“When people become conscious that simple acts in their daily lives are powerful, there will be a very positive impact on the environment.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Every year on March 22, the global community observes World Water Day, a day dedicated to highlighting the vital importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of water resources.
Today, this is no longer just a symbolic date on the calendar; it is a desperate call for a fundamental shift in how we value and manage the world’s most precious liquid – Elixir of life. In 1960 water table in Delhi was 10 ft, and we could drink from a handpump near Connaught Place. Today parts of Delhi the water table has gone down to 250 to 400 feet.
UN today reports that we have entered a state of “Global Water Bankruptcy.” This describes a persistent reality where human demand and the depletion of natural systems—rivers, lakes, and aquifers—consistently exceed the rate of replenishment.
God has been kind- but in parts
Approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Of all water on Earth, about 96.5% is contained within the oceans as salt water, while only 3.5% is freshwater found in glaciers, ice caps, lakes, and underground. Therefore, sea water is not drinkable; you need to process it through expensive plants called desalination plants. Today most if not all Gulf countries rely on this and in the current war; Iran is weaponizing water by destroying GCC plants. Water wars are not waiting to happen in future- they are happening now. God has given them a big gift of Oil but starved them of water! India tightened its water flow to Pakistan and the whole nation is under stress. There is an age old saying in Hindi ‘Hooka Pani Bandh’ and this is true at national level too.
Impact on daily chores and education
In 80% of households with water scarcity, women and girls are responsible for water collection. Globally, women spend an estimated 250 million hours every single day walking to fetch water. This is time stolen from education, from the workforce, and from rest. Look at the productivity hit it takes.
When a community lacks a nearby water source, a young girl is often pulled from school to help her mother. This creates a cycle of poverty. Furthermore, the lack of private and safe sanitation facilities disproportionately affects women’s health and safety, exposing them to risks of infection.
Smart Water Management is the name of the game
Today Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are being used to detect leaks in aging urban infrastructure, saving billions of litters that would otherwise be lost.
The road ahead is long and tough
Nations save and store water in dams. These are your life line; these are built around of natural rivers and lakes.
There are over 60,000 ‘large’ dams worldwide according to the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD). While large dams are documented, the total number of all dams—including smaller ones—is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. China, the United States, and India hold the highest numbers of large dams.
India has 5,334 completed and functional large dams. Maharashtra has the highest number of dams in India, with over 2,500 large dams listed. Other sources indicate approximately 1,821 notable large dams and reservoirs in the state. These dams are crucial for irrigation, hydroelectric power, and water supply. While it is said China is managing their reservoirs well, India lags behind.
One of the problems is that life of a dam is very long and it is built to last. But as time passes the water passing through, leaves a lot of residue and gradually reduces the capacity of a dam.
Problem of the most progressive city of Maharashtra- Pune
Pune is a city with a glorious past, enviable present and a promising future. It is one of the most important cities of Western India aptly called the `Queen of Deccan` after its elevated position atop the Deccan Plateau. Pune is situated near the western margin of the Deccan Plateau. It lies on the leeward side of the Sahyadri range of the Western ghats. It is situated at a height of 560 m above the mean sea level and near the confluence of Mulla and Mutha rivers. The city is surrounded by hills on the east and the south. Pune urban area has grown from a mere 5 sq. Km to 700 sq.km which is 140 times the original area. Pune’s urban population has grown from 1 lakh to about 70 lakhs in the last century and continues to grow unabated.
Khadakwasla is an important dam since it is the only source of drinking water for the city. It was built in 1879 when the population of Pune was barely 1 lakh then the capacity of dam was 3.74 TMC, and today it stands at 1.75 TMC. It is a balancing dam for the other three feeder dams namely- Panshet Dam, Warasgaon Dam and Temghar Dam. Today Pune’s population is more than 70 lakhs and the storage capacity of dam has reduced approximately by 45%.
