Water is the most important topic these days. Everywhere you go people are discussing water and the threats to its flow by our enemies who are threatening to cut it off and brazenly violate an international treaty. What our enemies are doing was always predictable given their behaviour in the past, a highlight of which is the illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir since Partition.
Actually, we as a country are in a state of double jeopardy where not only our arch enemy is targeting our water resources but nature itself is now not inclined to offer us the luxury of unlimited supply of water. Weather patterns are changing very fast, and climate change brings with it severe problems that are cropping up with great intensity with each passing day.
What is required in the present scenario is not only to protect our water resources that our enemies are targeting but to also on similar war footings ensure that there is a broad understanding within the country of the impending crisis and educate people on the seriousness of the situation followed by steps to ensure that wanton wastage of water specially in the big cities and urban households comes to a stop.
Water wastage is so common and now so ingrained in our behaviour that there are several steps we take that wastes large amounts of water without us ever even noticing that what we thought was the use of a little water is collectively impacting the water supply in our neighbourhood in a big way. Take the example of an innocent activity like taking a shower. Do you know that according to estimates, a ten-minute shower can consume up to 25 to 50 gallons of water? For those who like to sing while shower, the consumption can be double or even more. Imagine a whole city showering and consuming water at this rate.
I know that there are areas where people can hardly wash their faces leave alone having a proper bath, but then there are large fashionable and influential areas where procurement of water at a price is daily routine, and they never think twice about conservation of water as they believe water tankers at whatever the price will keep feeding the belly of their huge underwater tanks and supplement their wasteful style.
Another very wasteful and common habit is to wash dishes with running water and allow the water to run nonstop during the whole exercise. This same method is adopted by many while brushing teeth. Together, these habits waste several gallons of water daily that can be preserved in these critical moments of our history.
I might add that it is just not only the lady of the house but mostly maids who waste water while washing dishes and the lady of the house hardly ever reprimands or instructs them how to wash dishes without wasting so much water at a stretch.
When was the last time you called in a professional plumber to do an audit of your plumbing and stop the small leaks that together amount to wastage of gallons of water. A small leak might seem insignificant to you, but when it keeps dripping 24 hours a day it amounts to a substantial waste of water which can easily be stopped.
Another water saving habit is not to flush the toilet unnecessarily. Many people use the toilet also as a dustbin, throwing small unwanted scraps of paper and other such waste into the toilet and then flushing it which consumes in some cases about 7 gallons of water each time.
Not long ago, I had pointed out the waste of water in cleaning vehicles. This is indeed one of the most wasteful usages of water compared to any other activity. Top of the list in this activity are those who wash their vehicles by using a garden hose that has water gushing out at a tremendous speed, not only wasting water but creating small streams on the road that are a hindrance to vehicular traffic such as motorcycles.
After dealing a crushing blow to India our country has entered a new phase of confidence and the situation demands that we as a nation behave in a responsible manner towards our resources and be prepared at all times for all emergencies, including that of water shortages due to climate change and other reasons. The whole world is facing such shortages, and we should set an example for others to follow.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a well-known columnist
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.