As you have seen, for the last 3 days, various parts of Maharashtra have been facing extreme weather events. Whether it is heavy rains in the Konkan area or unseasonal hail storms in Nasik region, these events have a ferocity that has surprised everyone. This is almost repeat of extreme events we saw in Jan – Feb 2014, when we saw heavy rains and hailstorms.
Pune city has been experiencing 7 continuous days of 40 c temp. Pune has never faced this before !! We have to be prepared for extreme weather events on a regular basis now. Such events cause immense damage to crops and other agricultural produce, besides loss to infrastructure. The Govt of Maharashtra has already declared a drought-like situation in many parts of the state. Farmers and their families are already facing financial hardships along with mental trauma due to a loss of earnings over the last few years. These extreme climatic conditions make an already bad situation into a terrible tragedy.
Such extreme climatic events are not specific to our state but are happening all over the world. Representatives from all countries are meeting in Lima to discuss actions to be taken by developing & developed nations to resolve issues related to climate change. All national leaders will meet in Paris next year for declaration on time-bound programmes to mitigate the rise in Green House Gases due to unchecked use of fossil fuels.
We, as common citizens, can push for the adoption of some simple methods which our ancestors used successfully for their benefits. Pune received about 35 mm of rain fall in last 3 days. Let us see the potential of rain water. I stay in Viman Nagar , a suburb of Pune city. Viman Nagar has more than 100 societies. With an average 15,000 sq ft of roof top area, each housing society received about 45,000 litres of rain water. Viman Nagar’s 100 societies received more than 45 lakh litres of rain water. For Pune city it means crores of litres of rain water.
It will astonish you to know that ALL this rainwater, this precious gift from the gods, is going down the gutter.
Imagine the benefits we would have got if this water was channelized to underground aquifers, the ground water level would have increased for our benefits. Simple & economical rainwater harvesting is the simple answer to artificially recharge the ground water table. Imagine the benefits it will provide if every village in drought prone areas of Maharashtra use this method. Not only will it help them tide over a major part of their individual and family daily needs of water, it will ensure that we are preparing them for future erratic climate events.
We need to do this now. If we act now, we can save our future generations. Digging a well when the house is on fire is what the Government always does. We react to events. We need to be proactive. My organisation is providing free awareness campaigns to explain use of such RWH systems. We have helped more than 350 different projects to become Tanker water free. Together we can fight drought situations & help THIRSTY MOTHER EARTH. Remember ailing mother will unleash extreme events on us. She will survive, as she has for billions of years. But... Will we ?