Due to the deforestation, in the catchment area, the top soil of that area has been washed off into the dam over the last 133 years during the monsoon showers. Moreover in 1961 Panshet dam, which is an earthen dam, broke down, which brought in a lot of mud and silt into the Khadakwasla dam. This silt needs to be removed immediately to increase the storage capacity of the dam. Due to this silt accumulation, rain water which flows into the dam is not retained, but has to be flushed off, by opening the dam gates. Desilting is a labour-intensive work requiring machinery and transportation. Else one needs to build new reservoirs/dams.
Khadakwasla Dam is built on the Mutha River 21 km from the centre of Pune city The dam created a water reservoir known as Khadakwasla Lake which is the main source of water for Pune and its suburb.
The original Khadakwasla Dam was built in 1879 as a masonry gravity dam. Designed to serve as a key water source, it was one of the first of its kind in the world. The dam was later rebuilt after being damaged during the 1961 flood disaster.
Technically almost for 140 years, the reservoir has not been cleaned or desilted reducing the holding capacity of the reservoir. We regularly clean the water tank located in a building for hygiene point of view. If you carefully observe, lot of mud flows into your tank over a period of time- especially during rains. Though the water coming to your building is duly processed by the local administration- through filtration plants still there are mud/ sand particles that trickle in and dirty your tank. A thick layer of mud and slush accumulates in your tank which needs at least six-monthly cleaning.
Similarly, the river water coming from catchment areas/ hills carries lot of silt, stone etc. This is raw water flowing into the river. Silting is an unavoidable consequence of constructing a dam across a river, as the dam acts as a physical barrier designed to trap water, and consequently, sediment. To keep the soil along the river healthy and firm (avoid soil erosion) on the ground one needs to plant trees alongside. The entire project is referred to as CAT (catchment area treatment). This a humungous job. Desilting requires manual dredging or excavating the silt from the bottom, loading it into trucks and then dumping it far away. The mud is actually sort of agriculture gold. Known as ‘brown gold’ it is the basis of organic farming so much being talked about off late. In normal course farmers use chemical-based fertilizers to boost the yield and these are very harmful for human consumption. Silt in a way is natures basket full of fertilizer- natural.
Col Suresh Patil a seasoned Veteran has dedicated his life to CAT in Pune
It is difficult to find such people today anywhere in the world. At a ripe age of 75 years plus where people take retirement as a well-earned ‘relaxing time’ this man is on his feet all the time. And when you talk to him, there is so much of enthusiasm in his voice and motivation is instant and infectious. He is a role model for the entire 1.4 billion Indians and especially the youth who need to preserve water for their own sake, they will be doing a favour to themselves if they join hands to support him.
One of his NGOs ‘Green Thumb’ has done and is continuing to do this work with passion and commitment. It is not one world water day but a continuous effort as ‘world catchment area treatment’ day on a regular basis. As they say ‘Kaam bolta hai’ Col Patil’s work speaks for itself.
The quantum of work is mind boggling. THIRTY LACK TRUCK (3 million) loads of silt/brown gold has been moved and used to plant healthy trees and also given to farmers to grow chemical free vegetables and crops. Each truck is a three-ton load which translates to 3000 kg. there fore thirty lack trucks is 3000X 3 million = 9 million kilos of fertilizer just to put it into perspective. In addition, they have planted 25 lack odd trees till now.
Praised world over
The project’s success in restoring the waterbody and environmental rejuvenation was recognized by the American Water Works Association.
Shri Nitin Gadkari, honourable minister was all praise for his efforts and put it on record saying, ‘Ex servicemen under his guidance have demonstrated commitment for nation building’.
National level movement
if for one dam there is so much work required then for thousands in the nation require gigantic effort. It cannot be done by one person; we need the entire nation to do its bit.
Almost 60,000-armed forces personnel retire every year
These people are hardworking disciplined force and they are spread across the country. This manpower must be tapped to take this mission forward it cannot be done by a one-man army like col Suresh pail. You need a structured approach where armed forced, retired fraternity, the students and the government with corporate support can make a road map for water conservation.
We do not lac resources but lac vision and the will to do it.
‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.’
Someone said this long time ago, but for lovely green woods and jungles, we first need to preserve them, nurture them and we need to walk hundreds of miles and lacks of trucks and plant lacs of trees to reach there before we sleep.
For more details visit https://www.greenthumbfoundation.org/
