A lot has been spoken about and advised in order to create awareness about the water crisis that looms large over the country. Tips and tricks to conserve water are all over the place. But in this case, nothing could be more dangerous than a well-intentioned ignoramus. So while you can always go online and google ‘ways to save water’, the truth is there is a lot of information out there that is harmful to the cause. So instead of taking decisions that might adversely affect your water conservation efforts and before more harm done than there is good, let’s bust a few myths that keep people from taking a solid, informed decision.
‘Water Crisis is Not Real’
Yes, you might be surprised but there are people who don’t think there is a real crisis out there. According to them, the numbers and statistics shown on TV, newspapers and media are just ‘exaggerated’ versions since that is what the media does; skews numbers to create sensationalism. Surely, they would think that because they are not being affected by it, and enjoy access to water at the turn of a tap. But all they need to do is, if not trust the media, reach out to a location or to people who are suffering due to the crisis, and they will get the realistic picture of the problem.
‘My Choices Alone Make no Difference, Corporations Must Take Charge’
Granted, corporations do need to take charge since the quantum of water wastage done by them might be in millions of liters. But that doesn’t make an individual any less accountable. An ocean is made by single drops coming together, and in this case, it is literally the scenario. If a million households in India come together to save a liter every day, imagine the change we can make and how it would help the water crisis. Every single person needs to be in this together.
‘Only Solution is to Restrict Water Usage’
Yes, while it will surely help, it won’t be ideal and definitely not the only solution. There are so many ways in which water usage and wastage can be rationed instead of outright restricting it. Making use of water-friendly devices at your home is a start. Be it in the shower, bathroom, kitchen, or devices used for landscaping, each of them can get together and create a huge reservoir of saved water.
‘Earth is Covered in Water. How Bad Can the Crisis be?’
Yes, about 70 per cent of the planet’s surface is covered with water, but of that about 97 per cent is sea water and is undrinkable. Even the remaining 3 per cent is not entirely available for consumption as a lot of it gets polluted, wasted in leakages or is simply thrown down the drain. We are, therefore, left with merely 1 per cent for the entire world. Seems like a crisis now, doesn’t it?
‘All We Need to do is Save Rainwater and We Are Golden’
First of all, droughts. Second of all, even if it rains, we really do not have enough rainwater harvesting systems in place in India to save enough during, let’s say, a month’s period of rainfall. Reservoirs that do save water need to be refilled during rains. We need to stop cutting trees and create a concrete jungle in order to do both — get rains and also save water from those rains. At this point, this is more of an excuse than a reason to conserve water.
All we can say is, wake up and smell the water crisis. Be informed. Read up, ask questions. Try it for yourself. Look up initiatives that are based on creating awareness around this very topic, which are also based on pure facts. The Harpic News18 Mission Paani initiative is a great example of people coming together on a platform to help avert the water crisis. See how celebrities, people of importance, politicians, etc. are all cognizant of the issue and are using their fame and this platform to spread awareness.
Make up your own mind. Because the time for experimenting and deliberating is way past us.
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