EAB is now focusing on rain water harvesting works in schools, as a part of its ‘catch them young’ initiative. The aim is to drive home to the youngsters the importance of water and how to conserve it. He invited the audience to visit the website of EAB – www.eabindia.org and also its page on Facebook and share their suggestions and comments.
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